Member introductions

[Pekka]

I thought I'd start this thread where everyone can introduce themselves, tell something about what you are in real life, photography history, what interests you, whatever you want to say about yourself! As a reminder of Internet security keep details like street addresses and bank accounts out of it.

(see also http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=64774 which explains meaning of our usernames)

I'm a Finn, born in -60-something, living in Helsinki with a lovely lady on a house with patio and fireplace, near the sea. I am professional musician (been since 1985), and have played classical 5-string double bass with Finnish Radio Symphony orchestra since -89. You can see the instrument I play in http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/photo.php?photo=282

My first digital camera was Olympus C2000. Yep, Olympus. It was not a bad camera, but I needed something will less noise and hotshoe so I got Canon G1. It really kicked my creative senses. My G1 gallery (http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/list.php?exhibition=2) got quite popular and one day I got this idea of my own Canon forum where we could talk about Canon digital cameras (I was fed up with attitude people had in dpreview). So I started the forum and it has been growing since. I'm really glad it has become the favourite place for many, and I intend to work hard keeping the site up and evolving. I have got wonderful people to help me with moderating and taking care of the forum, and with them and great members we have (I mean it) I think we may enjoy this community a long time.

Today I photograph with 1D Mark II and few nice lenses (85/1.2L, 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 50/1.4, 17-40L...). I have had Canon D30, D60 and 10D before it but one day I decided to jump out of the yearly upgrade routine and get something I could work with longer, continuously. I like to shoot mostly environmental portraits and PR-style documentary - music, people, events. Mostly "ISO 1600 stuff" - I usually avoid flash. I do not shoot daily - I shoot when I have a good reason to shoot and when it is fun - this approach has proven to be very productive. I want to keep photography as a dear hobby (which sometimes pays) and not kill the enthusiasm with too much work and worry. I believe that each halve of the brain and each sense needs to be worked out equally to build a balanced person.

I always shoot RAW (since G1), and use C1 Pro and currently Rawshooter Premium and Color Engine for conversion. I have a big PC with two Eizo LCD's for photo work and about 3000 Gigabytes of storage (I like to back up on several hard disks instead of just DVDs). On the road I back up to Nexto CF and LG LW20 laptop.

I also program with PHP and MySQL and design websites etc. My main interest is Exhibit Engine gallery application which builds my gallery http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/ which will get a big update hopefully before Chistmas (both EE and the gallery).

If you have any worries, problems, comments or suggestions about this forum, feel free to PM me!

[wannasmaxx]

My name is Josh Dailey, I am 17, a senior in High School. I shoot with a 350D for anything school-related. I live in Surrey, England and will be going to GSU in Statesborro, GA at the end of this school year. I'm not very musical, but I like to listen to music loudly. My driving is considered by some to be erratic, or scary... Depending of whether or not you keep your eyes shut. I think I drive perfectly fine, but whatever. I'm interrested in sports photography, but can't be arsed to do sports myself. My only "sport" I participate in is snowboarding, and that is merely a hobby that I partake in at Xmas time in various ski resorts. I fream of big, white glass, but my wallet doesn't. Not quite a autobiography, like Pekka wrote, but that's it.

[Falkon]

Hi I am a plumber by trade. I started in photography in the 6th grade, I had a dark room and did black and white for years. Now I use my DSLR and photo shop. I found this site and have had a good time reading.

here is my visa number 85756 and my bank account number is 101099928 my address is 1122 somestreet ....oh wait I forgot about internet security.

[Wazza]

Good topic Pekka!

Well, as many know already, I'm part of the Great Kiwi group of members here at POTN. We seem to have taken over the boards recently... Now if only all of us had as many posts as Tim. :lol:

Anyway, my name is Warren Williams, and I'm a full time worker in a local bank, Westpac, doing Customer Service/Sales etc. I was born in the early 80's ;)

I'm an avid Aviation spotter, (when I actually have time for it, and the weather is ok!), I put a few of my shots on Airliners.net
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?photographersearch=Warren%20Williams&distinct_entry=true
However, I do have many many more, that I simply don't have the time to share on 56K! I'm one of the poor ones who has lived with this since getting the net back in 1996.

