I am an avid, albeit amateur, photographer. I've been in Flickr for a few years, and I like the experience. Some of my photos have a Creative Commons license, mostly CC By. Most are rights reserved, but if you are interested in using a photo, contact me. I have model releases for some photos featuring people, but candids and street photography can only be used for non-commercial or news purposes. I can take my signature/watermark off a photo for your use.

I got my start in photography when I was about 12 and discovered my mother's Brownie 620 camera that she used in the 1940s. It was in good shape and I was delighted to find out that film was still available for it. For a static-focus camera, it did a pretty good job. I began collecting more cameras, including a Kodak Disc.

After my graduation from college that I inherited my father's Bay II Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera. He bought it while stationed in Japan during the Korean War. Having a camera with adjustable focus was a completely new arena for me. I still use this 120 film camera today, even though finding film labs that process it is getting very difficult. My wife bought me a B&J press camera that takes 4x6 sheets. I have very few shots with this camera as the film and processing are prohibitively expensive (I'm also not so good at loading the film). Case in point:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/zaro_sc/2730888098/in/set-72157627573364256]

I've collected other cameras, many that just sit on a shelf. I have a Conley that takes 116 film. As you cannot buy this size anymore, I made a cardboard insert that allowed me to use 120 film in it. I have a couple of shots on Flickr taken with that camera.

It wasn't until I was in my 20s that I has the opportunity to work with 35mm SLRs, but I primarily worked with the Rollei.

In 2002, my wife bought me my first digital camera, a 3.2 mp Olympus. It took a while to figure out how to override the automatic settings, and I began to get some good photos from it. A few years later, I graduated to a Canon Rebel xTi. It was a great transition as my wife and I had used a Canon Rebel 35mm for a few years, and the lenses just snapped right on. I dislike snapshots, so I very rarely use the automatic settings on the camera. That camera I passed on to my big sister, and I now use a Canon T3i.

I hope you enjoy my photographs. I try to only post those that I feel are the best. Of every 1000 photographs I take with digital media, I usually only have a couple dozen that I really like. Of my medium format photos, many more are to my liking because I painstakingly set up the shot, evaluating my f-stop and speed carefully. Digital has made me a bit sloppy, but I have been able to capture sporting events in a way that I never could with the Rollei.

Cheers!