GENERATIONS of Warwick school kids have met Brian Dittman and sat quietly for him, as he documented their growing over years of school photos.

This year, Mr Dittman's Naturalite Studios will have been snapping Warwick for 34 years, not a bad effort for a professional photographer whose career was borne out of simple interest of taking photos.

"In a digital time, where everyone and anyone can take a photo, I think it's so important we don't lose our personal history,” he said.

"A printed photo is something tangible we can pass on through the generations.

"If all your photos are stored only in Facebook, and you pass on, how does anyone else have access to them and the memories.”

Mr Dittman finished Year 10 at Warwick State High in 1972 and joined the air force, documenting his 12 months in Melbourne on a small Instamatic camera.

"We had a 45-year reunion last year, and those photos were such a hit with the guys,” he said.

"I was one of the only guys who captured anything so it was great to look back on what we all looked like at 16.”

After realising the air force wasn't for him, Mr Dittman returned to Warwick, landing a job at Skehan's Menswear before joining the Warwick Photo Centre about a year later.

"I'd always be in there, taking my films in for developing and Bruce Broughton and Gordon Brown offered me a job,” he said.

"Working alongside guys like that and John Harrison was great.

"We did so much in those days, most of the photography in town; events, sports, socials, weddings, birthdays, photography for police and lots of stuff for the Daily News.”

Mr Dittman spent 10 years with the Warwick Photo Centre team, selling cameras and equipment to many local photography enthusiasts.

"In the end a bout of ill health put a stop to that job and I took a good 12 months off to recover,” he said.

"Even so, during that time, a lot of people were asking me to take photos for them, so when I felt well enough to return to work, I started Naturalite Studio.

"These days, along with my wife Jenny, we're one of the only full-time professional photographer left in town.

"From the negatives right through to today's digital files, we have 33 years of history and photographs of Warwick and its people stored away.”