It all Began in a Little Town…

I’m not a blogger, writer or orator by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to share my photos with you, plain and simple.

I’ve always had a love of photography. Some of my earliest memories are with one of those Kodak Instamatic cameras my mother owned; you know the ones with the little blue flash cubes on top. I wasn’t allowed to take many pictures as it would be a waste of film and flash and it was quite expensive to buy. It would be used for special occasions like Christmas, birthdays, graduations and weddings. I loved the sound it made when you took a picture, I loved the little blue flash cube, I even loved the sound and feel of the packaging the film came in!  I’m pretty sure I didn’t inherit my photography passion from Mom however, because as I browse through the photos of my childhood, many of the pictures were off center, out of focus or headless. Yes, you read that correctly: headless. I’ve spent many times trying to figure out who was in the picture  based on their body shape and clothing choice.

That’s me in the middle (eating a lemon cream biscuit), my sister Margie and brother Gary. All in all, it’s still a pretty cute pic! I guess you could say looking at these oldies was my first photography lesson: How to Frame a Picture.

In addition to that camera, my mother had a really old camera she got as a present from my grandfather Reynolds. It was one of those kinds where you had to look down through the top of the camera to frame the shot. Don’t get me wrong, not all the pictures Mom took were like the one above. She took some pretty awesome pictures on that old camera, like the one below.

That’s my Nan McCarthy holding my brother Paul and that’s Dad sitting in the background. This is such a great capture. I love it.

As time went on I toyed around with my sister’s Polaroid camera she got for Christmas one year. I thought it was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen! You take a picture and a few minutes later you had the developed image right in your hands. It was like magic. Again, though, I was limited to the number of pictures I could take because first of all it was my sister’s Christmas gift and secondly, film cost a fortune!

That’s me and my new “Walking Doll” I got that year for Christmas. This picture was taken with Margie’s Polaroid.

Mom’s cameras and my latest addition.

Photography has come a long way from those days. From then up until now I’ve had several of my own film and digital cameras. I’ve loved each of them dearly and took many pictures with them. Every single photo I’ve taken I cherish. It shows us how far we’ve come, yet how far we still have to go!

That’s me doing a self portrait in one of my Christmas tree ornaments. I’m not a fan of getting my picture taken. Maybe that’s why I like being on the other side of the camera.

My goal for this site is to share with you some of my favorite pictures I’ve taken over the years and the ones to come in the future. I’m not much of a people photographer. Most of my photos are of animals, landscapes and nature in general. I like it that way because birds and other creatures won’t complain if I take an unflattering snap of them. They can’t say “Can you make me look ten pounds lighter”, “Remove my wrinkles I look too old” or “Watch out for me slope.” Ask my sister in law Sharmane about that last one!

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy viewing my pictures as much as I’ve enjoyed taking them. I promise any “blog” I post from this point forward will be short and to the point!

P.S. I occasionally take pictures with my iPhone which takes some pretty great shots, I must admit! So you might see a scattered one from that as well.

Until Next Time,

Andrea