My favourite form of photography is landscapes, however every subject I've photographed, I seem to have enjoyed doing, and the results haven't been too bad. I currently own a Canon 20D, with a few minimal lens, and only one L.

In between photography and working full time, I manage to play some computer racing games, which I've had some success in Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (the 5th version in a series, which is currently up to # 9 - "Most Wanted"). I administered the main statistics page on a website, and won a few prizes along the way in worldwide racing competitons.

In the future, I plan on developing my photography knowledge, particularly in Portrait/Lighting Studio Work/ and photograph more weddings.
I plan on travelling back to England sometime soon, however that's still just talk, and really need to plan it better. Travelling Europe would be awesome. Also a safari tour through Africa with a 500mm f4 would be a dream.. If anyone wants to lend me their lens.. They're more than welcome to. ;)

That's enough of my history. Thanks Pekka for your story, and keeping this place alive.

BTW, I also have my own personal website, which is only aimed at my friends..
Just sharing some of the recent shots I've done, and challenges.

http://wazz*****scity.com

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Well, I think you all know my name. I'm 21 years old, and I live..well...you know where. I operate, alongside my failing mother (physically), an "assisted living" type facility here in our house. I love photography, however with the "biz", I find less than enough time for it. Unfortunately, I find myself having to refuse paid jobs now and again because I have such a commitment here. That's how it is, though. I'm more interested in helping my family than my bank account. I also play lots and lots of video games (still a kid, you know!), and I'm a bit of a chef myself (look out, Dante! ;-) ). Most anytime someone would see me, they'd see me with an animal. I have 5 dogs and 4 birds, which is a lot less than I used to. I usually have one of my chihuahua puppies in my arm :-D

I also am a musician. That's my other passion. I play the guitar, trumpet, and piano. Started guitar at 5, piano at 6, and trumpet at 8. My trumpet spends most of its time (when it's warm!) in my car. On my days off, I go off into nowhere and play as much and as loud as I like.

And now I'll shut up. :-D

Oh, and here's a shot of my house. Some people around here gawk (kinda poor area), but it's just enough for what we have. 23 rooms, 10 bedrooms, and 6 1/2 baths.

Adios. (oh yeah, I'm trilingual, too ;-) )

42395

[ayotnoms]

I wish I could go back to the day I signed up for the forum and change my screen name. AYOTNOMS is bass ackwards for my name, S. Montoya. :)

I am a native of New Mexico now living in Northern California for the past 26 yrs.

I have two adult children (a son and a daughter), a wife who was kind enough to pass on her good looks to my kids, and one grandson. They have made the occasional appearance on some of the photos I've posted here.

I work in downtown San Francisco as a network analyst. The day job offers me the chance to post a few comments during the work day, but don't tell my boss :)

I started with photography the day after my daughter was born in 1980. The camera, of course, was a Canon. The venerable AE-1. It still works! My first plunge into the digital world was when Sony began selling their Mavica still camera in 1997. I was sooo impressed with images that were a whopping 640 X 480. Boy, have times changed.

After getting everything I wanted out of the Sony, there was a 4 yr gap before I bought my second Canon SLR, the 20D. The interval was filled by one Nikon CoolPix and a Canon G5. The G5 is now the wifes camera....she doesn't like all the nerd knobs on the DSLRs.

Photography, in addition to being a creative outlet, has truly helped me view the world differently. There are many times I wish I could fly with a jet pack just to get new angles and perspectives that are denied us earthbound photographers. On the other hand, I'm convinced that people are tiring of me and my camera in their faces all the time.

I am glad my interest in photography was rekindled with my 20D and I am equally glad that I found this forum so that I might learn and share experiences with others who share a passion for cameras/lens/photos.

...so thanks Pekka for taking the initiative and starting POTN. It's fun to be part of this fun, creative, and truly global community.

