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Canon K2 (The Film Years)

    I was cleaning/packing for a move and found the drawer that all of my old/broken work cameras were stored in. It seemed like a great time to go through my photo collection and walk down memory lane. I'm breaking this into posts by camera starting with my first work camera, the Canon Rebel K2. 

    My dad bought me this camera when I gave up pre-med and was taking my first photography class in college. It was a black and white film photography class, which was dying out but still around. He got it for me at a Ritz Camera in Washington, PA. I used it for about two years before I retired it because it had an electrical short that no one could solve, and I couldn't trust it for my work as a photojournalist at the time. 

    Below are some of the notable adventures I had with this camera:

    I already mentioned the B&W photography class, and while none of those photos really stick out to me (let's be honest, they were bad), the class itself deserves an honorable mention because of the impact it had on me personally and started my professional career. Shooting black and white film has a way of teaching you a lot. 

    Long before I traveled a lot and saw the world, travel was novel to me. I was in the college's journalism club, and we took a trip to Detroit for the national convection of the larger organization. My mind went wild with all the things to see and capture on this trip. I hated pretty much everything about it except a few of the photos. Mainly, there is one photo I like of the GM building. I learned a lot about travel photography in hindsight on this trip though. 



    I got sent to cover a Hillary Clinton campaign rally as a press photographer at a nearby college. It was way to dark for my regular grade film, and I think waiting for the photos to get printed missed deadline. I can't even find those photos now, and maybe that's for the best.

    I took that camera everywhere. To every random event I went to. Every renaissance fair, museum, art festival. There was also a lot of people badgering me in this stage to do free photos of their family events. This was the most professional camera anyone I knew had ever seen at the time, which is hilarious to think about now.  

    The last time I shot with this camera before retiring it and switching to digital was a trip to Washington D.C. A friend of mine and I drove down for the cherry blossom festival. These were some of the only shots I liked with this camera. That trip is still some of my favorite photos. I've gone back many times since, but my digital photos and better skills never feel as magical. 



That's about it for this opening phase. As I get into the digital phase, hopefully the photos will get better and the stories will be more interesting. I don't think that walks down memory lane and nostalgia in general are ever interesting to people who weren't there though. 

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