As I was growing up, photography was very special, typically occurring during celebrations of birthdays and holidays. Other occasions, like building a fort around a tree in the yard or playing a game with siblings and neighbor kids, were also made special when one of my parents emerged from the house with a camera. It was magical to me. A simple click using a block-like device began the anticipation of what we would see later on paper, a part of the celebration stopped in time. Whatever I felt when the image was captured was rekindled each time we viewed a new package of photographs. I was lucky to get to play on my parents' Kodak Instamatic - another block-like device, flash cube, and all - and experienced the magic real time when my father had a Polaroid or two. It was the beginning of my journey.
The journey continued, but slowly when I received my first SLR - a Pentax 35mm film camera. I was an itinerant photographer, distracted by demands of school, working, and life in general. Nonetheless, I never lost my love of the magic of capturing moments. Landscapes, gardens, and scenes during vacation travel were my main subjects.
When I decided to retire from the corporate world, I could bring more concentration to creating that magic. The photography world had changed from film to digital - real time magic, like Polaroids, again. And although I had moved to the digital world, I hadn't spent much time really learning what I needed to know to make good images. Digital cameras had so many more options than my old film cameras. And now, the darkroom was on my computer rather than in a distant lab that processed my images. I decided to try to determine if the love I'd been professing to myself was real by enrolling in photography workshops. Those offered by Valérie Jardin met my objectives - long enough to immerse myself in making images, stretching my eye and courage in the area of street photography, and traveling through France in Normandy and Paris.
I confirmed my love of making images through the workshops. I also confirmed I have a long way to go if I want to be good at it. I was surrounded by extremely talented individuals who typically saw things differently than I and made amazing images. My rudimentary knowledge of how my camera operates got in my way more than I wished it had. I wasn't real intentional about what I was shooting, so ended up with many, many more images than I needed. I learned a lot and confirmed I have a whole lot more to learn. I gained a level of confidence about making images that led me to create this site. I want a place to not only share my images, but to document my photographic journey.
The first workshop in Normandy was pivotal for me, so I've chosen to begin my documentation there. Honfleur, France, is a beautiful port village dating to the 11th century on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine River. We spent time around the harbor, toured the streets of the village, and took in the sights of the local market. What a beautiful place to begin!
A snapshot of Hotel du Cheval Blanc, Honfleur, France, the "ceremonial" starting point of the continuation of my journey.