Jeff Stimler

Photo by Noreen J. Dunnells

It seemed that I was always the one in the family that had a camera in my hands; whether it was on vacations, at family gatherings or in the neighborhood woods. You know the kind from your family possibly, always having a camera in their hand trying to make everyone get together for a family shot or chasing sunsets. I was also the dad behind the camera that took all the pictures of my girls as they grew up. There were so few of me with them that you would think I wasn’t around. The few pictures I have of the girls with me are all the more precious. I really wish that there was someone around that would have taken pictures of all of our little family showing us doing normal things. Really don’t care if there were cheesy “smile and look at the camera” shots.

My first “good” camera was a Minotla SRT 202. Still have it BTW. My switch to digital came much later but the quality of cameras had improved so much by then. Several years ago, when I began to share my captures in calendars and prints, I started to also learn about post photo editing which opened up a new world with so many more possibilities. Photography is art and it tells a story. My story was just starting.

After High School I got a degree in Natural Resources Technology and later biology. So my love of photography started early, as an expression of a deep appreciation of natural beauty all around me. Self-taught, I took hundreds of images of northern Minnesota and also tried my hand at family pictures. Some day I may have the courage to revisit those pictures and share them.

I have retired as a kindergarten teacher where I enjoyed every day with my students. I loved seeing the excitement in their eyes as they discovered new wonders and learned skills that will prepare them for life. Or when they saw how amazing they really are. I took a picture of each student once a month, in the same spot, to show how much they changed during the year. And did they change!

Now, with retirement here, I want to keep that wonder and excitement in my daily life. I know photography will continuously challenge me as I keep learning the art.