My interest in photography began as a college student. One of my student jobs involved processing film and making black and white prints for the Engineering Department.  It occurred to me one day that with my new skills and a fully equipped professional darkroom at my disposal, I ought to have a camera.  Epiphanies like this come to people who spend their lives in the dark.  So I purchased a Nikkormat camera, a case of Plus-X film, and began photographing the world around me.  I did enough of it that I could visualize my surroundings in B&W.  However, over the years this ability has eroded, as my interests turned to color photography.

Then it happened; one day I awoke and found myself married with a growing family.  I had precious little time, money, or energy left for photography.  My camera languished on the shelf for decades, being dusted off only for vacations, birthdays, and Christmas.  I'm not complaining. If I had to do it again, I would not change a thing.

Today my favorite photographic subjects are my six grandchildren followed closely by flowers and birds - beautiful, colorful, wonderful subjects.  Several years ago it dawned on me that my job, as an engineer, was actually interfering with my picture taking activities (Can you imagine that?) so I retired. 

Many thanks to NVPS members for twelve years of friendship and for the only photographic training I've received.  I must admit, I do occasionally read a book about photography so the blame does not rest solely upon NVPS.

Early on in my photographic endeavors, I used Nikon film cameras and shot almost anything that was foolish enough to get in front of my lens.  After a few years photographing like that, I purchased a 4 x5 view camera and shot B & W landscapes exclusively.  For guidance, I studied Ansel Adams' six books on photography.  I now use to Canon digital cameras with lenses ranging from 12mm to 800mm. 

Paul Simmons