School of Hard Knocks

It all started back in high school. Just loved the gadgetry-ness of cameras. Trips to the Treasury Drugs in Memphis were a highlight. Mom would do the shopping thing (Treasury was a pre-Wal-Mart large-everything store), and I would go check out the cameras, gizmos with a purpose…F-stops and shutters speeds and telephoto lenses. I finally got my first real camera, a Miranda Sensomat, RE. Actually, the “true” first was a Kodak Instamatic 104 with a flash cube. Wow! Now I had a 35 mm camera like the ones I am seeing in the magazines.

I never thought of myself as a reader, till I got addicted to photo magazines. I would read all that I could. This is where my education started with three magazines per month, plus annuals whenever I could. Popular Photography, Modern Photography and Peterson’s Photographic. I was so hungry to learn that magazines were bought knowing that only a few articles would be meaningful to me. I had a plan. I’d read what I could understand and look at the pictures. The magazines would be stored away and a year or more later scanning the contents would show new information that I then knew more about. More to read. Yeah!

Finally, got to a point where I could look at photos and figure out how it was made. Started making increasingly more pictures. Joined the Annual Staff at Wooddale High School. Won First Place in a high school photo contest.

Mom never looked in the magazines. I had my share of sick days in school, and when my mother went to pick up my prescription she had a standing request to pickup the three magazines. Mom didn’t charge me for those. I paid other months. It was amazing how many magazines delivered by mom had a large content of “naked” photos.

On to work, I graduated after the eleventh grade and worked for the year while my buds were seniors. The highlight of that time was making a trip with those seniors to Italy. Dove in to photography for that two weeks and loved it, but I still thought it could only be a hobby.

Sold real estate at 20 years old. Thought of going to a big time photo school. I was getting a general education but never got to Brooks Institute of Photography. Fell in love with a beautiful girl and married that beautiful girl. After a year in a sales job I went to work at a custom lab, making title slides and managing the other departments. Met people that also needed photography and started making money making photos! Yeaaaa! Still reading magazine, moving on to seminars and workshops.

Opened my first studio. It had 2100 square feet designed to my specs. Spent much time in the darkroom with mostly commercial/advertising photography. Learned a lot at the “School of Hard Knocks”. Always interested in passing it on. I did not have a mentor that gave me personal attention and Q/A time. Now that I know some of the local pros that were around then, I know they would have been glad to help. They are awesome folks and great friends. I’ve made it a practice to give information freely. Once I took a class on slide-making in Cincinnati given by Andre Proulz from Canada. He made a strong point of sharing what you learn. Then when you have a challenge that doesn’t seem achievable you’ll have someone to go to. So I’ll tell all I know and when I need you, I’ll come calling.

Recently, I thought about teaching photography on a small scale. Probably amateurs and advanced amateurs, basics and interesting tips and techniques. As I put some thoughts together I started a list of topics. Looking over the collection, I had a thought that all that information could be a book. I’m no writer. Then I saw a blog and saw that as a tool of our time for teaching. Here we go.

Find your magazines. Soak them up like a sponge. Study and read what you can. Put them away and learn more. Shoot lots of pictures. Come back to the magazines and see what more is now understandable. Read. There are some great sources of information and you can learn so much from all the sources. Be sure to check out Digital Photo Pro. Great reproduction of images and a good combination of art and technical information. Both camera and lighting and PhotoShop and Lightroom. For an extremely good source of PhotoShop information you need to see PhotoShop User Magazine. Step by step fixes and creative creation. American Photo is a good source of exceptional photography. It is not as much of a technical source but still a good source of information. Outdoor Photographer
is a great source of information and there is more beyond mountains, sunsets and wildlife. The images are unbelievable. Off the scale in saturation and vibrancy. But look closer. There is technical info that can help with whatever your pursuits are. Check it out!