Beginnings

Hello, and welcome. If you’ve read my about page, you should have some idea of who I am by now. What you don’t know, is why you should be here. Well, I have a few reasons why you might want to show up. This site will be broken down into a number of pages. They will revolve around the things that drive me, make me want to get up in the morning and spend my time on its creation.

Photography is something that I’ve loved all of my adult life. When I was younger, my family didn’t have the resources to enable me to immerse myself in a photographic pursuit. Camera equipment, lenses, film and processing that film was inherently expensive, but I would travel to the library and marvel at the photographs that I’d see by the great photographers, Adam’s, Rowell, Weston, Kenna, and on and on, their talent both an inspiration and seemingly impossible to emulate.

Then I grew up, and with my new found independence, I had the opportunity to pursue my interests, among them, photography. I started with a Nikkormat SLR and one lens, and by the time I was twenty-one I had four camera systems, including Nikon, Canon, Mamiya and Hasselblad. I spent most of my time and available funds on discovering how to create quality images. I built a darkroom, bought a great 4×5 enlarger, a color analyzer (unheard of for an amateur at the time), lots of chemicals, paper, trays and drums and started processing my own photographs. What I learned through that process of trial and error mostly, was how to light a subject, how to compose based on the elements of the subject, how to use lenses to maximize or minimize depth of field, how to isolate your subject, and understand what exactly was happening inside a camera when the shutter was pressed. Over time I was able to visualize with some certainty, what the image would illustrate, its contrast, its depth of focus, how much grain you could expect, etc., etc. In so doing, it gave me an appreciation for what was excellence in the taking and presentation of photographs.

And then, almost overnight, digital photography came into being. While the equipment was initially poor, and expensive, it didn’t take long for photographic tools to become decent, then better than decent, to where, today, they are unbelievably good. Today, anyone with a good eye, can become proficient in short order when taking photographs. And so it is that the community of photographic experts, enthusiasts, amateurs and beginners is so large that virtually everyone carries a camera with them, most of their day. And as photography has become ubiquitous, so has our ever increasing expectation of photographic and videography excellence.

So, toward arriving at that point, I’ll be offering a wide range of topics and presentations/discussions that will entreat you to take part. Sometimes by offering a commentary, and on occasion, by taking part in a live chat. As a former educator almost all of my life in one form or another, I find that continuous learning both inspires and satisfies. We, collectively, want to be competent at whatever endeavour we take part in. The intent here, is to make that journey of discovery, one that can be fun and entertaining.

My hope for all of you, is that by taking part in this site, you will read, comment, contribute your work, discuss topics related to your interest, problems you’re having getting the results you want, and simply hanging out. I hope to be here, present in some form, quite often. Although retired, I have a number of interests which compete for attention. My intent is to spend a significant portion of that time, in “our” collective company.

So, thank you for coming, for being ‘present’ in your avocational interest and in the pursuit of learning. Please read the weekly blog, offer your opinion, your knowledge, your humor and your intelligence for all to take part in, and again, welcome to photomotoman.ca, your place for all things photographic and video-centric.

Ciao for now.