My interest in photography began around the age of 12.  My parents gave me a vivitar instamatic and told me to go find miracles.  A few years later I received my Yashica 35mm for an Xmas gift.  It was a real camera with an attachable flash. Wow, I thought I was something else.  I took shots of friends, family, my dogs, horses and Harvey, my turtle.  I went on to several 35mm film cameras and was know as the “mom with camera”.  I got my first digital point and shoot in 2001 and really felt like I was climbing the ladder.  I could actually see how cool my images were and also lots that were not so good instantaneously. I literally took my camera everywhere.

 
Fast forward to 2004, I got my first Nikon D50 with actual interchangeable lenses. Now we are talking very cool serious, big, black, real camera. My two youngest children, Zach and Kiki were in High school and I became the official photographer for all of their sports, football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and track.  All the parents wanted me to shoot their kids because they all figured my camera was bigger and fancier looking than theirs.  At the end of the season I would take all my images and make digital scrapbooks for the athletes. Once the yearbook found out I was always shooting at every event they requested my images for use in the sports sections of the yearbook.  I will say it was flattering but no paycheck, volunteerism right!

At the same time I was PTA President for the high school and attended the annual California State PTA Conventions.  The state tech guy approached me and he asked if I would be interested in shooting all the candids of the convention attendees.  Not realizing I would be on my feet 14 hours a day shooting, processing and uploading my images so that they could be viewed on the jumbotron daily at all the events, I said sure no problem.   Once my images were up on the big screen everyone wanted their pictures.  So of course I gave them to them.  The State President then requested I be given “all access” and she wanted me to come up on stage and shoot all the award winners. Oh my goodness, this was turning quickly into a real job.  Did I mention I’m a volunteer so hence no paycheck.  The guys on the tech deck informed me I should definitely be getting paid because I was working my rear off and they said I actually took good photos.  I definitely need to think about the whole getting paid thing.

I had the typical starter lenses that came with my camera and had a blast.  I purchased a wide angle for volleyball and a zoom for soccer shooting. In 2009 for Xmas my kids bought me my Nikkor 18 200mm 1.35-5.6 G ED wide angle/zoom which was actually heavier than the camera body not to mention more expensive.  My daughter, Kiki informed me that I needed to get a bigger, better camera body to go with my new bigger, better lens. She said my D50 looked like a baby Mickey Mouse compared to the new lens. But of course she would like to acquire my D50 naturally.  I purchased a D90 and fell in love immediately.  It could do so much more and was a huge challenge to learn.  But I knew I was up for the journey.

I decided I needed some education in regards to interfacing my computer with my camera so I took Photoshop CS3 beginning, intermediate and advanced.  I also found myself reading my camera manual trying to figure out what all the menus were for…. By the way I’m still reading.  I enjoyed the classes and eventually the instructor asked if the class could use my images to work with in class.  Of course I said sure why not.

Now you all know my friend, Liza Rosales well one day out of the blue she asks me if I would like to join the photography club she belongs to.  Talk about intimidating, I sat in the back of the room and didn’t talk because I was so overwhelmed and interested in learning everything from all the members.  Clearly, I didn’t want anyone to ask me any questions because they all know so much more than me. I went to as many workshops and outings as possible. I found that mostly everyone was willing to share his or her knowledge and have enjoyed it immensely ever since.

I love to shoot just about everything.  I enjoy portraits, sports, landscapes, special events, babies and weddings. I don’t think I have found anything I don’t like to shoot. I find moments through my lens that take my breath away.

I would like to thank Mike, Lauren, Russell, Otis, Eddie, Wanda, Ron, Rick, Craig, Aaron, Phil, Paul, Gilbert and of course Liza. They have all at one time or another let me ask my crazy questions and helped me out without making me feel uncomfortable for asking.  It’s a big learning curve and I am enjoying every single bit of it.  Our club is great and you can get out of it whatever you are willing to put into it.  We have a huge range of skill levels and a place for everyone.

Thank you for this honor it is very much appreciated.

Deb Salazar


 

My first exposure to photography was when I was 8 or 9 years old. My Dad gave me a Kodak 104 Instamatic camera. I remember going to NY Mets baseball games, taking pictures and being frustrated because the players were so small and I couldn’t get “closer.” Over time I lost my interest due to frustration and concentrated on music.

When I was in Singapore in 1990, I purchased my first film camera, a Canon EOS 650. I enjoyed the electric zoom lens and started taking photos and learning about the camera and film. I was finally “closer.”

As a returning saxophone player in the early 90s, I started photographing other sax players to study the type of equipment they were using, mainly mouth pieces and ligatures. The principal photographer for the Hyatt hotel in Newport Beach mentioned that I had a ‘good eye’ for capturing musicians. It was photographing musicians that peaked my interest in photography.

 
As a musician, I knew how aggravating it was to have flashes going off during performances, so I started teaching myself how to capture images without the use of flash at evening concerts.

Primarily self taught, I started taking classes at Saddleback College in the Adult Education division with Laura Hoffman. I didn’t know what I knew, so I needed some formal education to see what I did and didn’t know. Turns out, I knew my equipment very well, but was clueless about light. Laura’s classes taught me about light and made my image captures better. It was Jay’s lighting demo in the first Photo III class where I developed an interest for studio photography.

Today, I’m primarily a portrait photographer. I love to create images that evoke a mood or feeling. What I see through the lens is how I view the world and all of the beauty it has to offer. I photograph model portfolios and have been published in several contemporary jazz artists’ websites and have two CD jackets under my belt with more coming.

I’ve also been published in manuals written for remote control car manufacturers in the toy and hobby industry as well as product photos for music and saxophone companies.

Currently I’m one of the Image Specialists at Smugmug, and host studio classes for Laura Hoffman’s Photo III and Portrait photography classes.