When I was about ten years old, my dad made the mistake of handing me his 35mm camera. Its was an old Olympus OM-2P, the first model to include the Program feature, which was a nice thing to have when learning how to use the bloody thing. Since then, it's been an addiction of sorts, that crazy urge to seek out new sights and hear the shutter clatter away like a mad little fiend.
I still have the original camera.
Digital has made life a bit easier, but the lack of heady chemicals filling the air and long nights bent over a table, focusing an enlarger, has been a bit of an adjustment. On the other hand, the ability to experiment and tweak each little detail is much easier these days, so it's a worthwhile trade in the long run.
You don't take a photograph, you make it. -- Ansel Adams
Rich currently lives just outside of Atlanta, GA and takes custom commissions. His day job is designing solutions for a vendor in the broadcast and media space, but he tries not to let it get in the way of his birds or photography too much.