Donald Kautz Photography
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
dlkautzphoto@gmail.com
I grew up and still live in the rolling hills of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. My photography journey started as a child with a Kodak Brownie camera. Later I graduated to my fathers’ Argus slide camera. In 1972, My parents bought me a Canon camera with detachable lenses as a high school graduation present. That camera ended up getting stolen in Jamaica a few years later. I replaced it with a Canon FTb that served me for many years.
During those years, I shot exclusively color slide film. But film, and especially processing, was costly which led me to adopt a “make every shot count” philosophy. I switched to color print film during the years that my children were growing up.
When digital cameras began to become available, I bought a 2MP point-and shoot camera. Those cameras produced images that could be printed at 4×6 maximum. But that was what I was used to shooting on film.
Finally, after my three children were grown, I began to get more serious about photography as a hobby. I bought a Nikon 3200 and began learning more about composition and other techniques. I also learned editing techniques on the computer with programs like Paint Shop Pro. I soon outgrew the 3200 and upgraded to a Nikon 7100. I began to use Lightroom and Photoshop to catalog and post process my images.
Today, I use a Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera for most of my work. I love to photograph the beautiful farmland of Lancaster County. I dabbled in local history and eventually wrote a book about the Conestoga River that flows through Lancaster County featuring my photography. That project spring boarded me into a more challenging project where I wrote another book about Lancaster County water powered grist mills, again featuring my own photographs.
More information about my books may be found on my other website, donaldkautz.com. I use this site to showcase some of the other projects that I have or am working in. In addition to history, I have a love of photographing flowers in an artistic manner. I am a member of the Lancaster Camera Club and currently serve as its treasurer. (lancastercameraclub.org)