These two photos look like B&W, but are really color digital pix from my Nikon D70.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Camera and the Guitar
On my senior trip to Chicago in high school, I took a Kodak Brownie Flash 6-20 with me. Being from a small faming town, the tall buildings fascinated me. I took lots of snapshots looking straight up at them.
I guess that was my first and humble start to a lifetime of photography. In the Army after high school, I bought a Kodak Instamatic X-35. I would walk around whatever base I was on, and take pictures of mainly landscape pictures, some barracks and other buildings on base. While stationed in Washington DC, I took snaps of the buildings of course, but everywhere there were these squirrels running around. Many were quite tame, and the compound had vending machines with peanuts you could feed the squirrels with. Some would come right up on my knee, and eat from my hand. I took many photos of those little fellows. That was my first experience in wildlife photography.
After getting out of the Army, I got married and started a family. Photography then was just taking snaps of the kids, house and cars. More about the cars later.
A friend of mine at work played bass in a little local bar band that played country music. I always liked country music, my family when I was kid listened to The Grand Ole Opry on the radio. My friend told me to get a guitar and join his band. I scoured the want ads until a guy 4 blocks from me had a Fender MusicMaster for sale. I went and bought it for $50 (late 60's). I signed up for formal lessons the next week. Well by the time I could play anything well enough to go up on stage, the band broke up. But I went on practicing, and played in other local bands for a while. The people I had been playing for either quit playing, left town, died or were in jail. So that was about the end to my musical career.
A National Geographic in a Dr's office, brought me back to wildlife photography. I thought I can do that (remember the squirrels). Of course I had no idea what was involved in the art of wildlife photography, but I learned from magazines and books. Bought lots of expensive equiptment, and took some trips to the mountains and the ocean ect. But I really got hooked on Macrophotography, (closeup photography). That opened a whole other world of wildlife, the one under our feet. And I learned that I could do this at home, or at least close to home, (a lot less expensive). And was fun. I still do Macro, but now with a Digital SLR.
About 5 years ago, another friend who plays Dobro, was wanting to jam with other people. I told him, "I used to play a little guitar, but didn't have one right at the moment." He was nice enough to lend me one of his guitars and a steel guitar he never played. It didn't take to long to get back into the guitar, albeit a lot slower than before, but practice would cure that. But the sound of that steel guitar he let me use, got into my mind and soul. I always loved old country music, and I had to learn this instrument. I started research, and found that the pedal steel guitar might be what I was really looking for. Again I looked at want ads, (online this time) and found an old Emmons single neck 10 string pedal steel. I found a teacher in the area, and started playing. Since then I ordered a custom built single neck 12 string pedal steel. There nothing like the sound of the lonesome crying of the steel guitar.
My intention here is to combine some music, be it my own or from others, and nature photography. This is my first time with a blog, so bear with me, it may be a little rough at first.But I do hope the experience will be enjoyable for all of us.
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