My first art show

I’ve been taking photos since I was 12 years old. That’s when, after a little begging on my part, my parents and my Uncle Steve, an avid photographer himself, combined my Christmas and birthday (which is in January) gifts and got me a used Nikon EM, a couple lenses, some film and a flash.

My desire to have a nicer camera came from a more practical place, though. The year before I was a sixth-grader at Colerain Elementary toward the end of the school year – the last before I headed off to teenagerdom, seventh grade and Colerain Junior High School I took several photos of my friends and classmates. The camera I used was a 110 I earned by selling greeting cards door-to-door in my neighborhood, a venture started after I saw an ad on the back of Boys Life magazine (though I had always wanted the top prize, a 13-inch black and white television, I never was able to sell the required number of “units”). After a day of photographing, the photos came back all grainy and dark. I was convinced I needed a new camera to avoid such a calamity in the future.

Once I got the EM and some nice folks gave me pointers on how to take good photos (including Mr. Corcoran, the shop teacher at Colerain Junior High and my Uncle Steve), I began to develop a deep love for the hobby. It’s actually responsible for the career path I took into journalism and writing – a whole other story.

I’ve taken a few photography classes over the years, but not too many. Much of what I have learned is self-taught or learned informally from other pros and hobbyists. Recently, though, a local art dealer and critic happened to see one of my photos and asked if I had more. Before I knew it I was invited to show some of my work at my first-ever art show. Needless to say, I’m super excited. It’s 5 to 8 on the evening of March 27 at the United Way Building, 2400 Reading Road. More details will follow as I learn them…