5 frames, 40 years, 1 camera

As 1984 got into full swing, I started getting more commercial photography work and wanted to get a professional camera. Since I owned a Canon ftb and an A-1, I decided to stick with the Canon line. Los Angeles, California was hosting the Summer Olympics, so Canon released an Olympic edition of their new F1. This was the camera I bought. Now here I am in 2024 and F1-n and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary together. I can honestly say that I have gone to places and situations that were only because of this camera. It has always given me the confidence that I will get the opportunity.

During our 40 years together we have photographed an eclectic collection of scenes and moments both personal and commercial. We even traveled to Bogota, Colombia in 1992 to take photos for a group of men on a mission. These five frames barely scratch the surface of everything we’ve experienced, but these images are personal favorites from every decade since our collaboration first began in the summer of 1984.

80s

This first photo is part of what has now become my longest-running personal photography project, which began in 1978. I call this series “People, Places and Moments of Dallas County.” Dallas hosted the 1984 Republican National Convention and Ronald Reagan was nominated for a second term. In conjunction with this event, the Texas Longhorn Cattle Association trailered 100 to 150 longhorns and held a cattle drive each afternoon for convention attendees. With my F1-n in hand, I photographed the afternoon cattle drive in the 100+ degree heat in August. I ran along the bank of the levee just before the ramp and ran down next to the cowboys and cattle for a brief moment to take a few photos. I ended up photographing the longhorns at sunrise and sunset over several days with the skyline as the backdrop.

90s

Frame 2 is from another personal photo project entitled ‘Harvest Festival Memories’. For more than 75 years, the West Texas town of Brownfield has held a parade and festival every October. From 1986 to 2022 I photographed for eight different years. Since that time in 1986, the majority of this work has now become a photographic historical record of the festival and the city. In 2023 I exhibited a small selection of this work at the Terry County Heritage Museum in Brownfield. This is the city where I grew up and graduated high school, so the 2023 exhibit was a way to honor my classmates and hometown. The opening of the exhibition was the kick-off for our class reunion. This photo was taken during the 1996 festival and is titled ‘Sweepstakes Winner’. The Terry County Fair and the building where this photo was taken, the Armory, are no longer part of the festivities.

2000s

My wife and I had been married for eighteen years (see my post “The Romantic Travelers”) when we got the exciting news that she was expecting a baby! To say that the birth of our daughter changed our lives forever would be an understatement. So many photography projects have come about because of this little bundle of joy that became my muse. One of those projects was photographing her on the first and last days of school, from kindergarten to graduation. She graduated from college in May 2024 and I photographed her just in front of the Montessori school where she started her new job as a teacher. This image from 2002 is our daughter in a baptismal dress from a family heirloom. I added a slight warm tone.

2010s

Back to my long-term project in Dallas. I started my skyline reflection series in May 1979 on my Canon ftb and Ektachrome 64. Normally the Trinity River is within its banks and invisible. In May 2015, there was record rainfall in the region, putting the river in flood stage. During this outing, F1-n experienced what I think could be the end of our time together. The mirror mechanism malfunctioned, so most of my shots were not properly exposed. This is one of the goalies, cropped into a panoramic image.

2020s

The initial diagnosis for my beloved F1-n was not good, but eventually I found a repair technician in 2022 who was able to get everything working properly again. YES! My 5th frame is from last April 2024. April 8 to be exact. Dallas was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse and my beloved F1-n and I were in the Trinity River basin to capture this unique (to me) event. I photographed forty minutes before totality and forty minutes after at six-minute intervals. This is one of four photos I took during the 3 minutes and 47 seconds of total darkness. Another bit of history for my Dallas series that has now spanned forty-six years.

Epilogue

As my F1-n and I celebrate our fortieth anniversary together, I wanted to raise my glass to a great mechanical companion. Thank you for all the wonderful places you took me. May we share many more years together. Greeting!

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