:)
Steve

[IanD]

I'll be the first Canadian to add to this post. Born in 50 something (sorry about the copycat test Pekka:)) and have lived in Montreal for 95% of my life. Spent a couple of years in Toronto but moved back here due to the lack of a good poutine. Been with the same lady for the past 10 years. We live in what is called the West Island of Montreal. I currently work as a Territory Manager for a major bicycle company. I've been involved in sporting goods one way or another most of my life. I got into photography in my early 20's after a major skiing accident put an end to my racing career. Being laid up in bed for 6 months put an damper on many activities so I decided to record my recovery on film. Worked my way through Pentax K's and Olympus OM-1's. Always had a camera handy wherever I went. Decided to go digital about 2 years ago and have been shooting Canon ever since. Started with a Rebel and am currently shooting a 1dMKII. Wildlife is my favorite subject and my travels give me plenty of shooting opportunities.
Past experiences include, member of the Canadian National Smallbore Rifle Team (prone), Diawa Pro Staff member, Canadian IBO Champion, owner/operator of a guiding service (sold in 1989, chase them now with the MKII), DJ (CFOS Owen Sound/CFOX Montreal), unsuccessful downhill ski racer:o.
When not working or logged onto POTN, you can find me out fishing, chasing wildlife with the MKII, puttering in my workshop (I'm a very good putterer), tending to Gitzo or cutting grass/shoveling snow (depends upon the season.)
Pekka, I've said it once before and I'll say it again, thank-you for your unselfishness in developing POTN. It is an honor to be a member.

[tim]

I'm Tim (duh!), i'm 28 going on 12 ;) I live in New Zealand, the only other Kiwi member i've met so far is Wazza but I have plans to make a trip up to Auckland to meet the rest of them before too long. My primary trade is J2EE software development, which i've been doing for about 8 years. It was my Mum who suggested I do more photography, an innocent comment something along the lines of "you seem to like taking photos, maybe you should get into photography".

Well that comment was the start. A year ago I was asking if a DSLR could take video, then found this place and was suitable educated by the likes of Bob, Scott, Bloo Dog (sigh), and numerous others. In the past year i've upgraded to a 20D, gotten a rather large bunch of lenses from 12mm to 200mm, including the lovely 70-200 F2.8 IS, 50mm F1.4, Tamron 28-75 F2.8, Canon 100mm F2.8 macro, and the Tokina 12-24. I have a couple of flashes, a couple of studio lights, and a whole bunch of other stuff too, including a second 20D. A 1 series camera is probably in my future, though i'm holding off to see what Canon comes up with in the next year or so, as the 20D's are doing great for me right now - the limitation is still my skill or lack thereof, not the cameras.

To my suprise, one year after buying an SLR i'm now a "professional" wedding photograper, in that people pay me to do their wedding photos. I love doing wedding photography, as challenging as it is. I also do a little bit of modelling photography for fun, and some experimental stuff when I get time. I'm still amazed how quickly i've gone from n00b to "pro".

Photography for me is a joy, an obsession, and a love. It takes up a huge fraction of my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. At some point I may consider going full time pro, but it seems hard to make a good living doing that. Until then i'll keep one foot in each field (IT/photography) and enjoy the best of both worlds :)

Many thanks to Pekka and the mods for providing such a great place for us all to learn and hang out with like minded people. POTN and the members here have helped my photographic development more than any other influence :)

[JAZZ D.P.G.]

My name is Jim Stevenson, and JAZZ is a play on my initials, JAS and digital graphics and photography.

Another Canadian, and a relative newbie compared to most so far as a photographer. While it had always interested me, I never got into it (with one useless excuse after another).
In real life, I'm an RF (radio frequency) tech with some wonderful work experiences, which have led to the current position as manager of a tech troubleshooting team for a major 911 and radio equipment manufacturer. When 911 stops working, we get called. I've travelled in most of my work, and it is a requirement for me to work somewhere. I like to travel.
I got into photography when I was working with a company that does the special effects for the NASCAR broadcasts. the real time position on track and arrows effect. I had a little spare time, and money, and spent time with the pros and learned what I wanted and how-to's, and got to do some work as well.
Developed many side interests: travel photography, landscapes, flowers, protraits, etc. Swore never to do weddings, though.:lol:
I'm in my late 40's, and I've been married for 28yrs to my final high-school sweetheart, with two adult children, boys, of whom only one is threatening to make me a granddad. (I'm lucky, the daughter in law is not ready:lol: )
I've based out of Ottawa for most of my life, and have absolutely enjoyed it. The smaller size and the cleanest, greenest space in Canada. And a very good supply of Poutine, that would make even the Montrealer's happy :D .

I found POTN on my own, and have brought it to many that I have run into. I hope to one day share as much as I have learned here, though not to the degree that Pekka (and the mods and pro's) has given to us all.

Thank you all.

[b16pwrdej1]

My name is Brian Trent, 20 years old, and I live in south/central Virginia. I am a full-time student at Lynchburg College; a local liberal arts college with around 1,500-2,000 students. I am majoring in Environmental Science with hopes to work for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in the Pollution Response Department or Norfolk Southern in their Environmental Division. In my summers and spare time between semesters, I work for a local Hazardous Materials Response Company; cleaning up anything from grain spilled from train cars, diesel fuel from wrecked 18-wheelers, to acid and the such...it's a really interesting field that I would have never dreamed of being in when I was a child (or should I say a younger child, since I am still young). My hobbies include fishing, hunting, basically anything outside, music (I play trumpet and piano), working on cars or anything mechanical, and recently found a love for railroads and trains so now I enjoy railfanning any chance I get.

I have always enjoyed photography since my parents purchased me a Kodak P&S a few years ago for Christmas. After attending a practice round of the U.S. Open this summer in Pinehurst, NC, I finally realized the limitations of a P&S and became very frustrated. After researching on the internet and finding this wonderful website, I decided to purchase a digital SLR. During the summer I became the proud owner of a 20D, 70-200mm f4 L, kit lens, and recently purchased a 50mm f1.8.

I enjoy photographing trains and railroad subject matter, landscape, and various other subject material. I am still a novice, but by reading and discussing with the great minds of this forum, I can see my work getting alot better when I compare images taken when I first got my 20D to present.

[tiefelj]

The name is Jake Tiefel. I have been married 35 years and work as an NC machine programmer at the Boeing Wind Tunnel, in Washington state. Yep, I help make all the models for the tunnel. I have worked for Boeing for 33 years.

I just got my master's degree earlier this year--better late than never. I also teach three classes for a local college: machining, Catia V5, and a tooling class. I don't have too much time for any other hobbies than photography.

I was born and raise in Texas and I think my heart is still there.

There are two grand kids and one on the way and probably one next year.

I've had a Pentax with screw mount (does this date me or what). This was bought by another sailor on my ship, but he wanted to go on liberty (read: go to bars), so I bought the body, 50mm 1.4 lens and 135mm lens for $50. Then came an Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 with several accessories but I soon lost interest in photography.

My wife bought me a P&S that was almost like DOS in boot-up and write speed and it had a rather *large* 8 meg card.

Fortunately before I bought anything I discovered this forum.

When I looked at the newest technology along with this groups pictures I was enthralled. I had seen Canons before but never paid much attention. Then I started reading this forum and I was hooked.

This is a very moderate and understanding group and I appreciate that. But, you cost me way too much money. Then again, I buy "right" the first time.

[saravrose]

here goes, my name is Sara. I'm from just outside of Boise Idaho. I work in a hospice like program during the days, and waitress and bartend at nights. I'm a student majoring in social work at boise state university. and during my spare forty-five minutes a day I like to take photos. I bought my first camera (a point and shoot) a year ago to take with me to the East coast and caught the bug at the statue of liberty. Not a lot to say, I think music tends to be a theme on the forum. I occasionally sing and have a bit of training in Opera, but I tend to like the music more than the stage.... my work makes me feel productive and as though I'm contributing to the rest of humanity around me. My camera just makes me happy. Not exactly earth shattering but that's me. interesting thread by the way.... looking forward to more posts. Sari.

[Belmondo]

Belmondo here.

Actually, my real name is Tom, and I much prefer being called that. I took the pseudonym Belmondo because I thought......well, I thought we were supposed to.

I am temporarily retired, in my early sixties, and I live in the California desert, about ten miles west of Palm Springs. My wife of almost 44 years and I moved here about 5 years ago when we finally grew tired of the cold, wet winters in the San Francisco Bay Area where we had lived for the preceding 30 years.

