My recent foray back into photography started out as an experiment. My jazz vocal teacher and mentor, Ronnie Wells, learned that I was a photographer and asked me to take new headshots of her and Ron Elliston. There was a slight problem…Ron was not really agreeable to the idea. Ronnie finally got him to relent but I was a bit nervous, especially if they didn’t come out. And anyone who gets Ron Elliston to do something he really doesn’t want to is in for a bit of a…But in he came in his coat and tie and sat patiently while I set up my shots. I took a few shots and the conversation started. This was going well. Then Ronnie came down and sat on Ron’s lap. The images I saw through the camera were beautiful. I witnessed a very private moment that not many people get to see. And the pictures ended up gracing the cover of their album – a Very Precious Love. What an honor!

Photography has been a part of my life since…way back. One of my earliest memories is of my father taking close-up pictures of the hand-painted ornaments on our Christmas tree. He was working with a new Minolta he got on some overseas trip. I remember, at one point, jumping in front of the camera with a ceramic angel, just as the he clicked the shutter. I think I’ve suppressed most of his reaction but the part I do remember involved talk about lumps of coal. This had been one of the more intricately set-up shots – completely ruined by a naughty act.

But I remember liking the effect it made on the slide. It was a big blur apart from this faintly focused angel in one corner.

So I suppose you could say my interest in photography started at an early age. My first camera, though, was one of those long flat contraptions that took 110 film. I think I used up my very first roll of film taking pictures of ducks and chickens at the Erie County Fair.

When I got older I started using that Minolta. I would abscond to the sidelines of my high school football games with that old Minolta to capture the hunky athletes on the football field. It was the best place to be, amongst all the action - much better than being a cheerleader. I felt like I had private access to the boys’ world. Eventually the thrill of getting a good shot outweighed the proximity to guys . . . and, man, was this good fun!

After high school, I fled to the Bahamas where I traded the Minolta for a Nikonos and tried my hand at underwater pics. I once spent a very long time waiting for one of those Christmas tree worms to come back out of its hole. Not being an overly patient person for such things – the UW photography never became a favorite.

Photography eventually took a back seat to work in other things and study but I still kept my hand in.

Taking pictures became a profession when I lived in Australia. A good friend handed me her small business taking tourist photos when she and her boyfriend moved to Europe. It wasn’t the most challenging photography career but it I met lots of interesting people from all over the world. And it was enough for me to get through school.

Oddly enough, that friend showed up again years later in one of those crazy ‘small-world’ incidents. She was the baby photographer in the hospital where my daughter was born and walked into my room the morning after the blessed event. And, she eventually set me up with her part-time job taking baby pictures when her daughter was born.

When I moved back to the Washington DC area, I joined the Elliston Music Studio Jazz Vocal Workshops. EMS Studio is one of those amazing places where you instantly feel at home. It’s a tight-knit, group of wonderful musicians, many of who were in need of good headshots too. So I dove back into a photographer’s life…Headfirst…and it seems MY daughter has followed me in.