Night Skydiving Photos

Want To Be A Photojournalist?

They say the odds of becoming a front page photojournalist are extremely thin. I really believe that but I also really believe that you can accomplish what ever it is you set out to do. I have never been good at sitting

When I signed up for a writing course the very first thing my instructor emphasized was, read a lot of material. I should have thrown in the towel then but that's not me. To make matters worse the course I had chosen was writing for children I thought it would be fun. I mean how much brain power would it take to create children's books with very limited wording per page. You know, Rusty The Zebra Has A Bad Day At The City Zoo, kind of thing. But turns out its way more complicated than that. I had forgotten that I hated English 1 in school or it hated me. Either way it was my adversary. My writing instructor drove home the point that I should just be myself when writing but then she went on to re-write all the assignments that I turned in. I suppose when the course was completed I had learned something but I never did publish a children's book. So I chalk that one up to experience for later application.

The next wild idea I came up with was to become some sort of a photographer, perhaps wildlife. After all I love the out of doors and spend a lot of time in Idaho's back country. The opportunities would be limitless, I thought. After all Ansel Adams did it with black and white photos. Photo technology had made leaps and bounds since the days of black and white film. It should be fairly easy to break into some level of photography and make it pay.

Oh Yeah, I would Need Equipment!

I was really enjoying the photography course but it was putting financial demands on my wallet. Probably the first thing one realizes when getting involved with photography is that skies the limit when it comes to

I also think back to how much firewood I cut, split and sold to pay for it. In those days one just didn't dip into the financial cookie jar. I poured through the photography equipment magazines in search of cheaper lenses that would fit my new camera. I finally found lenses by Tamron that fit the wallet but would involve more wood cutting. I really didn't mind it offered more time in the beautiful Idaho forests.

With camera in hand

I was learning a lot from my photography course and the new camera and lenses were producing great photographs. But I still had no idea how I would make any money at it. A friend of mine had recently started a business photographing weddings and other social events. I watched him go through the gyrations of trying to please both sides of the family, I deduced that it wasn't going to be for me. I continued honing my skills taking pictures of flowers, babbling brooks, scenery and wildlife. All very enjoyable but it wasn't putting anything back into the old cookie jar.

I guess it was providence.

By Danny Bell - I became interested in writing in 1980 when gold prices had gone through the roof. With pencil and pad in hand I wrote down all I knew about gold mining. It actually became a published work, "Placer Gold Fiel...  

BASE jumping at night in Vegas

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