How I First Became Interested in Photography
Universal Mercury II Split Film 35mm Camera
From absolutely zero experience in photography to where I am today as a photographer… When I was a young boy I was always fascinated about how things worked and would often take things apart to see what they looked like inside. I did this with everything from mechanical clocks to old electric appliances, and there were times when I got in trouble for doing so, because some items worked well when I took them apart, but not so much when I had spare parts left over when I put them back together. But that was early on in my trial and error of being a mad scientist and as time moved on, I got better and better at this, making very few mistakes and those that I did make, I went back and fixed fairly quickly.
I remember when I was 15 years old, and during that summer there was a family reunion out at Ninette, Manitoba; where my Mom was born and where my Grandma and Grandpa Pettitt were still living. My Mom’s oldest brother, my Uncle Gordon was a Professional Photographer, who owned Pettitt Studios in Castlegar, BC and I recall while I was eyeing one of his 35mm cameras (all film still back then) and thinking it would be interesting to figure out how this thing worked. Before I could get into more trouble my Uncle walked up behind me and asked me if I’d like to take a couple of photos, which I gladly jumped at the opportunity to do. After the reunion we all went home and I thought nothing about this until I got a letter from Uncle Gordon 4 months later. In that letter he shared the photos I had taken and told me I had a good eye for taking photos and offered me the opportunity to go out and spend time with him the next summer where he would teach me all about how to take photos and how the cameras worked, and then how to develop my own film. At the time my Dad was sick with cancer and I wasn’t really interested in doing this, but wrote back to let him know that perhaps in a couple of years I would like to take him up on that offer. I never did take him up on this offer, but sometimes life gets in the way.
Universal Mercury II Split Film 35mm Camera
When my Dad was a young man working for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Northern Quebec he purchased the Universal Mercury II Split Film 35mm Camera that you see in both my lead photo and the one above, showing both the back and front of this unique camera and as a 16 year old boy who was interested in photography, I was gifted this camera. The original Mercury II cameras took special film, but these later models from the late 40s and early 50s used regular 35mm film and for each frame you ended up with two photos, which were tall and narrow. So when you bought a film roll of 12 you would end up getting 24 photos out of them, which was kind of cool at the time. I took a few photos of family and things around my home and neighbourhood back then, but sometime between then and when I became an adult those photos were misplaced while I moved from one home to another. 
Universal Mercury II Split Film 35mm Camera Leather Case
With my curiosity peaked about old cameras I started seeking out older models of cameras, and let friends and family know that if they had any laying around that they weren’t using anymore of that weren’t working to let me know because I would be interested in obtaining these. The cameras that I got back then were all given to me and each of them needed some TLC to get back into working or display condition again. Some of these I had to send away as in the case of a bellows camera to have the bellows replaced and others where parts were no longer available I would go to local machine and specialty shops to have certain parts made, but in all but one case I was able to restore those cameras to perfect working condition again.
Eastman Kodak Brownie Box Camera
I had two of the Kodak Brownie Box Cameras that needed to be repaired with one where the winding mechanism was broken, but found another old one that the lens was broken and the winding mechanism worked perfectly. So with the “parts only camera” I found enough parts to repair both cameras and with the second one only needed to do some additional gluing of the material covering the box where it was coming apart. Once I was done repairing each camera I would buy some film and test the cameras to make sure they worked properly. It was always a lot of fun and satisfaction at being able to take something that was broken and make it work again, and no spare parts like from when I was a young boy.
Eastman Kodak Bellows Pocket Camera
With the Eastman Bellows Pocket Cameras I ended up with three of these, and none of them were working. I managed to get two out of the three back in working condition and tested, but the last one I had found in a box out in the garage from one of my relatives, that had been sitting out there in the elements for many years. It was badly rusted and all the moving parts had totally seized, and even after applying rust break and other lubricants to those parts, I couldn’t budge them at all. So because I didn’t want to break anything, I cleaned the whole camera up and painted over the rusted areas that were visible with a rust proof paint and this camera was then for display only.
With each of the above photos, because one of my sons now has my collection of old cameras and I am not able to currently access these, I have used images of the same makes/models that I found online for display purposes only so that you get an idea of the kinds of cameras I had collected at that time. The next photo is of my own current camera that I use for all my photos today.
Nikon D780 Full Frame Camera with 24-120 f/4.0 Nikkor Lens
As I became an adult who was married with a young family my photography mostly took a back seat to everything else, and pictures were only taken of events such as Vacations,Birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas. But I always knew that I would go back to doing what I was then and still am now very passionate about and with 50+ years experience in photography, I continue to grow my skill sets both in taking my photos to be the best they can be, but also to become more skilled at post processing my photos in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
I also enjoy sharing my photos on social media, but when I do so I prefer to give a back story of how the photo came to be, along with some technical data about the subject matter, which in my case is 99% Wildlife and Nature Photography. At the same time, I offer advice on how to take photos and which cameras might suit a person for their specific needs. I find that by sharing this on social media, I am becoming more and more interested in the teaching side of photography and because of this, I will be following the next chapter in my life by offering both indoor and outdoor workshops beginning in 2024.
If you are interested in learning more about my workshops click on Photography Workshops on the menu bar above and then on each specific workshop from there.
Until next time…