Brief Love Story
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Brief Love Story
by J. Ramón Palacios

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And so it began
  Medium format
  35mm SLR
  The Exaktas
The first Nikons
  Her ...
The kids
and the Exaktas
The Nikkormats
The FE2
Into the land of Nikon
The MD-12s
Upgrading ...
The F4s and beyond
» An endless love story ...
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An endless love story  ...

I could have chosen the route of Contax or that of the Leicas and not the one of the Exaktas and finally Nikon, the very same way we could have been born Buddhists or Mohammedan. Maybe that is not so relevant, even knowing that Nikon makes a difference ...
 
Hunting cabin (1979)
Nikon EM, 75-150mm f/3.5 E zoom lens
..
What matters is that through the love for photography my father and I loved each other more, for we found a common neutral ground where we gained additional respect for each other; I found additional means to communicate with my children, I had a lot of fun, met many people and knew them better.

I keep an almost infinite archive of memories; some on paper, others on negatives, some more on hard disk and much much more on my own memory and my heart.

Photography has also been a medium for one of my many searches, the practice of one of my father's sentences: "No matter what you do, always accept the challenge to find ways to do it the best you really can".

My home is full with framed pictures whose images I do not update, I simply increase the number of frames for pictures; almost have no surfaces left whether on furniture or on walls because I keep taking pictures. At least one camera, loaded, is always nearby.

The ancient Chinese and Egyptians asserted that no one dies while remembered by someone. The many pictures I have given away as gifts, always with great pleasure, most certainly carry that hidden purpose of extended life.
 
The picture above, was made of me by my son Juan Ramon, with his compact Nikon EM and a great 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E zoom lens, when he was 9 years old.

My daughter Tatiana took the Kwanon route for a while, produced incredible images with her A2E's, and learned since to always carry everywhere a backup: the very good Olympus LT Zoom 105 QD point and shoot camera, lately replaced with a digital one. 

At right, her daughter, my first grandchild Cassandra, who takes surprising photos with her Polaroid with increasing frequency. Very photo conscious from day one (hour one in fact), she kindly let her pacifier down to allow me to take her picture at rest, back in 1996 -the year the Nikon F5 came out.

Granddaughter Cassandra, 1996

Tatiana now has a Nikon N80 with two zooms: the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D IF and the 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED and when she gets the time she plays with Photoshop. Of course she is now seriously considering a D70s and a S1 as convenient backup.
.
Maybe one day someone will ask my kids "Where did you learn?" and hopefully they will answer: "My father taught me; and he learned from our grandfather"; and through that, my father and I will continue to live in their memory.

Philadelphia, Pa. USA 1973 ->

My grandchildren will surely answer to the same question: " From our Mom and my uncle -or from Dad and my aunt... and they from their Dad, our Grandpa, ... and he from his Dad, our truly great Greatgrandpa; and he from his Dad and his brothers..."

Monterrey, NL Mexico 2003 ->

So, .... with a little bit of luck, an endless love story .... will continue ....

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