Townsend, Tennessee

While visiting relatives in Johnson City, I had a chance to drive down to Townsend to check out the 20 acres we own and to look at mountain dulcimers that are made in town. The tree covered hill in the background is our upper property and the lower property is behind me where I stood to take this photo in early February. It looks warm and I was not wearing a jacket but it was about 35F.

My daughter gave me a Motorola v300 phone for my birthday a couple years ago. She wanted to get me something that would allow us to stay in touch and cater to my interest in photography. The trick is to capture some moment with the limitations of a 320x230 micro camera in mind. In other words keep it simple.

Backyard photographer

I first became interested in picture taking in the 60's when I was given an old 35mm camera with manual settings. From that point I got hooked. I joined a photo class and spent time in the school darkroom, buying darkroom supplies and thinking I could do this at home. After getting married, I bought a Minolta SRT101 and later an XG1 which I still have. My interest in creating my own prints eventually caused me to look for a house that had room for a darkroom.

30 years later, that darkroom is full of old computer junk, and I migrated to digital photography. I can't say I ever took a fantastic picture or printed a photo that dazzled anyone but I never have lost my interest in beautiful photographs.