I love photography... and I take photos and work on photos (and other artwork) every single day.

It is my lifeline.

Photography is what prompted me to start this blog back on December 26th, 2008... and has kept me posting most every single day since.

I wouldn't change that for a minute.

For any of you who do not know... I started taking photos way back when I was about 6yrs old.

I became the "unofficial" photographer of the family; as my father had a tendency to cut people's heads out of shots... and I didn't.
My first camera was a Brownie Hawkeye with a flash attachment... and I vividly remember taking it to school a few times to take candids of my friends. (where those photos are... I have no idea).

I used that camera, and my father's Polaroid ... up until 1981 when I cashed in all my pennies and got a Kodak 110 instamatic to take with me as an exchange student to Germany. ( I still have a box of about 200 slides that I would love to convert into digital files from that trip).

After graduating from nursing school in 1986, I got a Ricoh 35mm camera/ lens/ kit... and started in the world of 35mm. I was in LOVE.
In 1990, I got my first Nikon (N90 with a basic lens)... and around 2000; got my first Nikon digital
( I bought a used d70 and short zoom from a friend).

Since then... I've used 2 additional little point and shoot cameras... a Kodak Easyshare and a Nikon Coolpix (when the Nikon d70 broke)... and now... my current camera is a Nikon d300. I only have one lens... which is a short zoom.

I discovered several things along the way...

First, it doesn't really matter what camera you use. Beautiful photos can come from any camera.

Say... a gorgeous shot can be had from a simple toy camera... and likewise, a crappy shot could be taken with the most expensive and high tech camera around... it's up to the photographer to bring out the best in what they have to work with. Now, that said... it's always fun to get new equipment... and if you have the means... go for it.

There will always be a camera on my "wish" list... or two... and that is OK. It's a process.

One of my goals for this coming year... is to work on converting the 1000s of film photos, slides, and negatives into digital files.
And I think I can do it.