Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Painted under an overpass along the Kalamazoo River

I’m a writer. Yes, we all know that, and most of you know I’m into photography, too. This is something I do for fun, not money. My heroine in the Bull Rider Series is a photographer. Not just by coincidence.  Her view finder is filled with a cowboy. Wish mine was. But, I digress.

Equipment:

My best camera is a DSLR Canon Rebel T3i. (Digital Single Lens Reflex) This is not my dream camera, but a camera I’m happy with for now. Prior to this I used a 35mm Canon Rebel film camera. I loved that camera so much. I have many lenses and filters, and other accessories. Thankfully, it all transferred over to my new Canon—my reason for purchasing the same kind of camera.

Of course, the problem today is if you don’t use a digital camera, you’re stuck in the dark ages. You know that place—the place that existed when everyone put their pictures in real book albums, and not the Internet. Even when I used film, I kept a small digital with me.

On my last trip to California—my small digital quit working. It worked on the plane.

Somewhere between here and there.

I took pictures out the window. Okay, I’m one of those people. I discovered this in the airport in San Francisco while waiting for a hopper to go farther north to where my son lives. Here I was on vacation and going to a beautiful place without a camera! Fortunately, my son had an extra one that was better than mine. Yay!

When I returned home I went back to an old digital with hardly any special features, but at least I had a camera along with two memory cards, extra batteries, and a case.

I have another new Canon now, a point and shoot. It has lots of options and is small enough to drop into my purse—a gift from my oldest son.

Creativity:

Being a creative person, I love creative photography—not only to snap a picture because it’s something to take a picture of—but to look for something different in an everyday occurrence. My advice to capture creative photos is to start looking at things in a different way.

In an old life, I’d I walk along a river trail with my camera. There’s always something to see and so often I’d hit the shutter button. See an old fallen tree? Look close. I found one once… The way it had fallen against another tree, it looked like tree “A” was holding tree “B” in its limbs. (arms) See, that darn romance writer muse slips out all the time. Trees embracing! Kinky.

Capture the Moment:

A few years ago I took a photography class called “Capture the Moment.” It was one of the best classes I ever had! Field trips with this class was all kinds of fun and a great learning experience. The instructor taught us how to take pictures creatively. My instructor had an expensive DSLR—my dream camera—my goal.

Kalamazoo River

Along with creative photography, I like nature photography. That’s why the river trail was so awesome. Things along the river are always changing—trees fall, water rises, or goes down, and colors change. It can be dry and brown or pretty Kelly green. Yes, in this climate, there is also snow and ice. The river trail used to be my favorite place to take pictures at that time in my life. Then this happened. I’ve since moved.   ↓

Kalamazoo River

Allegheny Mountains:

Allegheny River & Mountains Tidioute, PA

When I had a place in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, I loved taking pictures of sunsets dropping below the mountains, the Allegheny River, or the path in the forest with crispy brown and/or yellow and red leaves, animal tracks, boulders that seemed to come out of nowhere, and blue sky through the canopy of trees.

Even the black bear that visited the cabin against my wishes would have made a great photo. If only I had my camera the day I came across a big black bear while walking all alone. I wished to be able to document my death as his claws raked over me. Oh, back to the story—no attack. Whew, that was scary though. By the way, the Enchantment Series books take place there. (Out of Print)

Memories:

There’s nothing like looking back at photos and reliving the memories. At times I do take people pictures, and my main purpose for that is for memories or gifts. Especially photos of my kids who changed as fast as a heartbeat.

Safe Keeping:

Most of my photos are in my computer now, on flash drives and an external hard drive. On occasion, I will look through my photo albums. Yes, the ones you have to flip through page by page. Some are weathered and worn, but I’d never trade them. Sometimes, I’m quite proud of my photos. Other times, like when I just snap a picture without planning–well, I’m not so proud, but I still have the memory. I went through a lighthouse phase and photographed nearly all of the lights in my state. It was a blast.

In the Blood:

My picture taking started as a child. Maybe it was because my dad always took lots of pictures. He gave me my first camera when I was very young. I don’t know what the reason is for my love of photography, but I’m glad for it. Both of my boys are excellent photographers. I guess it must be in their blood.

If you have a hobby that you love, find time to have fun with it, too. Nowadays, I need to practice what I preach, for my DSLR hasn’t been used for way too long.