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My father (he's wearing sunglasses in the picture below, and holding me on his lap) was an avid photographer when I was
young, and I loved to help him develop and print his black and white photos in our darkroom. Most of the time he used slide
film, though, so one of my unachieved goals is to scan and organize the thousands of slides of my father's that my youngest
brother and I have now.
| A Family Reunion at Newport, OR |
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| Taken by Marion Strong, 1953 |
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This photo was probably taken by my mother, Marion Strong, since she is not in the photo, and my father is. I'm
not certain of everyone in the photo, but Uncle Jack is next to my father, Aunt Ethel is looking over her shoulder, and Grandma
Davis is standing next to her, at the end of their table.
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I began taking pictures on a little Kodak Brownie that my older sister had used before me. As a teenager I got my own
Kodak Instamatic. In the early days they had surprisingly good optics, and my father was amazed at how sharp the pictures
were. There are a few that I still like well enough that I will probably include them in my online photo album. Sometimes
I even got to use my dad's good camera. I never did get to take it anywhere with me, though!
When I was in college, I still used my Instamatic. My favorite model was my little brother, and when he was a preschooler
I taught him how to take pictures with my camera - his first photograph was of our grandparents' artificial Christmas tree.
I only mention this because he is now a freelance professional photographer, and I like to make sure I get at least a little
of the credit for his skill and interest in photography!
Over the years I have used a variety of makes and models of cameras - some SLRs, some point-and-shoot, most of them with
some sort of zoom capability. More recently I have learned a bit about digital photography, using borrowed cameras.
The day after Christmas 2003, I got a "belated" Christmas gift - a Canon EOS Digital Rebel! (They had been sold out before
Christmas.) It's an SLR, so I can use the lenses I already had for my old Rebel. Without having to worry about processing
costs, I can finally shoot to my heart's content, which I have certainly enjoyed doing for over a year now! For Christmas
2004 a couple of my kids gave me a new, lightweight tripod with a handy carrying case, which I have found very useful. Digital
photography can be a lot of fun -
Still, there is something nostalgic about having that negative or slide, a tangible connection to the past...
| Walking on an Oregon Beach |
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| by Bill Strong, abt. 1957 |
Bundled up against the cold |
No matter what the weather, we took long walks on the beach together whenever we could.
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Hundreds of snapshots and slides document our lives, remind us of times that are gone, keep alive in our memories the
love that shaped us.
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My family has an afinity for photography...
*My maternal grandfather's uncle was a professional photographer a century ago.
*My father worked as a photographer for the Oregon State Highway Department a half century ago. (He was also an engineer,
designing highways at the time.)
*My youngest brother is a professional photographer right now.
*All 6 of my children have won blue ribbons in open class and 4-H at county and state fairs, starting as young as
2 1/2 years old.
*My oldest son has been an avid amateur photographer for most of his life. He recently did the digital photography
and graphic design for an employee brochure for the local utility company where he works. He has sold a number of his photos,
and is in the process of setting up his own photography business.
*My youngest son is interested in becoming wedding a photographer/videographer.
*My niece-in-law has photographed several weddings.
*I've even had the chance to be the "official photographer" at a few weddings for friends & relatives.
*Most recently, my 4 year-old granddaughter has been taking her own photos with my digital Rebel; the results are in
her own section on this website. Check out the photos on the "Little Camera Bug" link on the left.
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