For as long as I can remember, I have loved photography. My mother always had a camera on hand to document our life. To my knowledge, she had no formal training, and the cameras were always small, consumer-grade point and shoot cameras. But, because she was dedicated to documenting all the little events as well as the big trips, we had bookcases full of photo albums. I grew up fascinated with looking at all those photos, photos going back before I was born, before my older brothers were born, back even to when my mother was a small child.

      She gave me my first camera when I was 8 years old. I was so ecstatic, I immediately went all around the house and out into the yard taking photos, using up the whole canister of film in no time at all. From that point on, I followed in her footsteps, documenting whatever struck my fancy.

Two of my stuffed animals. One of the first photos taken with my first camera. Two of my stuffed animals. One of the first photos taken with my first camera.

      Whenever she bought herself a new camera, she gave me her old one. I was always excited to get a new, bigger and better camera, but I was often disappointed as well. There was something missing, but I didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t figure out why the photos never turned out the way I envisioned them.

Furball, one of my kittens. I was too close, and thus it was a little out of focus and way overexposed from the flash. Furball, one of my kittens. I was too close, and thus it was a little out of focus and way overexposed from the flash.

      As I got older, I started to realize that even though there was a place to look through, it wasn’t where the photo was being taken from, so I started to compensate. It took longer to understand the lighting/flash situations, and I hadn’t been able to figure out how to compensate consistently until I started having a formal education.

       My first foray into photography courses was an after-school class in black and white developing when I was in eighth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Joy, was wonderful. Her emphasis was not on the act of taking the photos but rather on the developing of the film and creation of the prints afterwards. We were given cameras and film and told to go out and take photos of whatever we wanted, then came back and learned the darkroom process. I was amazed at the difference in the quality and control I had over my photos with the camera I had on loan for this class and would have loved to own one, but that wasn’t possible at the time.

      Up until the end of my junior year of high school, my photography had been very sporadic. I was a jack-of-all-trades as a kid, very busy with school, sports, band, spending time with friends, reading books, etc. Because many of these things cost money, as did photography, there were compromises. I could only shoot when I had film, and I only had film, and later photos, when my mom had the money to pay for it, so there were times when that money would go to the other things in my life instead.

      The one exception to that was traveling. I was fortunate that my parents were both from a different part of the country than where I was born. This meant that they were both used to and very willing to travel. Most often, we would take a trip to visit relatives in Florida or the Midwest, either driving or taking the train, so it was always a new and exciting trip. My father and I also got into the habit of going for Sunday drives nearly every week to explore different places in Maine and New Hampshire and sometimes a little farther afield. For all the big trips and some of the Sunday drives, I made sure to have film and my camera so that I could document everything.

View of Ausable Chasm. I took this photo on a long weekend trip to Vermont and New York with my father in high school. Ausable, Chasm, New York View of waterfalls and buildings at Ausable Chasm. I took this photo on a long weekend trip to Vermont and New York with my father in high school. Ausable Chasm, New York

      During the summer between my junior and senior years, my mother passed away. When that happened, my life changed completely. I inherited her last camera, but couldn’t bring myself to use it, or even my own, her previous hand-me-down. I found myself unable to do any of the things I had done before. I dropped out of all the sports I had been a part of. I couldn’t concentrate in class, stopped spending time with friends, and really started to shut down.

      One of the things that brought me back was a photography class with Mr. Toothaker during the fall semester of my senior year of high school. It was a black and white course that started with photography basics. We were given loaner cameras for the semester and were taught not only the techniques of making photos but also of development and printing and even had a project to design a darkroom for our homes. I learned a lot during that time from Mr. Toothaker and my fellow classmates: Alexis Cutten, Jason Hupe, Becca Hatch, and Marcy Dochterman. I really appreciate everything they did for me more than they’ll ever know.

      That Minolta SLR camera opened the world for me. Even though I didn’t understand everything, had a rough time especially with the action shot and depth of field shot requirements, I knew it was something I needed to pursue. It brought joy and passion back into my life. Looking back now, I have to wonder if it was a way to feel close to my mother that I needed but didn’t conceptualize at that time.

      Through that class, I was reintroduced to some old family friends, Alan and Andy Jordan, who owned a camera store and repair business, Classic Camera. That Christmas, knowing how important photography had become for me, my father and brothers got together and bought me a camera recommended by Alan and Andy. It was a Kalimar K90 SLR, a great beginner student camera with a simple to read light meter and fully manual operations that took Pentax K-mount lenses. From that moment on, I was hooked. I have used Pentax K-mount cameras ever since, with only a few exceptions (a story for another day), and would recommend the brand to anyone.