We're still trying to decide whether or not to have children, and expect we'll have to make up our minds before too many more years. In the meantime, our cat Dollie, the eating machine, keeps us company.

My education is mechanical engineering, and I actually did work in that field for a few years specializing in explosives and aerospace ordnance. In the early 1970s, I gave up honest work and became a real estate broker, eventually opening an office in Silicon Valley which we operated until we retired.

I have always had cameras, but have gone through extensive periods of inactivity. To be honest, I probably took more Polaroids than anything else in the years before digital. My first digital camera was something by Kodak that produced a whopping 640 X 480 pixel image, My first 'good' digital camera was a Nikon 995, followed shortly by a Canon G2. Questions about the G2 led me to the forum, and that's when I got the 'bug.' Within a couple days of becoming a POTN member, I bought a 10D with the 28-135 IS lens. I've been buying, selling, and swapping ever since, and now find myself at the point where I've simply run out of excuses. I'm going to have to start taking pictures eventually.

I'm very proud to be a member, and most of all, to be entrusted with being a moderator here. This is a great group of people, and it's getting better by the day.

[naps]

Hi my name is Anthony.I was born in 1968 and live in Brisbane Australia. I am a builder by trade and am a supervisor/estimator for my father in laws company,which has me working on my computer about 6- 8 hours a day.
I dabbled in photography when I first got married 15 years ago when I had a eos 630,but I slowly lost interest.
I took it back up again mid this year when I suffered from depression and needed to get a hoby to take my mind off work.I found this site the day I bought my 350 D and have learnt more in 6 months from you guys than I thought I ever would.So thank you to all, you have helped me so much and didn't even know it.

[johnnybfan]

Johnnybfan here. My name is Jim. I am a Johnny Benson (NASCAR) fan, hence my forum name. I am in my early 50's and live in Wyoming, MI, with my wife of 25 years and two children (18 & 20). I worked for 18 years as a boat builder - a combination of carpenter, plumber, electrician, and inspector. About 7 years ago I was diagnosed with Something called "Fibromyalgia" which is a soft-tissue pain disease. I cannot work for more than a few hours without the onset of severe pain. So I now get to say that I'm unwillingly "retired". Thank God that I can still take pictures. Some of the people in my support group can barely take care of themselves.
I have had cameras for most of my life. I can't even remember what my first camera was. But I can remember my first serious camera - a Minolta SRT201 with a 50mm f1.4, a 28 mm f2.8, and a 70-200mm zoom. I've had it for about 35 years and learned a lot with it. My wife didn't have a clue about how to use it (and didn't want to learn how) so we bought several point & shoot film cameras, too. My first digital camera was a 2 MP Olympus p&s with 10x zoom lens. That worked well until my oldest (son) tripped and fell on it in Yosemite a year ago. When he got up the camera looked like it could shoot around a corner - lol - & was dead. I really did appreciate it because it gave me an excuse to buy my dRebel. :) :) :) I have also convinced my wife that it is easy to use and she has taken a few pics with it. I don't take as many pics as I would like but I'm working on that. I really enjoy the forums and read them much more than I post on them. Pekka, thanks to you for the forums and thanks to all of the moderators, too. You all do a great job on the forums. I proudly wear my POTN camera strap and, although I haven't met any members in person, I feel that I know a lot of you and look forward to meeting some of you in person.

[jopfin]

Hi, my name is Joe and I am an alcoholic. Yes its true, I started drinking at 11 kicked into high gear at 18 and had to quit or die when I was 21, I chose quitting it was easier on the family. I have been sober for more than 17 years. I have worked at almost every trade imaginable, so I am quite handy. I was married the first time for 8 yrs and had 3 excellent kids. But I found the love of my life the 2nd time, her name is Tracie and she is more than my best friend she is everything to me. We have no children together(my decision) but she came with a son who is wonderful, the 4 of them keep us very busy. I went to school to become an xray tech about 7yrs ago, and have been doing it ever since. My interest in photography started about 4 yrs ago with an EOS rebel, then last Xmas I got the 20D and really started to find what is I really like. I have found that photography opened up a whole new world, I am a native of Colorado and have seen more of it in the last year than the previous 38. I go nowhere without my wonderful wife, which I think really strengthens our relationship. I hope this next year to expand some horizons and really start to see some things(if the bank account allows it). I hope I haven't bored all of you with this little life story, thanks for reading...............Joe

ps thanks to Pekka and all the people who make this place what it is for everyone!!!

[johnnybfan]

Hi, my name is Joe and I am an alcoholic. Yes its true, I started drinking at 11 kicked into high gear at 18 and had to quit or die when I was 21, I chose quitting it was easier on the family. I have been sober for more than 17 years. I have worked at almost every trade imaginable, so I am quite handy. I was married the first time for 8 yrs and had 3 excellent kids. But I found the love of my life the 2nd time, her name is Tracie and she is more than my best friend she is everything to me. We have no children together(my decision) but she came with a son who is wonderful, the 4 of them keep us very busy. I went to school to become an xray tech about 7yrs ago, and have been doing it ever since. My interest in photography started about 4 yrs ago with an EOS rebel, then last Xmas I got the 20D and really started to find what is I really like. I have found that photography opened up a whole new world, I am a native of Colorado and have seen more of it in the last year than the previous 38. I go nowhere without my wonderful wife, which I think really strengthens our relationship. I hope this next year to expand some horizons and really start to see some things(if the bank account allows it). I hope I haven't bored all of you with this little life story, thanks for reading...............Joe

ps thanks to Pekka and all the people who make this place what it is for everyone!!!

Joe, congratulations on your 17 years of sobriety. It takes a special person to overcome something like that. Keep it up!

[theflyingkiwi]

Hi my name is Mark and I am going to be the 3rd person from NZ posting here. I live in Hamilton, NZ which is a great place to live.

Believe it or not I had found this place during work hours. I had been put in to a team to help out for a few weeks and they weren’t that great of a team so I had plenty of time to waste :) The kind of work that I do is IT as 2nd level support and I have been working in IT for more about 10 years now and been outsourced 3 times. And now I would like a change.

My first digital camera was a Canon G3 which was a good camera, but at the end of the day I wanted a camera with better controls. Now I shoot with a 10D and have a number of lenses.

Despite the large cost of starting this hobby I have only been using a camera for 3 years and despite knowing the basic I still have a lot to learn. So this year had been kind of slow on the camera front.

This forum has been a great learning place. The amount of information that I have come across is equal to none, but what makes this place really standout is the people.

[Jaymz]

Hi my name is Jaymz, I live in Hermiston, Oregon. I turned 30 today (dec 4). I have a degree in computer engineering (about 5 credits from my doctorate), which I never really used for a career. I work as an automotive tech and disassemble/write software for people just for fun and a little extra cash. I spend alot of my time putting on the finishing touches to an operating system I have written, which is what is running on this computer right now.

I first started with photography when I was 7 or 8 years, no name cheap P&S 35mm. My first experience with it, lol, I took a pic and opened the back to see the pic, did that after every shot, wasted a 5 rolls of film on that camping trip. :D Have had many P&S 35mm cameras since then, one Rebel, many P&S Digital cams, and finally the 20D.

-- Jaymz

[CMG]

