Introduction to Tony

Hi everyone and hope you enjoy my new blog!!! I'm hoping this will grow in popularity and that I can offer you useful and fun information on a few topics. Some of it will be about me, so that you can get to know me better, most will be about photography, and some will be about health. And, of course, anything else I can think of to share with you that you will hopefully find interesting, enjoyable, informative, and fun.

Because this is mostly a photography related blog, let me start here. I took my first photos at age 7, with a metal box camera that cousin gave me after he returned from Germany (he was in the army). Fast forward about 16 years, and I bought my first Nikon while in the Air Force. I got it on December 31st, and shot the Rose Bowl parade the following morning. Talk about a fast learning curve! During that time, I learned how to develop B&W film, and print pictures (digital photography was still far in the future). After the Air Force, went back to college where I became the yearbook photography editor, and shot thousands of photos. I also got married, received my B.A. degree in Psychology, and then moved to Santa Barbara. Since then, have been a nightclub photographer for the Jockey Club in Marina Del Rey, worked for a talent agency in Beverly Hills, photographed headshots and composites for models and actors, and in 1991, opened a health food store in Santa Monica (Here's To Your Health).

I am now in the planning stages to continue wedding photography again. I had photographed around 15 - 20 weddings prior to the 1990's. Since that time, wedding photography has changed from more formal and stiff poses to more candid, photo-journalistic, showing more emotions, and also more relaxed photos, which I personally prefer - but will be happy to follow whatever wishes you may have. Another BIG change was the switch from film cameras to digital, which has soooo many advantages, which I will cover in my next post. As well, I will add some of my past wedding photos to that post (they were shot with film, then scanned - but because of their age, and because film deteriorates over time, please keep in mind that they may not be perfect. But thanks to PhotoShop, I was able to fix them quite a bit).

But for now, it is a beautiful sunny Sunday, and the paddle tennis courts in Venice are calling me, so gotta get out there and play some.