I’m a definitely amateur photographer.  I took a class as an elective at San Antonio College, and I thoroughly enjoyed the class.  I bought a nice used 35mm Pentax for that class with a 50mm lens.  That Pentax was a screw mount for the lenses, so I picked up some nice used Takumar lenses for it after the class.  I think I have four or five lenses for that camera.

Around the time I finished that class, my dad was using a nice Canon outfit, and, to have interchangeable lenses with him, I bought a twin camera for him — I think Montgomery Ward had a package deal, and I took advantage of it.  Dad and I never really had an opportunity to share lenses, and my dad is a much more involved photographer than I am.  He does beautiful photos.  I mostly take snapshots.

A year or so later, a friend gave me a Leica from the late 50s – early 60s.  This is a lovely camera, but, again, I don’t really use them, and with the advent of digital photography, the 35mm film cameras have stayed on the closet shelf.

I bought a nice digital 5 megapixel Sony DSC-1 camera in 2003 before taking my mom to Italy for a NATO trip — I worked and we both had a little fun.  I replaced that camera last year when I decided I wanted high definition video capabilities for videoing the kittens.  My current digital camera is a 16 megapixel Fujifilm Finepix F550EXR.  Since I got the iPhone 5 in November, I tend to use it a lot for photos, too.

I like the ability to take a nice photo.  Except for the iPhone, all my cameras have the capability to be either fully manual or fully automatic.  I tend to be lazy and use the automatic mode, but I like the idea that I can control it for certain shots.  Unfortunately, I don’t use the manual features enough to be comfortable with them when I need them.  As for the old 35 mm cameras, I need to find a collector who can give them a good home where they will be appreciated.