Donald A MacDonald

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Inspired by the work of Ansel Adams I decided to take up photography as an avocation in the early 1970‘s, and started to take photographs with a 35mm SLR camera. Adams’ work was not only an inspiration to photograph but through his books I learned the basic techniques of photography. Because of his influence I approached 35 mm photography with a view camera mentality, frequently using slow fine grained film and a tripod to obtain maximum sharpness and depth-offield. Never completely satisfied with the small view screen and small contact sheet images, I moved up to first a 6x6 SLR and then a 6x7 press camera. Finally, in 2007 I purchased a 5x7 view camera. At last a large focusing screen, large contact prints and camera movements. In 2011 I retired from my 20 plus-year career as an environmental scientist and made my avocation my vocation.