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I’ve always had a love for photography. I was the staff photographer for my high school yearbook, and found that it opened a LOT of doors for me and provided a free pass to get away with things other couldn’t. Getting out of class, getting into sports events for free, and EVERYONE trying to ham it up so I’d take a picture of them, were just some of the finer points I loved as a photographer.

After high school, I majored in photojournalism at a local community college. I worked in the dark room and have very fond memories of the smell of developing black and white photos. Not the color ones, the chemicals (And thus smells) were different. Anyone that has worked a darkroom knows what I am talking about…

The power to shade and dodge a negative and manipulate the light to create a far different picture from the negative was a fun and powerful skill. Digital photography has all but eliminated all darkroom work though, sadly. I doubt if I’ll ever get to smell developer again.

I dropped out of college (Hey! I just realized that I am a college dropout!) and went into the US Air Force, getting a job in computers. My photography exposure (yes, I went there!) during my military career was limited mostly due to the cost of photo processing. (You may not realize this, but an entry level enlisted person with a spouse and a child are usually at the poverty level. Add that to the sacrifices our veterans make.)

After I got our of the military, I kicked around from job to job. I worked in several One Hour photo labs, even managing one store in a local mall. (I’m certain on of the levels of Dante’s Hell is working as a store manager in a mall.) I also did some freelance work, including a Hooters golf tournament. Did I mention how much I appreciated the benefits that photography offered?

About that time, the Digital Age of Photography started, and eventually, the ability to print your own pictures at home. Instead of taking 24 or 36 select shots, hoping that something would come out of it, you could simply take several hundred and delete whatever was garbage.

Or, like the packrat that I am, you simply keep them all.

If I had a penny for every picture of the ceiling or the ground that I’ve kept (and still have!) over the years, I’d be able to take a very nice vacation. I believe that the reason stems from having had my house burn down when I was 18, and losing every single picture I had.

So there are very few pictures of me as a kid. Not sure if that is good or bad, but it IS a little sad. I don’t have the luxury of sitting down with my kids and showing them how we used to walk uphill to school and then uphill to get back home again. In the snow. Barefoot. In July. Carrying all of our books because we had homework every day. Even Fridays.

Kids these days have it so easy!

I’m not going to show you any of those ground or ceiling pictures though. But here are a few select shots I’ve taken that I find interesting. I hope you enjoy them.

Even if you don’t, please take away the fact that taking pictures and storing them is a very simple process these days. Take LOTS of pictures, they are valuable keys to great memories. And isn’t that mostly what our lives are, when we look back, simply a collection of memories?

Peace,
db

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