Here We Go!

Well, this is it, the great experiment. Is there anyone out there who has any interest in my side project away from my day job?

Photography has been my escape for a long time now, but I’ve never done anything more than occasionally sharing my pictures with my wife or another family member. But, over the past year, a slow progression has led me to this, taking the leap from making a Flickr account, then an Instagram and Vero, to putting a few prints up for sale in a local restaurant (The Crowbar and Grill in Laramie, very highly recommended!), to this, creating my own website. Who knows what will come of it, but I’ll give it a shot!

My photography adventures started as a teenager, borrowing my grandpa’s 35mm Minolta Maxxum 7000 on family trips into Yellowstone, and I was hooked from then on. I definitely wasn’t very good, and I don’t think any of those images even exist anymore, but it was a starting point. Eventually, grandpa moved into digital with a Canon Rebel XSi, and I think I used that camera as much as he did. Not too long after that, I moved off to college at the University of Wyoming where I took an introductory photography class and got my own kit, a Canon Rebel XS with the kit EF18-55mm. Being a poor college kid, I definitely couldn’t afford any other lenses, but I made do.

I kept at it through college but didn’t take anymore classes. And once I graduated, I started into my career as an electrical engineer, and my hobby started to fall to the wayside, my camera gathering dust in my closet. But then, the pandemic happened, and I needed a new hobby to replace my Magic the Gathering addiction that wasn’t really an in-person option anymore. Photography was there waiting for me. I slowly started to add lenses and upgrade my gear. I started to follow YouTube photographers like Thomas Heaton and Kyle McDougall and learn whatever I could from them. Then came a foray into film photography over the last year, a hobby which I’ve enjoyed sharing with my wife. Now, here we are!

I’m still learning at this, and there’s a decent shot that there’s no audience for any of my work. But I’ve certainly spent money on dumber things than taking this chance, so let’s see what happens. Thanks for taking this ride with me!