Two Old Friends / 8 Random Things About Me

During my high school years in the late 1970s, I wanted to be on the yearbook staff. They had more people than they knew what to do with for most things, but not enough photographers. The yearbook sponsor told me if I had a camera, I could be a photographer for the yearbook.

I asked my parents to buy me a camera. My Dad said, and I quote, "Son, if you want a nice camera like that, you'll go and earn the money and buy one yourself."

I already mowed people's lawns for spending money, so I hunkered down and saved all that I could and finally had enough for the Canon AE-1 pictured above.

I bought it in time to be a photographer for my Senior year (final year, year 12) on our high school's yearbook.

I learned to develop and print black and white prints and learned that if I want something, I can find a way to earn the money to buy it for myself.

The Canon A-1 that is in the second photo had belonged to my Father in Law, an excellent photographer. He passed away in 1996, and my Mother in Law gave me his camera.

I have put many rolls of slides through these cameras. They're like a couple of old friends to me.

Some people have remarked at how much my Nikon D70s and zoom lens weighs, but compared to either one of these bad boys, it's a lightweight.

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Imac from Photos From The Mind's Eye tagged me with the 8 random things about me meme.

On my other blog over the past year and a half, I've pretty much spilled my guts and there's little left to reveal. But I guess that on this blog, not many have gone to my other blog and read my stuff, so I'm banking on this and will just regurgitate some things if I run out of new ideas.

1. Although I love to read, I've never been a big fan of science fiction. Until the past couple of years that is. I'm slowly working my way through some science fiction classics and others that catch my eye in the library. In short, I've finally started loving science ficiton. I have found it much harder to find science fiction that I like than books of other genres. I have been unable to read a number of sci-fi "classics" due to lack of interest.

2. As a young man I lifted heavy things for a living, working for Delta Airlines, loading and unloading baggage, freight, and mail on their planes.

3. I started looking into going back to college to learn something like electronics that would allow me to get a better job withing Delta. I ended up quitting Delta in Atlanta, moving back to my home town in Louisiana, and earning a degree in electrical engineering from Lousiana Tech University in 1996.

4. I've lived near the Atlantic coast of east central Florida since I graduated in 1996, working as an engineer with a really good company.

5. The camera that I learned the basics of photography with was my parent's old Kodak Pony IV 35mm camera. I still have this camera.

6. When Lovely Wife and I were on our honeymoon many years ago, we toured through a large underground cave. At one point, they had us look over a ledge into an abyss that seemed to go on forever. I looked at Lovely Wife and said, "If I fall in, grab my camera." She still laughs at me about that one. I was more serious about it than she understood.

7. I'm left eyed. That's why you see an auto-winder on the Canon AE-1 above; it kept me from having to remove my eye from the viewfinder to wind the film after each shot.

8. Here's a random picture of me as a baby, from early 1963.

I decline to tag others to do this, but if you are in need of blog material, have at it friends.