.png)
The Rotary Spark Podcast
Welcome to our dedicated podcast for Rotary International's District 5750, designed to connect our community through the power of personal storytelling. Each episode celebrates the unique journeys of our fellow Rotarians and community members, highlighting their individual experiences, motivations, and the profound impact of their service and contributions.
Join us as we dive into heartfelt discussions with individuals from all walks of life, sharing stories that inspire and foster connection.
The Rotary Spark Podcast
#0026 - Seth Block
Seth Block brings over five decades of photographic wisdom to this engaging episode, tracing his journey from childhood fascination to becoming an accomplished wildlife photographer. Growing up with a professional photographer grandfather and an encouraging father who recognized his "good eye," Seth developed his craft through meticulous self-teaching—carefully recording camera settings and studying developed photographs weeks later to understand cause and effect.
The conversation explores photography's profound evolution from film to digital. Seth describes his initial skepticism toward digital technology before eventually embracing its advantages while maintaining his commitment to in-camera composition rather than relying on post-processing. His technical insights on camera selection prove valuable for aspiring photographers, emphasizing that while equipment matters, understanding the fundamentals matters more.
Beyond the technical aspects, Seth shares photography's deeper spiritual dimensions. His approach to wildlife photography—tracking eagle families for 15 years, photographing from kayaks, and waiting hours for the perfect moments—demonstrates profound patience and respect for his subjects. "They're not there for our entertainment," he explains about photographing whales. "They're there living, and we're fortunate enough to see them."
Perhaps most compelling is Seth's story about overcoming personal bias—the moment he nearly returned payment for event photos because the subjects didn't match his aesthetic preferences, only to witness the clients' delight in seeing their loved ones captured authentically. This humbling experience taught him that "there's beauty everywhere, and you can't judge."
Whether you're a photography enthusiast or simply appreciate thoughtful reflections on creative pursuits, Seth's journey inspires a more mindful approach to seeing and capturing the world. Visit sethblockphotography.com to explore his extensive portfolio, spanning decades of passionate image-making.
IT SparkA non-profit committed to empowering other non-profits by enhancing their technology independence.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Welcome. Welcome to the Rotary Spark podcast. With me today is a special guest, my Uncle Seth Block. How are you doing today, uncle Seth? I'm doing fine. How are you? I'm doing great. I'm getting used to the warmer weather, even though it's kind of cycling back and forth, and aside from that, I really have no complaints. So let's, let's dive into your photography history. So you, you mentioned that you have about at least 50 plus years of photography experience. Uh, tell us about the 60s and what photography was like oh boy.
Seth Block:Well, um, how did I get started in this? Well, my, my grandfather was a professional photographer in europe, in austria, and then when he came to the United States, he had a studio in Brooklyn, new York, and my dad was apparently quite a decent photographer when he was younger and he had an interesting camera. I always used to play with it and he let me use it a few times and my grandfather and my father said he's got a good eye, and I believed him. So I became more interested in it and, um, when I was, when I was about 13, I went cross country, uh, three different summers and I had a camera and um took a lot of pictures out West and that's what really got me started. That's what really got me started. And then it became a hobby that got out of control and I bought myself eventually a 35 millimeter Similar.
Seth Block:My father had a Mamiya Seeker, which was an interesting camera, and I bought myself a Canon 35 millimeter and back then, you know, there weren't a lot of courses and stuff for this thing. So I used to keep a pad with me and I used to write down all the settings that I took a picture with and I would mark it. You know, frame one, frame two, frame three and whatever settings they were, and I'd make changes and then I'd have to send the film out, wait a couple of weeks to get it back, and then I would look at the results and I could see what, the what, whatever I did to the camera, how I manipulated the camera with the f-stops, with the um, with the uh, the speed of the shutter and things like this. I could see the results of that. So that's basically how I learned photography. I kind of did it on my own and it was an expensive hobby and I didn't have a lot of money, but that's why I did what I did. I tracked everything that I did and I took a lot of bizarre pictures of park benches and leaves and I blew up water balloons and I did all kinds of crazy things just to see different effects and how the camera would capture those things. And over a period of years I just kept doing it and I learned quite a bit about photography.
Seth Block:And then I eventually, when I went into the military I went into the Navy in 1976. I bought a better camera. It was a Canon AE-1. It was a fine camera. It had a great metering system and a couple of lenses and I brought the camera with me when I reported to my first ship actually, and, um, I recorded quite a bit of stuff. You know I was, you know, not all the time you can't walk around on a camera, I mean you're on a ship but whenever I could, I recorded things and, uh, that's when I really, I think, developed into a, developed into someone who really became an enthusiast, and I took a lot of pictures overseas and just of shipboard life and things that we were doing, and I still have those pictures and that's what got me completely hooked. And that's what got me completely hooked.
Seth Block:And then when I came out, I went to college at night, I was working during the day in the city and I actually took a photography course for the first time and did really well with that, and it's the only course I ever took in photography.
Seth Block:And I had a career in textiles and and while I was doing that, one of my big hobbies was photography, amongst other things, and I kept doing it. I kept um, I started, uh, getting involved with um Nikon in, I would say, the late 80s, early 90s. I started using their equipment and I collected a bunch of different Nikon cameras right up until last year and then I just wanted to change. So I searched from Nikon and went to Leica and it's a whole different animal and I'm really loving the results that I'm doing that I'm jumping ahead a little bit. I'm really loving the results that I'm doing. I'm doing that I'm jumping ahead a little bit in the interim. Going back 15 years, I did work for some professional photographers and then I went out on my own after I retired from my corporate job and I did some photography weddings, parties and other types of things like that and as enjoyable as that was, I also got bored because it was very cookie cutter. The pro photographers that I worked with you know it wasn't very inventive wasn't very
Seth Block:interesting. It was just basically taking the same photographs with different people in it over and over again. So that got kind of boring and so I just started doing my own thing, which is mainly wildlife, my travels. I've traveled quite a bit around the country, overseas and into Asia, into Europe, and I always had my camera with me and I just took pictures everywhere I went and I basically captured the history of my own life and things that I've experienced, which is, to me, what photography is all about. You capture moments, whether it's your own or someone else's, and you keep those memories.
Seth Block:And I have all kinds of photo albums, both film pictures and also digital, for the past solid 40 years, and there's quite a lot of imagery that I have backed up. There's quite a lot of imagery that I have backed up, and the kids got into it when they were young. I think they thought I was a class I, because I recorded their entire life on film, whether it's still shots and quite a lot of movies as well. As digital cameras matured and they got better and better. Their video capability got better as well, so that became an easy thing to jump into as well.
Seth Block:Although I don't enjoy that as much, I think you have to have a different set of skills for videography that I don't really have. I really specialize in still work, which is what I really like, and I go out several times a week whenever I'm feeling a little creative, and I will look for wildlife, birds, animals, anything I can find and we'll photograph them. And that's basically what I've been doing the last five or ten years and, um, it's been a very enjoyable hobby and pursuit do you miss developing photographs at all?
Seth Block:um, film, I film. I really liked film. You know I the only thing. I was against digital. When it first came out I thought it was very gimmicky, but then, as the cameras got better and the processes got larger and they were, they were actually producing better prints.
Seth Block:The beauty of digital is that you get your results instantaneously. As everybody knows today, and what I went through when I was young, you know, recording everything that I did and sending the pictures out and waiting for them to come back. It was a great learning process. But today you get the results instantaneously. So it's way more cost effective because you're not buying film anymore. The other thing that's less restrictive you know, back in the film days I used to use mostly 200-speed film, 400-speed film and occasionally would go up to a 1600-speed film, but they got kind of grainy. Nowadays. That used to be called ASA, now it's ISO. It has been for many years and high-end cameras can shoot in an ISO upwards of 25,000, even up to 100,000 in some cases they get grainy. Some of them get grainy when they get that high, but you can shoot almost in pure darkness with the right equipment and you can't do that with film, I mean, unless you're very specialized and you really know what you're doing. So you get a lot more flexibility. It's a lot more cost effective. You really can experiment with photography by changing all kinds of settings.
Seth Block:A lot of people don't do this. Most people are using their phones now. The phones produce really great pictures, but it's not the same. I mean, to me you can almost tell when someone's using their phone, when someone's using a camera. You know some phones do really well the Apple phones do a great job but I still prefer having a camera in my hands, a high-end camera. It has a great build feel. It's very substantial. The controls you're able to change the controls on them and really do all the work you need to do on the camera, where you don't have to process the pictures afterwards. I've never used Photoshop or anything. I only. I basically do everything on the camera. I might crop a picture here and there, but mostly everything I do is on the camera. So whatever comes out of the camera is what I've done.
Brian Triger:Sure. So what for someone starting? What do you? What would you recommend, like, is there a oh boy?
Seth Block:Yeah, I mean, you have to you have to look at your budget because these things are not cheap. Um, you should spend most of your money on your lenses, if you, you know, if you have a budgetary situation, which most people do you, if you, you know, if you have a budgetary situation, which most people do, you know, we all do to a certain extent, and you know, any of the main brands are excellent. Canon is very user friendly. It's the least of my, it's the least favorite for me, but I've always loved Nikon. Olympus makes great cameras. Fuji is excellent, um, you know. Uh, sony makes great cameras. In fact, they have really good digital cameras. Um, any of them. You can't really make a mistake. Um, if you want to get into photography, because the cameras today are very similar in their capability and, uh, the lenses are what makes a difference. Nikon lenses have always been excellent. Canon lenses are good. Um, you know you can't go wrong with those. You just, um, you know you can't go wrong with those. You just.
Seth Block:Olympus makes good products. There's a couple of other cameras. Tamron is okay. There's some very good cameras, camera producers and lens manufacturers out there, so you can always find something that will work with a budget, and they start out with something like a 50 millimeter lens, or maybe 35 millimeter, and do some street photography and go from there Just take pictures whatever you like.
Seth Block:It doesn't matter. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one person likes maybe somebody else doesn't, it really doesn't matter. It's what you like and it's what you're capturing. And there's no mistakes. You learn as you go what makes a picture maybe better than another picture. I don't think I've ever shot what I consider a perfect picture. There's always something that I wish I did differently, but I think most of us are in pursuit of the perfect photograph. I think I've gotten close a few times, but as long as you consider yourself a student always and you know, because none of us are experts in all these things there's just so much to learn. You'll always be learning. I'm always learning, you know. I went into a new type of camera with a new operating system. It's extremely dynamic. It's a very complex machine. The results are incredible with the colors and everything that it's able to do. I have to become a better photographer just to earn my keep with this camera, so sure. Well, you've leveled up.
Brian Triger:You've put in the time. So I think, uh, and I don't have a lot of experience, but I I remember starting off with a phone and phones like really easy to use doing street photography, like really easy to use doing street photography, and then I jumped into Nikon and I I realized that I wasn't as serious as I thought I was. I think that a better move and it could have just taken a class or two. But, uh, I feel like maybe jumping into Canon, just based on, uh, just being user-friendly initially, may have been a better fit. And you know if and when I circle back into the hobby, you know, and or profession in the future. I think that, just like any other relationship or finding your match when it comes to tools, it's about taking risks, right, and just kind of finding out what. What matches your preferences.
Seth Block:Yeah, and also, you know you learn how to how to position a picture and how to frame a picture, and it's important to learn the rules of photography. And then it's even more important to break the rules, because you don't want everything to look cookie cutter. So most of my photographs have a certain look to them At least I think they do Because I'm looking for something, I'm doing something in a very specific way. That makes it just a little different. It makes it interesting to me. I like to have certain dimensions in the picture that kind of brings you into the picture, and that's what I'm trying to do. Again, it's hard to do at least I find it is but what my goal is is to take a picture that kind of pulls you in and then you don't always realize it's doing that. But if I sat down with you and showed you what I meant, you'd get it, and then you'd recognize that with a lot of different pictures that I've taken, it's like, wow, I see what's going on. But it's important to know the rules first. There are rules in photography and it's really important to be able to break those rules and still take a photograph that is meaningful.
Seth Block:I critique a lot of people's pictures. A lot of people have asked me what do you think of this, what do you think of that? And I'll tell them the truth. And a lot of times it's like wow, you know. You know I'm not being rude about it, but I'm just telling them what I think. And there are some things that are glaringly bad in some photographs and I'll point them out. I could, I pointed them out on my own, um, and I could show that too, but, um, a lot of people don't see everything that they're looking at. So when you're taking a picture of people and you know if you have a group shot and people hugging each other and it's a natural thing to do people's hands hands could be a beautiful thing, but they can also be a very ugly thing and when you have a hand sticking over somebody's shoulder but there's no arm connected to it, it looks like this thing out of nowhere and it looks like this claw that just appears and it's frightening when you look at it and you think about that. So a good group shot is not going to have arbitrary body parts sticking all over the place that don't, that aren't connected, that aren't flowing.
Seth Block:And a lot of wedding pictures, a lot of party pictures. I see this and it makes me cringe, but you know you don't say anything. But those are things I notice, things I notice. So I'm always, when I'm taking a picture, I'm looking at everybody and looking at all the things that I find off-putting in a picture and I try to correct them before I take the picture. You know, forgetting about people closing eyes. They're going to do that and you just take multiple shots and you'll get everybody. You'll get a good enough picture, but it's the physical nature of where people's hands are, where they're, how their bodies are positioned, um, and you want it. You want it to be as flattering as possible for them, um, and also, you have to leave your own biases out of your photography.
Seth Block:I once did a party and I I went to the person's home to show them the pictures and there was something about these pictures. I just there was nothing I liked. I mean, there was not one photograph I liked and I didn't understand what it was, and I was. I brought their check with me. I was going to give it back to them and say I'm sorry, I just screwed it up, but I didn't say anything, thank God. And then they were looking at the picture and said, oh my god, what a great shot of Uncle Bob. And look at Sally, she looks wonderful and then I realized what it was.
Seth Block:And it was me, it was my problem. They would I don't want to sound well, they were just not attractive people and there was nothing that was going to make them look good. And it was, and it was. You know what I mean. What I mean by that is the classic, you know, l magazine. What makes a human being attractive? Sure, everybody has beautiful parts about them. You know, nobody is better than anybody.
Brian Triger:Yeah, yeah, but some people can only have them captured, uh, internally yeah, and then there are people who are better looking than others.
Seth Block:Let's face it. I mean, this is how the world, is sure, so, but my own, my own biases of what that means, almost was a very embarrassing moment for me because I would have looked like a complete jackass and thank god, I didn't say anything. They were the happiest people in the world and I'm like holy cow. I mean that. It's their people, their friends, their family, they love them, they, you know they're beautiful to them and they should be. And I, I did a, I think I did a pretty good job capturing their event. But you know, I couldn't get past myself. That was a really valuable lesson in humility and humanity, because I realized there's beauty everywhere and you know, you just capture it and you can't judge. You cannot be a judge.
Seth Block:And that was a long time ago and I was, you know, a lot younger and I was like, wow, that was really something. I really that was probably the most valuable lesson I ever learned was about your own biases and what they can do to you if you let them. So I've never done that again and but it was, it was really telling, it was really quite something. And then, from their friends. I got a couple more jobs because they all love the picture so much. So it was like holy crap, that was. I could have really screwed that whole thing up, but it was was um, humorous. Afterwards. I, I, uh, I always had a heart attack while I was in their house because I, I came so close to saying something. I'm like, oh, my god, what an idiot. And I'm glad I didn't say anything, you know, because I was totally off base yeah and um, um, I've had a lot of good experiences with photography.
Seth Block:I mean, I look back um at photographs quite a bit and, um, like I said, most of it is my own experiences, my own life, my, my family's life, um, because my grandfather we have lots of pictures, uh, have lots of pictures going back 70, 80 years and a lot of people don't have these things and it's really remarkable to look back and you carved out a little bit of your own history. History itself is is a series of images and stories and you know a lot of people like to look at historical pictures because it tells the story. So you can tell your own story and that's the beauty of it is, you know, not selfies, I mean I can't stand those things, but that's not the beautiful thing. Why would you stand in front of the Grand Canyon, one of the most beautiful places in the world, turn around and put your face in the middle of it? I mean, it's okay once, but you really want to enjoy the beauty of the things that you're seeing. So that's one of the things that I can't stand about.
Seth Block:Selfies is like, why would you ruin that picture with yourself? So I don't do anything like that. I just I really like to, you know, capture the moment and I can relive it if I want to, or share it with other people and and I'm very fortunate, I get a lot of people who really like what I do to some level, and anytime someone takes a moment out of their day and then, you know, sends me a message or post a message and said, hey, I love what you do, I love that picture. That really is beautiful. They took a moment out of their busy day with their life to tell me something and that's worth more to me than money, because everybody's days, you know, we're all busy, everybody. Everybody's day is important and their time is important, obviously, and for someone to take their time out and make a comment about something that I did is a beautiful thing, because you can't get time back.
Seth Block:so, anything, anybody. Anytime that someone does that, I am flattered, humbled and very appreciative of it, and, um, I've been very fortunate where a lot of people have liked what I've done. I've sold a lot of prints um, I don't aggressively do that but, but, if somebody wants to buy something, I will work with them and make sure it's the right size on the right kind of paper and just make sure that what they experience with this picture is the best way they're going to do it, and so I have a hands-on approach with it. I don't just say, yeah, download my pictures. I mean, I don't believe in that. That's not what I do. I'm not interested in that. If somebody buys them, great. If they don't, that's great too. I like posting them. I share my work on my website, and what is on my website is a small sampling. I have over 200,000 images in my current library and this may be about, I don't know, 800 on my website. Maybe I haven't really counted.
Brian Triger:And your website is uh is Seth block photographycom? Is that correct?
Seth Block:Yeah, yeah, and there's. It's fairly simple, it's nothing outrageous, it is just a bunch of um drop down menus. There's three galleries. Some galleries have multiple sub sub menus and then some of the sub menus have um one or two drop downs, and so I spent a lot of time visiting a lot of military ships and battlefields and things of this nature. So I have quite a bit in that category of drop downs and I try to separate them out and each one of them, I think, tells a story about that experience.
Seth Block:And I used to volunteer at a couple of museums and one of the things that I did was go to the mothball fleet and strip parts off of the ships for the museum and I brought my camera with me. One of the times I went, my one of my ships was on there and it took me a year to get permission to go on board, but once I did, I photographed my own ship completely stem to stern, up and down, and that was. That was a great experience and I have a lot of images of naval ships and some civil war battlefields and other battlefields and places like that, as well as other things. You know, birds of all different kinds, sea life whales in particular, is something I like to do, and I tracked a family of eagles yes, for about 15 years in Connecticut and I have a whole, a fairly big selection of photographs of eagles with their babies, their eaglets and just spending the amount of time that I did watching them, observing them, I learned quite a bit about their behavior, and not just from watching, but also from other people that were there who knew a lot more about them than I did. So I picked up a lot of information and, in fact, I just met a guy the other day.
Seth Block:I was looking at, um, there's an eagle's nest, uh, down in wilmington, north carolina, where I live now, and there was a guy I met, his he's 86 years old, still toting around a big camera, and he was photographing the same eagle I was in the nest. It was quite a distance, but I picked up a few things about the eagles that I didn't know from him and I'm like, oh, that's interesting. And people who are really into this stuff. If you talk to them, they're happy to share their, their wealth of knowledge and, um, like I said, I'm I've always been curious about many things and, um, I will still ask people questions and I and I get a lot of responses and I I'll share what I know um with anybody who asks.
Seth Block:But, you know, if you're curious, people want to help and this old guy I met the other day. He was terrific and he really pointed out a few things to me that I wasn't quite aware of, and it was a great day. We learned something new and I'm hoping to see this guy again the next time I go looking at these eagles. And also, you learn where they are. Depending on where you live, you'll have people who know all the hot spots and where you can find different animals or different wildlife, different birds, and people will share that information with you. They don't post it online because they don't want to see 10 000 people coming down there with their with their iphones doing selfies.
Brian Triger:Yeah, you'll have you'll have a hundred drones in the air.
Seth Block:Yeah, no, it's, and you don't want to disturb the animals either. So, yeah, you know, people who take this seriously have great respect for um what they're shooting, and you don't want to get on top of them. You don't want to irritate them. You want them. You don't want them to leave the nest. Yeah, you want them to come back, and the same thing when you go whale watching.
Seth Block:There's rules maritime rules and laws about getting too close to whales. I just saw some video clip the other day about some klutz on a kayak that got swallowed temporarily by some whale but he was way too close. You do not get that close. You got to give these animals a lot of room. They're big animals and they take up a lot of space. And they're there doing something purposeful they're eating. You know whales when they feed they'll feed for three months and then they won't eat for six months. So you've got to give them the space they need to feed, otherwise they'll have problems and their young will have problems. So they're not there for our entertainment. They're there living and we're fortunate enough to see them do that and you have to have respect for that. And there are people that don't, which is unfortunate, but I would say the majority of people who are serious photographers do show respect for whatever it is that they're shooting, which is usually nice to see, but I do At least I like to think I do.
Brian Triger:that's really cool.
Seth Block:it gets me thinking about kind of the ecosystem uh, actually, both that's all related, man, yeah, I mean, uh, we're not here by ourselves, as you know and you know I'm not necessarily a tree hugger but, um, everything that we do, positively or negatively, impacts everything else and everyone else. So, um, you know, we don't, we don't live here by ourselves.
Brian Triger:No, I like the fact that you're able to do that with or without a lens, but also communicate with the individuals that are really passionate about photography. It, it helps you. It helps you, uh, see the world so that you can help others see the world.
Seth Block:Yeah, and um, listen, I'm, I'm, I'm getting to be an older man now and you know, uh, I have a lot less years ahead of me than I have behind me, and I try to spend as much of my time as I can outdoors. Photography, you know, gives me another reason to be outdoors and there's no better, there's no better way to spend your time. Even if you're sitting there for hours waiting for a shot, it's better than sitting on behind, you know, on a couch watching TV. I would much prefer, and I've done it, I believe me. I've spent hours standing in one spot waiting for eagles to come back from lunch, just to catch them flying into the nest and feeding their young or ospreys.
Seth Block:And I used to do a lot of photography in my kayak and um, spent a lot of time floating around nests, you know, within, within a reasonable shot of, uh, whatever camera I had, and um, and, and you know you're outside, you're getting you getting sun and fresh air, and there's no better place to be as far as I'm concerned, and so photography has opened that up for me greatly. Most of the things I like to do, whether it's kayaking or bicycle riding or doing this photography stuff keeps me outside I prefer to be outside than inside and it allows you to travel and you want to see other things. You know it just opens up a whole universe that if you don't take advantage of, you're going to miss it, because time goes by really fast, not to be preachy, but you know we all get caught up in things and, and the benefit of my own experience has been able to enjoy, enjoy the world we live in and it's a beautiful world, you know it really is, so let's hop over let's hop over to another topic.
Brian Triger:I just want to emphasize again your, your website, sethblockphotographycom. I believe that you have a section on facebook dedicated to that as well. It'll be linked in the in the contributors section under seth block and uh, so you've had some exposure to civic engagement tied to a variety of different nonprofits. Tell us a little bit about that experience.
Seth Block:Well, listen, you know, while I was in my career and after I got involved in a variety of different things, I was on the board of directors of a couple of places. Here's what happened I used to write a lot of letters to editors, to my congressmen, to the White House. I didn't care who was in office If they were pissing me off. I would write my congressman at the time. His name is Chris Shays. When I finally met him, he said no one writes me the way you do. He goes. I thought we were pen pals and I said look. I said you know, you work for me, you're a civil servant, you work for me. So I want to make my point of view heard. And I was never denied access to any of these people because they knew who I was. So one of the letters I wrote had to do. I once wrote a letter to Chris Shays and I got an answer from George Bush. He sent it up the line and I got a response from three different people, including the president, and I've gotten responses from several presidencies over the years. But that wasn't the point of it. The point of it was to you know, air my two cents. So I wrote a letter about. Apparently there was some domestic abuse issue and I wrote a letter about it because it really bothered me and I was teaching self-defense at the time. And this woman calls me up and she was the president of a rape crisis center where I used to live and invited me to lunch and then asked me to be on the board of the rape crisis center because of my views and I said sure. So I spent, you know, five years or whatever it was six years on the board of that particular place, which was very rewarding. I was 16 years on another board of directors. I was also, you know, many years ago. I was the condo president where I used to live for eight years.
Seth Block:So, yeah, I got involved because I like to know A where my money's going and why are we doing what we're doing, and maybe there's a way to do things better. And so I got involved and I don't really have a great filtering system, so I basically say what's on my mind system. So I basically say what's on my mind and you know, not everything you think is practical, not everything you say is going to be the right thing, but if you're not involved, then you can't complain. If you don't vote, then don't talk about politics. You know you give up your right to do that If you're not going to take the time out to exercise. Probably the most important thing that you have is your vote.
Seth Block:So I get involved and once I relocated down here, I promised myself I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and just enjoy myself. But of course, I haven't completely done that, because I can't help myself. If I see something wrong, I want to try to fix it, and that's just who I am. I can't help it. My dad didn't do these kinds of things, but my father didn't like bullies. I never liked bullies. So if I see somebody bullying somebody else, I don't care what the reason is, I'm going to do something about it. And that's really where it comes from. I mean, I don't. I don't care what, what call they are, what race they are, what religion they are.
Brian Triger:If you're bullying somebody, you don't have a friend with me, and and that's why I got involved- so, in all of your years of experience, if you had maybe some basic tips to younger generations, people that want to do photography or really get involved in the world in any capacity to make any real changes, do you have any tips?
Seth Block:yeah, I absolutely. First of all, I think you think where we fail younger people is in our education system. We don't teach people about basic things. When I was growing up in school, there was home ec. They used to teach people how to cook, how to clean things, how to just do basic things around your home, how to manage a bank account, how to reconcile a checking account. I mean, these kids today don't know how to do any of this stuff.
Seth Block:So if you want to do anything in this life, you need money to do it. So I would say having a strong work ethic, being curious, being willing to pay the dues to learn what it is that you're trying to accomplish, to become really good at something so where people are going to pay you to do it, and something that you really like, if you love what you're doing, you're not really working. Um, even though you are and saving money, you know, make sure you save money. You can't turn around when you're 50 years old and say I think I'm going to save something for the future. You have to start saving money immediately and when you're 25 years old, you should already have some money put away. When you're 35, you should have some serious money put away. You have to keep doing this and then you can then utilize your disposable income that you've created for hobbies that you like to do. Don't do everything you want to do immediately and look for instant results, because you're going to shortchange yourself later when you're not able to do the things that you need to do for yourself. If you wait too long, you're not as good looking as you used to be, you're not as cute as you used to be, you're not as hireable as you used to be whether you like it or not and maybe not as capable. So you need to strike the iron. When you're younger, enjoying yourself and enjoying life because you need to enjoy life but you have to put these things as a priority and then you can enjoy these things a lot more when you're older, when you have the time to do that, and you'll be able to afford the things that you want to do. You don't want to be strapped for cash your whole life. That's a miserable way to live. Unfortunately, there's too many people that are in that situation, because sometimes it's unfortunate that people find themselves in all kinds of different situations, and I'm not saying that you know, life does happen. But the more prepared you are for those things, the more you can deal with them. So I would say, you know, getting some education and some guidance on saving money, on interviewing properly, on getting the right kind of job and, above all, be curious, be really curious, curious, and the more you want to learn, the more people are going to help you learn. If you go in there with an attitude like, yeah, I don't really care, then you're gonna get that back. If you go in there with an eagerness to learn things, you're gonna you're gonna get a lot of information.
Seth Block:I had some wonderful mentors in my life that helped me immensely when I was younger, and the only reason why they did is because I kept asking them questions. My first interview with my first big company after I got out of the service, the guy said, well, where do you see yourself? And I said I want your job. And he was like whoa? And I'm like, yeah, don't you want to move on? So do I, and he and I became friends and I did get his job and then eventually I became president and CEO of a company. But it took a long time to get there, but I was driven to do it and it was curiosity and wanting to learn more that enabled that to happen, and I had several, several people who really took the time out to show me the ropes and explain how things were manufactured in the industry that I was in, how sales were done, how everything was done, and I learned from some really, really good people and I put those concepts into practice.
Seth Block:And nobody does it on their own. You need help. It's okay to ask for help, and the more you ask, the more you're going to get back. And then you have to be willing to teach the next people coming up, which was always a big thing for me. I never turned anybody away who wanted help ever. I still do that. Now Somebody has a question for me, I will help guide them as best I can, because I think it's important, because you know, we want the next generation to be good. In fact, I'll tell you something else. Because we want the next generation to be good, in fact, I'll tell you something else.
Seth Block:About a year ago, I was privileged to get invited to go on board a US submarine with my future son-in-law, and these kids on this submarine were razors. They were sharp as tacks, because you have to be intelligent to be on one of these things and they have to know so much and they have to be qualified. And it takes an awful lot of work to be qualified and the systems are very complex, way beyond anything in the civilian world. And I was so thrilled to see these young people who were so sharp. I mean, you go into most, you know most cashiers today. They can't make change. You know it's a big joke, we all know. You know, because the machines tell you everything. These kids, razors, I mean knife sharp, and I was I couldn't believe how smart they were.
Seth Block:In fact, one of my friends came with me, a childhood friend and um, when we got off the boat and he was talking about my future son-in-law and he says, well, he's a keeper.
Seth Block:And I said, yeah, he is, because he is also just a brilliant young man and um, not only you know giving service to his country, but but you have to be sharp to be a successful individual on a US Navy ship, especially a submarine, today. And it's just one area where I was able to see that which really thrilled me. But you can do that in the civilian world too. I mean you can be a great plumber or a great electrician or a great car mechanic, and most of the trades are dying for people. You know you don't necessarily have to go to college to be successful. You can take up a trade and have a really great life, and I think that's what young people need need direction, and what do they need to be doing for themselves, and I think that's what's lacking. If I was going to say anything to anybody, would be something like that Thank you for that input and thanks for coming on, uncle Seth.
Brian Triger:I love you and you've always guided me in the right direction, so I really appreciate this opportunity just to you know share some wisdom with everyone in Rotary and anyone else who's listening. I want to take an opportunity to thank the Almonte Library and thank Rotary as well. Have a good night everyone. Thank you.
