I learned to love photography from my father, who took thousands of pictures during his life time, first beginning with a Leica M2, and then later in life, several Canon models.

After getting my first job in 1978, I purchased a Canon A-1 for about $700 (hey, I had to spend the money on something). My father loved the camera so much, that he requisitioned one for his hospital - he was the Administrator at the time. But alas, he complained that my A-1 took better pictures than his, er, the hospital's A-1 did, and so he usually borrowed mine when ever he could.

Unfortunately, the A-1 was lost in house fire in 2005, and I've since replaced it with a Nikon D200. Needless to say, it's a bit more complex than the A-1, but I'm loving it more every day.

One of these days I'll probably add an old Nikon SLR to my outfit; there is something about taking pictures on film that is lost in the bit-bucket of digital SLRs