Sailor by trade, photographer by choice.

My first shot at photography came back in high school, as the yearbook photographer. My father gave me his old 1962 Pentax, pre-Spotmatic, screw mount 35mm. I shot for the yearbook for my junior and senior years.

After high school though, I shelved the camera, for a career in the Navy. Until 2003.

2003, my wife began taking classes at SDSU. One class was a black and white photograph class. She had to shoot a number of different things, and then develop the photos herself. I started back, as her grip, just carrying her bags, setting up tripods, and chauffeuring her around. She had purchased a Nikon FA, but we had a Nikon 4300 digital at the house. I started bringing it with us, and while she was taking her shots, I'd shoot a few of my own. I can't tell you how I longed to have the old 35mm again.

The next semester, though she had no photography classes, we continued to shoot for a bit. Then she got pregnant, and near everything was shelved, since she wasn't feeling great through most of the pregnancy.

2005, after a few years on hiatus, we came back around to photography, when I picked up an old K1000. I always liked Pentax, and for 10 bucks, I couldn't go wrong. I eventually picked up an entire darkroom setup, and began doing all my own processing. Then in late 2006, we joined our first photography group, the Southeastern Connecticut Camera Club.

That led to an explosion in our photography. The only thing was, that we were nearly the only film shooters, and we WERE the only black and white film shooters. We started thinking our way towards digital.

By Christmas, I was sure I wanted to go digital, and when my beautiful wife said she wanted to go digital with the tax money, I fell right in line. After a good deal of research, I picked up a Pentax K10D.

What inspires me? Street photography. I like to wander the streets of the city, and shoot what I see. There's so much personality in the city. Gorgeous art to homeless sages. What inspires me to shoot? Watching my kids play. There is nothing more innocent. What inspires me to shoot? That piece of thing over there. It's just right.

www.lawayman.com