Calm Photos

During my childhood I was very fortunate to have contact with and influence from several adults who encouraged my love of nature and photography. An interest and talent not forced, but rather something that grew effortlessly from the opportunities placed before me - opportunities to explore, experiment and learn.

I’ll never forget those subtle powers of positive influence.

And so now today it is my responsibility to “play it forward,” not only in encouraging and helping young photographers just starting out but also providing my own daughters with opportunities to discover their own unique talents and passions. As I stated earlier today in an email to a friend, “no matter how much money one has, a person has a moral responsibility to make the most of his or her talent. That responsibility increases ten-fold when one becomes a parent.”

This past weekend I introduced my eight year old daughter Emma to nature photography during a trip to Hocking Hills. She’s starting out with the same camera I used when I was about 11. She’s learning the basics with a Pentax Spotmatic F, a 50mm lens and a tripod. She had already become use to the convenience of a point-and-shoot digital, so teaching her how to load film and manually focus and adjust for exposure took a little time. However, sometimes shooting photography completely manual, and with film, is the best way to fall in love with the art of the craft.

Who knows whether a seed took root or not. If it did, then it probably won’t be long till we build that black and white darkroom at home. What’s most important is presenting the opportunity to learn and explore, and having lots of fun in the process.

And a few more shots of my own -