My very first camera was one of those you hold
below you and look into the magnified lense.
My first picture was of a cloud overhead
with the rays of the sun coming out
on all sides. As a kid I took pictures of
everything, my dog, the trees, clouds in the
sky, creek beds with snow covered banks, and yes,
sometimes I even took pictures of people.

Many years later, I worked at Illinois State University and I took a black and white photography class using a Pentax K1000 (all manual). Settings were drilled into our heads, and to this day, I remember them. That class was invaluable, as automatic settings rarely give me the look I want. Today I use a Sony Cybershot (5.1 megapixels, 12X optical zoom).

Below is some of my work over the years:

 

Christmas - 2005. One of the few times I get together with my family at this time of the year, my sister had a beautiful tree and I saw an opportunity for some close-ups and natural lighting. Click on the images below to see a larger version.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

North Georgia Chamber Symphony Christmas Concert - 2005. This is a poster I designed for the orchestra at North Georgia Georgia & State University. I did both the photography and layout. Yes, that's my violin. Click on the image below to see a larger version.
 

 

 

Christmas Card - 2005/2006. After I had been asked to design a poster for our orchestra on campus for their Christmas concert, this shot was one of the ones they did not pick for the poster. I loved it so much, I had to do something with it. So it became our Christmas card. Click on the image below to see a larger version.
 

 

Xmas Violin - 2005. These are additional pics I took that were not used for the orchestra poster. Click on the images below to see a larger version.
 
 
 
 

 

Portraits - I don't take pics of people very often. However, children make the best studies. And it's capturing their spirit that's the trick. The B/W pic was done back in the late 70's and is the daughter of one of my co-workers. The color pic was done in 2005 and is my great nephew (don't let that angelic smile fool you).