Hello, my name is Patrick Spangler.
I have enjoyed taking pictures most all of my life. Even as a young boy I was fascinated with cameras, from the time I saw my older brothers and sisters with the old Brownings with the film that had to be developed and Polaroids and the quick savers where you just took the pictures and sent the entire camera in and when you got the pictures back you also got a new camera. I drifted away from taking pictures for a while but have always had the urge to do more with photography.
I remember a time when a friend and I were fooling around when he had a neck brace on and I had him hold out his hand flat like he was holding something at shoulder high. He posed there and I took the picture. Little did he know that I made him look like he was holding up the car across the street.
My time away from cameras I spent working and raising a family, occasionally taking time to do a little photo taking. I spent thirty-three years as a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters while working as a mechanic for a large truck leasing company. While there I enjoyed being a shop steward. A shop steward is a person who is the first line of defense for fellow employees when the company thinks someone did something wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed protecting my fellow workers.
As time went on and the revolution of the digital camera I purchased my first digital camera which was an Olympus. A small, compact style camera that fit into the palm of my hand which I did get good pictures but I was still missing something. Yes, a better camera, and better pictures, so I got a new Olympus a few years later that had more thing-a-mah-jigs and buttons and levers. Zoom lens was in and I used the heck out of it. I was very happy with that because I could zoom in on a subject to get a better close-up shot. There is one thing I could not do with that though, I couldn't get the shots close up from a long distance. Now we all know what that meant, a new camera and bigger lens.
I got a good camera with two auto focus lenses. One of which was an 18-55mm zoom lens and the other a 55-200mm lens. I love them both. Then I got a few more lenses so I could take better pictures while in a building that has nothing but florescent lights and also to protect my zoom lens. When taking extreme close up shots of small items I needed another lens. You can see where this has gone. Longer distant shots needed a more powerful lens, back to the think tank and more lenses. This meant getting a 35-500mm Bower zoom lens, manual focus with a doubler so now it goes from 35mm - 1000mm and great shots when adjusted properly. That was good but I also wanted something that could get some real distance, a Rokinon 650-1300mm lens with a doubler to make it to 2600mm, this lens is great. Great shots a mile away and pretty good shots even up to 4 miles away. Scenic shots atop of hillsides and mountains are unbelievable, not to leave out taking pictures of the moon at different times of the month to get great shots of the craters of the moon. Along with the heavier lenses I had to acquire sturdier tripods.
I have taken lots of photographs of friends at parties, weddings and other types of gatherings. Recently I did a five hour photo shoot for a friend as her senior year in high school grows closer to an end. We went to several places where she liked.
Having a photograph taken professionally and placed in a frame or just loose to be placed in an album is always one that is remembered. Being able to be yourself and have a professional take your photographs whether it is for a personal or professional picture, a family Christmas or Hanukkah, Baptism or Bar Mitzvah. Sharing the event with family and friends later on with a CD of all the pictures taken is a great treasure. Remembering everyone that attended the glorious event.
I will be taking pictures while also setting up and growing a 4,000 square foot garden to assist as a photo studio, which should be completed by spring of 2014.
Thank you for reading and I hope to be taking your photograph soon.
Image by Pat
Patrick Spangler,
Photographer
