My mother was a shutterbug. She was in charge of the family photos. “Cheese” was the magic word to make us smile, even when we didn’t feel like it. This was back when Kodak film was the standard. After a roll was completed it was dropped off at the drug store for processing. A few days later, prints would be ready for pick up.
She would sit for hours at the dining room table meticulously recording all the particulars on the back of every picture. Names, ages of children, location and date. Then each photo would be carefully placed into an album. It was ritual. I suppose I may have inherited some of my shutterbug tendencies from her. Thanks mom!
But, if memory serves, it was my Uncle Rhio who gifted me my first camera, a “Diana”. I was only five or six at the time and it was 100% plastic, basically a toy. Nevertheless, it required real film and real processing which cost real money. I’m sure my parents were not thrilled. So, it didn’t take long for Diana to “disappear”.
My photographic itch was rekindled in the early 1980s with a new point-and-shoot by Olympus called “XA2”. It was the perfect little pocket camera. Small and sturdy, yet capable of creating great “candid” style photos.
My first 35mm camera was a second-hand Olympus OM10 SLR with 50mm and 135mm lenses. I bought it in the late ’80s from the parents of a long-ago girlfriend. They were generous people who wanted nothing for it. But since it was practically brand new, I left $50 on the kitchen counter. Definitely a bargain!
For many years, the XA2 and OM10 went everywhere with me. In ’99 they even went to Estonia. As old as they were, they still worked well and I was glad to have some options in terms of focal length. But, I soon realized Tallinn’s Old Town was a subject worthy of upgraded equipment.
The next year I went back with a Nikon F100 and two lenses, a 28-70mm and a 80-200mm. The latter provided much longer telephoto reach compared to the 135mm. I’ve updated this lens many times over the years. To this day, it remains my favorite.
Over the years I’ve continued to update the camera body. In 2003 I transitioned to digital with a D100. This saved a ton of money in film and processing costs. Then it was a D200 followed by a D700 and a D3s.
