In the Mid Sixties, maybe 1966, I was a sophomore at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, and I bought my first camera!  A Minolta Autopak 500,  it took 126 cartridge film and had a focusing knob on the side to select; Close, Group and Distance!  Through out my college days I shot hundreds of pictures of friends an events and chronicled my life!  I still have some of those prints!  The love for photography started right there!

 

After graduation from college I started teaching and had a little money and wanted a more serious camera!   I knew nothing about what was good so I picked the cheapest I could find from a New York camera store, can’t remember which one!?  I ordered a Kowa SET 2, it arrived broken and inoperable, after weeks of haggling I finally got it returned and my meager refund!

 

 

 

I lived in a small town in eastern Kentucky, Harlan, and I didn’t know anyone that could advice me, so I came up with a plan!!!???  I called three different camera store and asked which three camera brands they would recommend in my price range?  Between the three stores, all within a hundred miles of where I lived, for then, I’d had enough of New York camera stores!  So they recommended; Minolta, Pentax, Nikon and Canon.  Of the three stores all made different lists, but Nikon was in everyone’s list!  I figured if they all agreed on that one brand, maybe that was a good bet!

 

 

That turned out to be the right choice for me, I used Nik0n cameras for the next 43 years!!!!!  My first camera, the Nikkormat FTN with a Nikkor 50mm f 2 lens, cost me less that $200.  It was their least expensive camera but a rugged, capable camera that served me well!  I learned the basics of photography with that camera and shot tens of thousands of Color slides and Black and White negatives with it!!!!!  Sometime in the 1980’s I had a very unwise and short affair with a sweet little Konica camera, but it was short lived and Nikon and I were back together again quickly!  We all. make mistakes!

 

My long love affair with Nikon served me very well and in fact I ended up working for Nikon as their Nikon Professional Services Tech rep for the Southern U.S. for 11 years!  While working for Nikon I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder and suffered through a long recovery!  During my recovery carrying and using Full Frame cameras from Nikon was a real burden so I needed a small easy to carry camera until I was fully recovered!?  While at the big photo expo in New York I browsed all the camera companies booths to see if anyone had something I might use until I was fully recovered!?  Fujifilm had a new. very compact but really wonderfully made. pocket-able camera called the X10!  It was perfect! I ordered one and kept it a secret!!!!!

 

 

 

An interesting thing happened, the camera was a joy to use, and the files were spectacular, I fell in love with the Fujifilm colors and this little jewel of a camera!  Over the winter I took it, hidden in a coat pocket, everywhere, when I shot shot these three images below, I was in love!!!!!!!

 

 

Shot in French Quarter of New Orleans on an early morning!

 

One of my favorite car shots from Old Car City.

 

My favorite portrait shot of the late, great Dr. Charles Stanley!

 

The bottom line is that I fell in love with the Fujifilm colors, glass and the system, so much so, that after retiring from Nikon I became an X-Photographer for Fujifilm!  I have owned tons of Fujifilm gear, and still do!  I still have and carry my X10 too!  I’ve used lots of photo gear and have loved it all and I still have very good memories of my Nikon days, but for my age and stage of photography I’m using what works best for me, right now!  After all they are tools, and what matters is who is using the tools and what they produce, not who made them!!!!!!

 

Blessings, and happy shooting,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What does come with age?  Well, let’s see; Aches and pains, glorious naps, often being really tired, but it’s not all bad!  How about a better vision,  understanding thing more.  A deeper walk with Christ, a fuller, richer relationship with Him.  The peace that comes from the confidence that comes along with age and experience!  My relationship with my camera is improving too.

 

 

 

Knocking around and just looking for things, it is coming together, and more important I’m feeling a little younger and having fun, and that’s not a bad thing!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

I’m thankful for many things; My Lord and Savior Jesus,  a wonderful wife and family, truly great friends, a better career than I deserve and health even at 79!  One of the greatest blessings has been my friendship and brotherhood with Jack Graham!  Many of you know Jack as a wonderful photographer, a great teacher and workshop leader and talented musician and music historian to boot!  Working with Jack over the past decade has improved me as a photographer and I hope as a man!  Let me use Jack’s images to illustrate 5 things I’ve learned from him!  I have learned a great deal more than five, but these are some of the most important!

