Lon Britton - Photographer Profile

Silver halide was coursing through my( Lon Britton ) veins at an early age before I even learned to read. I was suggesting f-stops for the family photos while in diapers at age 2. Well at least that’s the way these profiles tend to sound and include statements like: “Lon saw a need to preserve and capture on film endangered wildlife for future generations to see.”

In reality the true story would read more like the following: I had just entered my freshman year of college and still didn’t know what to major in and was still perplexed by the question asked of many a budding professional, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Our English class assignment was to research careers, pick one we liked, and write an essay about it as a possible endeavor. When my thoughts turned to career and life long employment possibilities, the old jump rope rhyme I used to hear little girls recite when I was a kid myself came to mind and went something like this:

“Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief,
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.”

That really didn’t prove to be of much help in breaking my mental block. I had long since given up my boyhood dream of becoming a farmer. The idea of becoming an alligator never appealed to me either, I didn’t want to wind up as someone’s cowboy boots, besides I never was one to let someone walk all over me. The thought of working in a muffler shop always left me exhausted.

I considered becoming a proctologist for awhile, but decided against it when I found out I’d have to work weak ends. Borrowing from friends and acquaintances who used their names as a way of inspiring them to come up with a career path wasn’t much help either. It was easy for the likes of people like Frank Weiner, who opened a hot dog stand, and Lon Moore, who ran a lawn mowing and landscaping service.

Suffice it to say it was a grueling process, but eventually I finally decided to write my paper on Mechanical Engineering. Consequently, I graduated four years later with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered my true passion was for outdoor and nature photography. No kidding, there I was, an artist trapped inside an engineer’s body. I felt like I was caught up in a cheap remake of the 1950’s movie: “Invasion of the Body Snatcher’s”.

Fast forward several years…my profile now reads:

Lon Britton has 20 years experience photographing outdoor/nature subjects. While employed in the engineering field for 30 years he traveled extensively building an impressive library of photos which he sold part-time. He retired from engineering in 2007 to begin photography full-time. In the process he has also honed his writing skills and loves to write particularly about…you guessed it outdoor photography.

authored by Lon Britton



Return from Lon Britton About Me to Home Page