Any glance at these pages will reveal a great many illustrative photographs, almost all of which I've taken myself.

I've been fascinated by photography from the time I first learned to flinch from a flashbulb. One day when I was eight years old, I stumbled upon our family's Brownie flash camera and, heart pounding, snuck to the door of the house—somehow, I knew I would not need a flash for outdoor photography—opened it, and snapped a quick shot of the giant oak tree across the driveway, before furtively returning the device back from where I'd found it. There were only 12 shots per roll in those days but it was still months before my mom finally took the last picture and dropped the film off at the drugstore to be processed. When she got the prints back a few days later—there it was! A picture that I had taken by my very own self!

Even better, for some reason I did not get into trouble. I'm not certain Mom even realized that photo hadn't been one she had taken.

There are photos I've taken that stand alone, regardless of whatever story might lie behind them. This section of my site is devoted to them.

Click the links below to see the pictures I've taken on various subjects.

My Photo Albums

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 4,377
Hashtags: #Photography #Photos
A collection of my favorite photos taken at planned photo opportunities.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (163 words)

I took my first photo in 1958, when I was 7 years old. (I saw Mom's camera, grabbed it, and quick took a shot out the door of the house before returning it. No, I didn't ask.) I've used cameras that used 120, 620, 127, and 35mm film (both black-and-white and color, prints as well as slides); digital cameras of increasing megapixels since their introduction. I've learned to use various types of scanning equipment as well as editing software from Microsoft Photodraw 2 (2000s) to Adobe Photoshop and finally, mostly, settling on Zoner Photo Pro.

Preserving Your Priceless Past

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 3,532
Hashtags: #Photography #History #DigitalPhotography
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (185 words)

It wasn't that long ago—two centuries or less—that ordinary people simply had to rely on their memories to recapture their pasts. Prior to 1790, anyone who wanted a visual representation of a person or event had to commission a painting of it—a relatively expensive proposition, and one which did not guarantee accuracy. And yet, now, everyone and his brother has a digital camera of amazing capacity located in their cell phones.

Special Photographic Techniques

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 2,833
Hashtags: #Photography #Techniques
Snapping the shutter is just the beginning, if you want eye-popping photos that grab the viewer's attention.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (123 words)

When I was a teenager, my classmate's dad taught me how to develop black-and-white film and to make prints. That technique included tricks for dodging highlights, burning in dark spots (both techniques now replaced by HDR filters), and increasing or decreasing brightness and contrast. It was all done by modifying times, apertures, and chemicals (even the temperature of the chemicals!)