Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Unger.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Linda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started taking pictures at 18, purchasing a Minolta SRT-101 from an ad in a newspaper that I was working with. For many years, I worked for newspapers, magazines and printing companies, doing darkroom and production work. In 2005 my sister introduced me to her new digital camera and I made the decision to try my hand at professional photography. For many years, I took wedding photos, headshots and landscapes for artists. I also joined a bike club and starting shooting bicycle racing. While at an event I was asked to come a shoot a bike race in West Texas. I was provided a cabin and a nice weekend for my services. But little did I know the man who invited me was the Marketing Director for the Kroger Grocery Chain. He asked me to shoot a few shots for his store in Katy.
After that, he told me from now on my photos would be in all the new Krogers in Texas and Louisiana. I love traveling and it was a dream for me to travel Texas and Louisiana, taking photos of all the places I visited as a child with my Dad. Today I am married, with two grown children. My son is a preacher in Houston, married with 3 little girls. And my daughter is an artist, married and living in Fort Worth. Today my passions are cycling and photography. I am 58 years old and I bike around 100 miles a week. I love film, medium format film and 35mm film along with digital. I have 5 cameras and many lenses, even Russian, German, and Japanese lenses from the WWII era.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
To say it has been easy would be a lie. I was pretty much forced to abandon my dreams in 2001 of being self-employed building furniture, and found myself married to an abusive man. I finally had the courage to leave and I got a job as a draftsman at a local sheet metal shop. I owe my life to those people who gave me a chance. I had no college degree and never even took algebra, geometry, trig or calculus! But they trained me to draw adapters for AC units anywhere from 3 ton to 150 tons. I’ve struggled with asthma, health problems and even a nervous breakdown after 911, realizing that I had suffered from PTSD and Panic-Anxiety Disorder for most of my life. It’s my personality trait to ignore those issues and plow on ahead, but after 911 that was the end of my lie. I don’t know how I survived all that. I was divorced from the children’s father in 2002 and was a single mom for a while, I spent the next years getting help and taking care of my children and myself.
Please tell us about Linda Unger Photography.
I started my own company after 16 years at this local sheet metal shop. I was tired of sitting everyday by my window and wishing I was “out there” doing what I love: photography. After Kroger approached me for photos to put in their new stores I decided it was time to do something different. So, I took the leap of faith and gave my notice. I really am very eclectic in my photography. I play around with Infrared photography, I shoot 35mm film still, I even shoot medium format film. I like sports photography, wedding events, conferences, I take portraits, I love to play with old film lenses and old cameras. I love night photography and I love landscapes. I guess my versatility is what I am most proud of. I study photography every single day of my life, watching videos. I love the “statistics” of a good photo. I study ISO, Fstops, shutter speeds and techniques because photography as an art is always changing! There is always someone better than me and there is always something to learn.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Traveling with my father all over Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. He loved to film us and he loved taking photos.
His pictures are now treasures of mine, while not technically perfect, they reflect the good times we had. I never want to forget those good times.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8302 Summertree Drive Houston, Texas 77040
- Website: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lindylou-unger.html
- Phone: 713-505-9845
- Email: godislove9@reagan.com
Luminance HDR 2.3.0-beta1 tonemapping parameters:
Operator: Mantiuk06
Parameters:
Contrast Mapping factor: 0.1
Saturation Factor: 0.8
Detail Factor: 1
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PreGamma: 1.24
Image Credit:
Suzanne C. Freeman
Linda Unger
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