July 16, 2015 RUSTON -- As a 20 year-old college student at Louisiana Tech, Donny Crowe was doing what most in his position were doing and that was trying to figure out what career path to take.

Continuing to be a heavy machine mechanic, a job he took after high school, was not high on the list.

Then came the purchase of an Olympus OM10 that changed everything.

At first the camera was just bought for fun, as most cameras are, to shoot landscapes and some sports, but what started out as a hobby quickly turned into a Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis in photography and a job at his now alma mater.

"I started working on the campus newspaper, The Tech Talk," Crowe said. "I had access to all of the events. The photography department was on campus so I worked for them also as a student worker. Just about the time I was graduating, the full-time photographer left and started his own pottery business. So that position opened and I just kind of stuck around. That was 1987."

Crowe started out doing 35MM large format photography, developing and processing all of his own film. He had the works ââ'¬" a dark room, chemicals and a black and white paper processor.

Later on came the changeover from film to digital.

"Everybody was in the same boat," Crowe said when it came to the switch. "Nobody had a leg up, so I was able to join the University Photographers Association of America and we had symposiums every summer. So that kind of training, we all got together and helped each other learn about the changeover. It has not been that tough, but it has been gradual."

There is also the challenge of costs, which has escalated immensely. A top-of-the-line camera 20 years ago would go for around $800. Nowadays, one will run you about $6,000.

Not only do photographers need the best equipment and the best resources to do their job, but there is the added pressure for instant gratification. If you don't have pictures posted by the next day, you are behind. It's old news.

Life of a photographer can be taxing, even physically when considering the battle with the Louisiana summer heat or the erratic rainfalls. When Crowe is outdoors though, his preference is shooting landscapes.

"I enjoy lots of landscapes," he said. "I wish I could travel a little bit more and do some travel photography. When I first started, we had a travel program and I got to go to Rome, which was a lot of fun. I was able to go on that trip a few times as a photographer. I taught photography while I was there and did slideshows and print work and even made some video."

When Crowe is happily indoors and does not have to battle the weather conditions or low light at night games, his preference is shooting LA Tech basketball.

"All of the action is a little more compact," he said. "With football there is a lot of movement and a lot of chasing the action. I was a student worker when Karl [Malone] was here. I was able to go to the Oklahoma game in Dallas. That was a special team and a heartbreaking loss."

There have been a lot of good players Crowe has had the pleasure of photographing since the Sweet 16 run. Players like Randy White, P.J. Brown, Gerrod Henderson and Paul Millsap. However, he admitted that following the recent senior class ââ'¬" Speedy Smith, Raheem Appleby and Michale Kyser ââ'¬" with a lens for the last four years has been a little different.

"Sometimes it is kind of hard to follow what exactly is going on in the game," Crowe said. "Just like with the three seniors this year, putting the camera down and watching what you thought was an incredible team. Appleby and the seniors were so fun to watch and to photograph. I wish they had made the NCAA Tournament."

One such fun photograph came on Jan. 29 against WKU when Appleby drove baseline and posterized the Hilltopper's George Fant on a thunderous dunk, a play which was No. 1 on ESPN and Fox Sports Live's Play of the Day.

Crowe just happened to be standing at rim level with the lanky guard coming right at him and he captured the sequence to perfection.

"You kind of have a feel for the action, what might be coming up, a different angle," Crowe said. "Luckily the camera was up and ready to go when he was and that made it a little bit easier."

As a university photographer, he is constantly trying to concentrate on correct exposure and capture peak action. Some of the best photos though, come during the celebration after the dunk when too many people are looking at the back of their camera to see if they got "the shot."

Getting the perfect shot can sometimes take teamwork as well from a fellow photographer like Tom Morris, more commonly known to the Bulldog world as Teemo.

"That is why we get along so well, because we are happy for each other," said Morris, a freelance photographer for LA Tech Athletics. "We cannot both be everywhere all the time. One action photographer cannot get all the action. With Donny in one corner, I am always in the other. We are never next to each other. Who wants the same shot from the same angle? He is a tremendous photographer. I learn from him every day."

A whopping 28 years and hundreds of thousands of photos later, the man behind the lens still loves to capture tulip season in the quad and the highlight slams in the Thomas Assembly Center.

He also still gets a kick out of seeing his work published, even if it's in the smallest local newspaper.

When retirement eventually sets in for Crowe and he packs up his camera equipment for the last time, rest assured he will probably still have a Nikon D800 in his hands capturing the beauty of the world or teaching someone else how to.