My Journey as a Photographer

Looking back at the way I became interested in photography has made me realize how lucky I have been to have had two father's who were influential in my upbringing.  At age ten, I received my first point and shoot film camera in 1960 from my father, Dave Ryan. I took some pictures with it while visiting Rome, Italy for a sixth month stay with my family. My step-father, JohnHuggler, a composer and jazz musician,  had received his first of two Guggenheim Grants. The next camera was another point and shoot until I graduated in 1968 from Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachusetts.

My father, Dave, was the first to recognize the value of photography, having taken darkroom instruction from the prominent photo-journalist of that time, W. Eugene Smith in New York City. After my father, Dave, moved to Japan, he sent me my first good 35 mm camera, the Asahi Pentax. It didn't have a light meter, so I purchased one and started on my journey by learning the basics of setting f. stops and shutter speed according to the light meter's recommendations. From those beginnings, I had the Asahi Pentax, Chinon, a Canon A-1 and then the Nikon 8008s film camera and a Bronica GS-1 medium format. In 2006, I got my first digital camera and after having two other digital cameras, I traded John's old Nikon camera system for a Nikon D300.

My father, John, became interested in photography, as well. He had the opportunity to meet Ansel Adams during one of our summer vacations driving through California. My mother, Mardean and my father, John, were both very supportive of me pursuing photography and had given me several of Ansel Adam's photography books.

When I moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona in 1977, I became more involved with photography by contributing to the local newspaper, and my photos were published in local magazine publications. I, also, took a  taking a darkroom class at the community college which led to a job at the newspaper.

In 1997, I moved to Mesa, Arizona where I have become very active with photography Meetup groups. I am out as often as possible taking pictures of the subjects that interest me most. I enjoy many subjects such as landscapes, desert flora, birds, abstracts in nature and abstracts in architecture. Please visit my website to see the variety of images that are for sale. The link to my website is www.tamryan.com.

This is a Father's Day tribute to both of my father's (and my mother, of course) who have been very influential in helping me develop my interest in photography. It has been the passion of my life to learn more about photography and to pursue the next image that inspires me.