Randal Ketchem

I have long been interested in photography. I started out with a Minolta XG/M that my brother handed down to me when I was around 14 years old. I never pursued photography seriously, though, until the final semester of my B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry. I had not taken any of my electives and my advisor told me there was no getting around it. I asked if I could take astronomy, to which he essentially said, "No, you geek! Take pottery or something." So, I took a course in basic black and white photography. I used my old manual Minolta, learned some composition and lighting techniques, plus dark...

I have long been interested in photography. I started out with a Minolta XG/M that my brother handed down to me when I was around 14 years old. I never pursued photography seriously, though, until the final semester of my B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry. I had not taken any of my electives and my advisor told me there was no getting around it. I asked if I could take astronomy, to which he essentially said, "No, you geek! Take pottery or something." So, I took a course in basic black and white photography. I used my old manual Minolta, learned some composition and lighting techniques, plus darkroom methods. I loved it. I bought some cheap darkroom equipment and did some work on my own, but started working on my Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics (I am indeed a geek) and so had little time to pursue my love of photography. After grad school and a postdoc, I started my first real job and finally had some time again to dedicate to photography. Living in the Pacific Northwest also had an effect on me. The beauty of God's creation in this region is astounding. So, I purchased a Nikon N70 (which I have now upgraded several times) and, well, here we are.