 

 

1. Wait for it, and be ready when it happens!  This image that Jack made in Iceland is one of my favorites and he did what he teaches us, he got ready and was able to capture things at the right moment!  He also was using equipment we can all afford and proving you can make great images with simple gear!  The Fujfilm X-T1 with the 18-55 “kit” lens!

 

 

2. Slow Down!!!!!!  Wait for the right light, it is the difference between a good shot and an incredible shot!  I think you will agree, this worth the wait!

 

 

3.  Take the time to look for graphics, after all, it is photoGRAPHIC!  This is what happens when you “Slow Down” and really see what’s around you!

 

 

4.  Find your inner peace!  I often marvel at how Jack becomes part of the landscape he is wanting to capture, there is a calmness about his relationship with nature!  I’ve shot this scene several times, but never this good!

 

 

5. Let it come to you!  The act of observing is most successful when you calm your spirit and let the light and the subjects speak to you!  I have always felt this is one of Jack’s most hauntingly beautiful images, this kind of imaage finds you!

 

Thanks Jack for sharing your passion for photography and life with me, it’s been a great ride!  I hope more is to come!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

Today is my Birthday, and I’m celebrating 79 trips around the sun!  I just returned from a great week with my wife in Durham North Carolina for the Carolina Nature Photographers Association’s Annual Convention where I was honored to be one of the presenters!  That experience was one of the 4 great birthday gifts I received, please let me elaborate!

 

1. 1.  The great people at CNPA!  Two years ago David Hartfield called  from the club to ask me if I would consider being one of their four main speakers for the annual conference.  My response was,   “Are you sure you’re calling the right guy!?”  My teaching and speaking career has slowed way down and I was a little shocked about the invitation!  He then explained then that the invitation was for February 2025, two years in the future!  I told him I would be happy to sign a contract but they would have to forgive me if I didn’t live that long because on the date of the call I was 77!!!!!  We agreed and a contract was signed and so began a two year period of my regretting that I had a agreed to do the talk.  Since agreeing it got even worse when I  had to have a heart valve replacement last year, then started having AFIB,  week later coded twice in the emergency room and had to get a pacemaker, and started using walker to get around a lot of the time.

The point is that for many years I’ve been asked to do lots of talks to groups of all sizes, and to be honest, I have a reputation of consistently knocking it out of the park, not to be immodest,  but with all these health issue I was concerned that I would not give them what they wanted and to the standard I’ve held myself to!  I prayed, as I always do, Father I pray I will do the best I can and that you will get all the Glory!  As He always does, my prayers were answered and it went very well!  I want to thank the wonderful attendees and staff of the convention, Don who introduced me, David who arranged everything for me, Nicole the president of CNPA and everyone who were very warm and welcoming and treated me so vey well, I can’t thank you all enough!  It was a great experience!

 

2.  My dear friend and former boss at Nikon, Bill Pekala.  Bill was kind enough to come over and attend my two lectures on Friday morning and we had a wonderful visit!  As I told the attendees at the conference, Bill provided me so many wonderful opportunities when we work together at Nikon, He was the best boss I’ve ever had and a true lifelong friend!  On top of everything else after my first talk he said “You haven’t lost a step!”  I needed that!

 

3.  My wife Sherelene knew I was a basket case about wanting to do well for those great folks at the conference and she insisted on going with me and keeping me in good shape!  We had a great week together and enjoyed a rare time alone away from the house.  Sherelene is a world class nurse practitioner and her schedule is brutal so this kind of one on one time was a treat for both of us!  On the 14th we will celebrate 55 years of marriage!  I really knocked out of the park when I asked her to marry me!  She had all her Sunday School class praying for me last week and this morning we were able to give them a good report!

 

4.  Lastly a very nice lady approached me after my last talk and shared that she was so happy that I was open about my faith and that it was a blessing to her!  I so appreciated her sharing that with me and of course I told her so.  Being an out spoken Christian in our world today is not always easy, but with all God has done over my career and life there is no way I would be reluctant to give Him all the credit.  I would not be enjoying all the blessing of this life without Him!

 

So I’m having a great birthday, feeling very blessed to have all of you in my life!

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim