Don Conrard is an award-winning Seattle-based photographer specializing in black & white street, documentary, and travel photography. He is the retired staff photographer for Alaska Airlines.

Don’s interest in photography began in the late 1950s when his parents gave him an Imperial Mark 27 box camera (photo below) they received as a reward for subscribing to a local newspaper.

He cut his photographic teeth working on school newspapers and annuals in junior high, high school, and college.

While working on school papers Don developed an interest in photojournalism and street photography. After graduation, he studied with Ansel Adams during what he calls his "large format landscape phase," but quickly returned to the street.

Working for an airline gave Don the opportunity to practice street photography in more than 70 countries on five continents.

In retirement, he continues to prowl city streets and back alleys with his camera capturing life as it happens.

In my camera bag

I most often use a Nikon D850 camera, Nikon offers an extensive system with great lenses capable of producing high-quality images. A disadvantage is the weight of large DSLR cameras, which makes traveling on airplanes and through international airports with a backpack full of camera gear a real pain. Another disadvantage is that big Nikon DSLRs can be too obtrusive for street photography.

Several years ago, I purchased a mirrorless Fuji XT-3 and a couple of lenses that I use primarily for overseas travel. Nearly all of my street photos are shot with a Fuji X100F.

Fuji cameras are light, which allows me to can carry a complete setup in a small sling bag, and feature extremely high image quality. Another advantage is that the sound can be turned off. Great for candid street photography.

I don’t want to have two camera systems, but for the time being, I am going to split my time between Nikon and Fuji.

Gathering dust in a closet is an assortment of Nikon, Hasselblad, Pentax, Leica, and Mamiya film cameras that I rarely use anymore. A Horseman 4X5 view camera and Schneider lenses round out my pre-digital gear.