I have worked in the photo industry for the last 42 years. I actually started my first job on my twenty first birthday, after having applied there many times and being turned away because I had no experience before they finally hired me, which is a fact I did point out to them (that I would never get any experience if nobody hired me for lack of experience
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During the time I was applying for that job, a few people had been hired and they had all left shortly after being hired, because they did not like it
I worked at the first lab for about a year and a half, at which time I crossed the country to make the west coast my home. I have had two jobs since being here, my current one miraculously lasting 36 years. A lot of changes have happened in that time, both personally, and professionally. The biggest change in my personal life was my conversion, becoming a Christian in 2004. The biggest change professionally was the transition to digital.
Digital has many advantages, including the ability to majorly play with the images more than you really could before. I like playing with images
How much talent I have may be questionable, but the drive to create, not so much
I love losing myself in the creative process
I am also grateful that others appreciate the things I have created with what God has given me. I like sharing what I have learned