Hi,
My name is CM Griffiths and I just joined the Forum today. My dad and my grandpa were both photographers, so I grew up with a great appreciation for the photographic arts.
I have been taking photographs since the age of 10 when my dad bought me my first 35mm Pentax K1000. However, I didn't start working in a darkroom until I was well into my 20's and enrolled in college. After that experience, I decided that I would keep my photography as my hobby instead of my living. I did not want to have to subsidize with shooting subjects I didn't want to shoot(a.k.a. weddings, portraits).
Off I went into the workforce, spending several years only shooting for my enjoyment, until I went back to school and then I started to revisit the idea of professional photography due to the experience of documenting other artists work and working for the college newspaper as their photographer. As a Fine Arts major, I have had the great fortune to work in conjunction with the University Art Gallery to publish several artists catalogs. I will be graduating this spring and plan to go on to graduate school with a combined emphasis in new media and new genre. I didn't realize it, but I have always thought of my photography as not as important as my other art because it seemed so easy to me. Now with the digital age, it seems anyone can take a photograph--so why are mine any better than yours? And who says they are better? So, the answer must be in our individuality, our perceptions, our skills, our ability to visualize and translate that vision into a 2D image that conveys my intention to the viewer. Right?
My digital Life...
My first digital camera was a gift, an Olympus C-720 Ultra zoom.
While working for the paper I got to use their equipment, a Canon EOS 10D with EF 28-200mm and the Ef 55-300mm lenses. That was it, I purchased the Canon EOS 20D for myself last year and I have not been disappointed. This year I asked for the EF 28-200mm Canon lens. What was purchased was the Sigma equivalent 18-200mm lens, so we will see if it is worth keeping once it gets here.
Reading your posts, I can see I have barely scratched the surface of the photo tech world, I hope to learn more from everyone's experience.

CM Griffiths

"I'm always mentally photographing everything as practice."
Minor White

[MattL]

Hi Yall.

My name is Matthew Lamb, Im the 4th New Zealander in this thread. I work in the entertainment industry as a freelance lighting tech/programmer. I light all the large concerts, corporate events and tv shows that come to town. Fellow kiwis might recognise my work on such events as BDO, Slinky&GlobalUnderground, Gods Kitchen, Together, EdgeFest, Deep Hardn' Funky. International groups I have lit include Yellowcard, Simple Plan, Delta Goodrem, Jesse McCartney, Rooster - the list goes on.

I got into photography a year ago, when i was onstage behind Kiwi band Shihad, taking photos of the band playing to a 25,000 person crowd with my 1mp camera phone. I went out the next day and bought a DSLR, 300d.

And I have never looked back.

[Maureen Souza]

Well I am sure most all of you know who I am (decided not hide behind my avatar ;) ). I was born in Massachusetts smack dab in the middle of the 1950's and spent my childhood there, as well as in Burlington, VT. and Philadelphia, PA. areas. I am married to Skip and we have three grown kids and one impetuous grandson. (I probably should mention that by night I am an RN for nearly 20 years).
When I was ten, my friends were into Barbie dolls but I had my eye on something else... a Kodak Instamatic camera with the new fan-dangled flash cubes. I begged for that camera for Christmas and I got it.... even though I had no money for film or developing. But I found a way to earn it and the rest is history.
I got my first Canon camera from my hubby in 1984 and went through different models looking for more performance. I was reluctant to give up my film body when digital came on the scene but I caved in when the A80 came out. Then the Pro1.......
I got my 20D (also from hubby) last February after lurking around this forum for almost 3 months. (See what you all did to me? :D ) Since then I am convinced I have no idea what I am doing with it but I am having fun anyways.
I learn so much from all of you every day as well as laugh my head off at some of the exchanges that go on here. I feel like I have made at least a thousand new friends and I thank-you for that.
Pekka, thanks so much for your confidence in me... I feel very humbled by it and I am so glad I am able to help out on this very wonderful forum.

[Belmondo]

I turned 30 today (dec 4).]

Happy birthday, Jaymz. That's a biggie. Welcome to adulthood.:lol:

[thomascanty]

Hi, I'm Thomas Canty.

Well, actually, as many here know, my real name is Lonnie DeCloedt. I turned 42 just under a month ago, I'm single (with no intention of ever getting married), and share my home with two cats and one very popular and spoiled mutt. I work nights at a large hospital in the San Fernando Valley, running the computers (mainframe, AS/400, a bunch of AIX boxes and a WAN) for it and another nearby hospital.

I was born in California (Long Beach to be precise) and when I was young we moved around California several times to places like Anaheim, Rancho Cucamonga and San Jose. When I was 7, my dad's job transferred him to Omaha, Nebraska, where we moved to for eight years. In 1978, his job (different company) transfered him back to California, and except for one year in Ventura County, I've lived in the San Fernando Valley ever since.

Shortly after we had moved to Omaha, my dad gave me his old Argus rangefinder camera and a hand-held light meter. