My Background

My name is Lori Russell; photography is something I have always loved since I was given a Kodak 110 pocket camera when I was ten years old.

 In my senior year at Sherwood High School, I was the student photographer for the newspaper and yearbook. It was my first experience using a 35mm camera. After my high school newspaper and yearbook teacher, Steven Raines, handed me the school’s Canon camera and then taught me how to use it; I couldn’t put it down! I took that camera with me everywhere, all day at school, at home, and out with friends.  

We also had a darkroom for developing film and printing photographs; I spent a lot of time in the darkroom watching my photos come to life. I thought it was miraculous!

When I enlisted in the Army, my first big purchase at the PX (and new sidekick) was a Minolta X-700. Unfortunately, it was stolen from my room in a Boston hotel one evening when I was out to dinner. So, my second big purchase at the PX was another Minolta X-700; I loved that camera!

Luckily, I was able to keep the second Minolta X-700 for twenty years when it too was stolen during a move. (What can I say, it was a really good camera!) For twenty years, we created photographic memories of vacations, birthdays, holidays, parties, and every other get-together. Sometimes my ex-husband would frown about the money I spent buying and developing film; I don’t think he realized he was dealing with an addiction.

Now, I have entered the digital age with a Canon EOS 77-D DSLR camera. I retired from my job with the federal government and am now taking photography classes at Northern Virginia Community College. I am working on an Associate of Applied Science Photography and Media.

I am looking forward to exploring the continental United States in my travel trailer with my dog, Mindy, taking pictures and writing stories about our adventures and then posting them on Follow Your Arrow.