Published on June 01, 2018
Photography has been a big part of my life for many decades. It all started when I was in high school and my uncle who was a camera collector gave me my first camera a Minolta SRT 101. My camera went with me everywhere I went. It was a tank compared to today's cameras and one time while hiking I accidentally dropped it off a cliff. When I retrieved it, I just continued shooting pictures. I graduated from college with a BFA, my camera always with me shooting plays, rock concerts and sporting events. One of my first jobs was managing a Camera Store and there I had the opportunity to buy many lenses. I use over 50 different ones today both automatic and manual focus.
Photography has been a major part of my work history. I both wrote and took photos for four newspapers and for magazines at the worlds biggest publisher McGraw-Hill. My photography has won awards at the state and national levels. At McGraw-Hill I produced 80 publications a year this included photography for covers and content.
I moved to Oro Valley seventeen years ago and fell in love with the Arizona sunsets but in 2014 I developed cataracts on my eyes and could only take photos using autofocus cameras and lenses. The condition worsened and I had to have surgery on my eyes in 2015. After the surgery I had a scare with one eye that the vision was blurred for a few days. Eventually my vision returned to 20/20 and I literally saw everything. I stared to notice the birds flying, details in the trees, the mountains and the people around me. I really saw everything for the first time in my life. It brought me a revitalization in my photography and an appreciation for nature and the wildlife in our beautiful community.
I can be contacted by phone at (520)465-2835, email address Photowordsmith1@gmail.com or you can go to my website at http://slvn13.wixsite.com/photowordsmithhtml