REEL Good Shots

WELCOME

They say that the best way to mark the miles of your life is with a journal. I’ve been a diary keeper from time to time in my life, but haven’t really been dedicated to authenticating my experiences with written word. Change is good.

The reason for change is that we want to remember, organize and validate our treks and tracks and bring you along with us. We shoot Colorado beside the road, literally, and once we opened our eyes to what IS beside the road all kinds of vistas opened up.

Roy and I have been photographers for almost as long as we’ve been married – which is a while. We fell into the camera trap when we bought our first 35mm SLR Mamiya-Sekor, way back when. Six months later, we bought a second one. A color head enlarger (Omega B66 with diachoric filters and dial in color) was essential to our happiness. Then we needed bigger and better lenses (who doesn’t??) so we ended up selling our little Volkswagen Thing for $500 over debt and buying a Vivitar Series 1 - 70-210mm macro/zoom. It was a fabulous lens (way better than a Thing!). In fact, its optics were ground by Canon and were some of the first completely computer generated lenses ever made. It became my special baby. We still have the lens (even though it has now been retired to the collection shelf). At that time, Roy started to perfect his ability with flowers. Often he would shoot multiple 35 exposure rolls of Kodakrome 64 film without ever taking the same flower twice. Colorado is a gold mine of wild flowers – I’m sure you’ve noticed, if you’re from here or have visited, and he became a master at capturing their allure.

Then life got in the way and we had to focus on other things for a few years. The cameras always were in our lives, but with less intensity. However, in 2005 and a grandson later, we rediscovered the art form. Roy researched the new lines of equipment available and bought our first digital SLR, a Canon Rebel XT. We fell in love with the medium all over again. And once again, a second camera soon followed, then a third, fourth, all Canons, along with prime, wide angle, zoom and specialty L series lenses to boot. And I’m sure we’re nowhere near the end of our journey – in fact we’re just beginning, one more time.

The journal will be organized by season; however, the entries will not precede 2009. When we either take off in the car for a drive or weekend away, or end up on a 10 mile hike training for a 14er, I would like to share our time with you. We shoot everything; barns, old buildings, coyotes, squirrels, birds, moss, trees, windows, streams, clouds, lakes, mountains, and of course flowers, just to name a few. Come along and enjoy. We do.