My Love of Photography
Sunset at Lucas Wharf on Bodega Bay, a frequent destination for sunset scenery
My grandfather (Herman Bland) immigrated from Poland as a teen and owned movie houses in Chicago in the 20’s and 30’s, before TV. No surprise then that my father was a photographer. As a teenager, carrying a Bell & Howell 16mm movie camera, he documented his family’s return to Poland in 1937. The films were donated and are now part of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Nearly 70 years after his passing, excerpts from my father’s film were included in Ken Burn’s 2022 holocaust documentary.
Growing up in Indiana, I always had a camera in hand, beginning with a Kodak Brownie, a Polaroid instant camera, and early in my 20’s, my Nikon F. I went to “the Race” nearly every year, with a coveted Pit Pass. Moments before the start, I grabbed this image:
The starting lineup for the 1977 Indianapolis 500, in which Tom Sneva in #8 won the Race from the middle of the front row. Scanned from original Kodachrome shot on my trusty Nikon F Photomic.
I first started shooting pro racers at Mt. Snow, VT, and had a cover on Ski Racing magazine. A few years later, one of my photos was selected by Associated Press, and ran in newspapers across New England.
About a decade ago, I got serious about my photography, starting with a one-day wine country photo workshop with Bob Holmes. Bob was the first photographer to be honored twice by the Society of American Travel Writers with their Travel Photographer of the Year Award and he is the only photographer to be given the award five times, most recently for 2017. We became friends, and I did four more workshops, including Cuba (Havana, Trinidad and Bay of Pigs), Vietnam (Hanoi, Northern Highlands, Sapa and Halong Bay), Oaxaca and Tuscany. He has been a mentor, an inspiration and a fun travel buddy.
Just before the Tuscan workshop, I switched from Nikon to Sony. Got to know Sony Alpha Universe people, Sony Pro Support saved my arse more than once, and I was invited to several Sony events, including Kando 2 (Asilomar) and 3 (Sunriver). The GM lenses are great, and I carried a small kit of a7RV, the GM2 trinity and a 135. My wife and I each shoot iPhone 17 Pro models, and are amazed by the quality, resolution, intelligence and features of the iPhone. The latest post-processing applications – I use LR, PS and Topaz Photo AI – continue to improve and incorporate the latest AI features.
Today, autofocus across all brands can identify people, animals, birds, insects, cars, trucks and airplanes no matter how fast they are traveling. This frees the photographer to focus on composition and light. I have come home to Nikon where it all started for me. It really doesn’t matter what gear you use. What you see and how you capture it matters far more.
You can see a collection of some of my favorites images here.
