From 110 to ASP-C

I started out with a broken 110 film camera my step-dad gave me at about 10 years of age. My goal at that time was to catch people at awkward moments and not cut off their heads.

After taking a picture of my grandmother wrapped in a towel exiting the bathroom, head intact, I realized that I had reached the pinnacle of my portrait career and headed outside to capture wild animals in their natural habitat.

After such ground breaking images as "Pheasant in Driveway" and "Troy Feeding Deer" I was well on my way as a world renown wildlife photographer.

I received an SLR for my graduation in '85 and took it to Europe where I brought back many rolls of film. I took that Minolta X370 with me everywhere for the next few years and it never left the "auto" function as I didn't understand the dynamics of shutter speed, aperture, and film speed.

After that, life got in the way with a career in sound and then video cameras and finally graphic design. Though still a part of my life, photography took a back seat to the new and cool geek gadgets.

In 2008 I moved to Colorado from Oregon and started messing around with a point and shoot video camera with limited still shot capability. I came across an interview with Trey Ratcliff and was blown away by his HDR photography, I didn't know pictures could look so good. I sold some video gear and in 2011 bought my first DSLR, a used Nikon D7000 and here we are today.

Photography has resurged as one of my greatest passions and looking back on my wandering life of video and graphic design I can see how it has shaped my lifelong love of photography and I believe my pictures are better for it.

—Gary Tompkins