Ken's Photo Vision - My Photo Journey Page

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My photographic journey... wow, where do I start? Ya know, truth be told, this wasn't a natural progression for me. I mean, I've always liked good photographic work, but it never grabbed me at a young age like it did for so many other people. I bought my first "serious" camera, a Minolta XG-9 with a 28-85 Vivitar zoom lens and a rickety old tripod, from a roommate right after I arrived in Germany when I was 18 for $100. I didn't really know what I was doing, and didn't shoot much, but I actually got some very nice photos. After I left Germany I rarely shot anything. Sometimes I would go for a couple years and never even pick up the camera.

Fast forward to Spring 2000. I went to use my trusty Minolta and it was dead. Took it to a local camera shop and it's death was confirmed, so I decided I needed to upgrade. I told the salesman what I wanted to do, what I expected from a camera, and let him guide me. I was not up on the current industry at the time so I was at his mercy. He steered me to Canon products, and in hindsight, for several reasons, I'm glad he did. I got a Rebel 2000, a 28-70 zoom lens, and a 75-300 zoom lens. Since it was a big purchase for me, I worked the guy like a dog for almost three hours. I had to laugh at the end of the transaction, because he let out an audible sigh of relief when the credit card was approved.

Then something miraculous happened... I caught the "photo bug". Didn't see that one coming. Out of nowhere I became fascinated with photography and never looked back. Since then, I've bought a few more cameras, greatly expanded my selection and quality of lenses, moved into medium format, and have finally embraced digital to the point that I am now in the process of slowly selling off my film equipment... and here we are.

Ken Boardrow
February 2008