My first camera, which I bought at Kmart, was a 35 mm Yashika Electro 35 GSN Rangefinder. I bought every book on photography I could find and over time I was taking some decent photographs. Lots of family photos at first. Then I started taking it to work and taking shots of my coworkers. Some at work, a lot more at company functions. Then there were the beer league softball games and the Friday af
ter work gatherings at the local saloons. Lot’s of Tri-X pushed to 800 to get the dark bar shots. And Kodachrome slides for the outdoor adventures. Then I bought a real SLR, a Minolta SRT201. Picked up a hot shoe flash and I was in business. My son Chris was naturally the main focus of my shooting back then. I still have a very large box of prints, negatives and slides that I keep telling myself I should sort through and scan. Someday…
Then I moved into a stranger world and left the camera behind. I joined the Comedy/Music group “d’strbd” out of Attleboro MA. It was a short lived group, but I got to act in comedy skits, write and sing some songs, and play my Les Paul on stage with some amazingly talented people. After the group dissolved there was a short span of just playing music in a friend’s cellar. Not to get gigs, just to have fun. But the creative juices had been unleashed. My next stop was Attleboro Community Theatre. I primarily ran the lights, but there were some acting roles. The next move was joining with my son Chris and other son Mike in DarkCell Productions making indie films. It was a great time working with them and seeing ideas come to life, from the script to the screen. And the countless hours it took were a pleasure, not a chore. We still do films and probably always will. Wish I had been using my camera and documenting all these episodes in my life. Which is why I am never without a camera now. You never know…
The newest chapter is being written now. I got some money together and bought a Canon 450D/xsi DSLR. It took a little getting used to after all those years of 35mm photography. But as I dusted off those skills and merged them with digital camera menus and editing software, I found out where I wanted to be. Taking photographs of bands and solo performers. I blended my history of performing with my camera skills and had found the road I wanted to travel. And that is what I am doing. I hope you enjoy what you see.
