Masters Of Imaging
Masters Of Imaging
E-Mail: MastersOfImaging@Gmail.com
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Photography Activities
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Masters Of Imaging!
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Richard Brooks, Landscape & Wildlife Photographer, Presents: "Light, Capture & Composition: A Vision of Nature." - July 18, 2010
"Looking Forward"
Richard Brooks, born in Cambridge Mass in 1940 his father was the one that introduced him to photography, for he was an amateur photographer as a young man. Dad's camera of choice was a 4x5 Speed Graphic, and my first camera was a Diana type camera that was a gift at age 7.
My first experience taking pictures was of the annual Memorial Day Parade, after taking pictures of the parade I dropped the camera and it broke open and all the photos were lost. I never touched a camera again until I was in the military which is when I purchased my first 35MM camera and became seriously interested in photography, although my work was very amateurish. Upon returning home from the military my father began teaching me about the process of developing film and making prints, this he was doing in his home darkroom. Dad was so serious about photography that he had a darkroom included in the design of the custom home he had built.
My first job after returning home from the service was in the camera department of a local department store in the Boston area, and that is where I purchased my first serious camera, a very dusty Exacta VXIIb 35MM, which I had found hidden away in one of the stores showcases. I think it was very much out of place simply, because the store was in the business of selling Instamatic type cameras, not pro type 35MM cameras. I borrowed the camera for a few weekends and soon learned that with that type of camera my work improved, or maybe I just finally was tapping into my creative side and the camera gave me some additional tools in which to broaden my technical skills.
I bought the camera and then shortly thereafter signed up at the Wentworth Institute's photography program in Boston. I attended classes at night at Wentworth for a year where I learned to refine my skills, not only in the field as well as in the darkroom. While still working at the department store, only now I was a store manager, I met a local police officer who shot weddings on the weekends in order to earn extra money. We became quite good friends and he offered to let me assist him in shooting some weddings. Eventually, he retired from the police department and moved away from the area but not before he agreed to sell me his camera equipment, which was a 4x5 Speed Graphic with all the bells and whistles. I picked up where he had left off and continued to shoot weddings, portraits and some commercial work. I was even able to contract with a local supermarket chain called "Stop and Shop," to shoot all their store openings as well as their promotional events.
This was around 1967, but soon tragedy struck. I was on my way home after shooting a large wedding and stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat. While in the restaurant, my car was stolen from the parking lot and all my cameras, as well as all the wedding photos were lost. As I was under insured; I was not able to replace my cameras and as a result I was no longer able to continue my commercial photo pursuits, not to mention that loosing the wedding soured me on ever doing that type of work again. It was a horrible experience, especially when I had to tell the bride and groom that I had lost their entire wedding pictures. They were not pleased and threatened to sue me and at that point I retired from commercial photography, and began photographing scene's and wildlife for my own personal pleasure.
I did recover enough money from the insurance to buy a Nikon F2, and slowly over the years was able to build a nice selection of glass for the F2 and continued to use it for all my photography until about 5 years ago when I purchased my first digital SLR, an Nikon D100. During the interim, I also had purchased a Nikon F100 which is what I have done most of my serious photography with, still using the F2 as well as a Hasselblad. I did not consider the D100 a very serious camera but seeing things were heading in the direction of digital I felt I had better get on the bandwagon, experience had shown me that when trends start to change they usually do not stop.
Since that period I have also added a few other systems to my photo gear, and now shoot with a Mamiya RZ67, D300S, D3, and F5, as well as the F100. I now have retired my F2, it has served me well and deserves the rest.
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Masters Of Imaging photography-networking workshops are open to everyone, especially people with a common interest of photography. Beginners, amateur photographers and professionals are welcome. Reservations with payment must be received (10) days prior to the event. Phone 626.692.8987 Please you must request an application to enroll E-mail us at: MastersOfImaging@Gmail.com “Don’t Miss Out – We Sell Out!” |
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Masters Of Imaging
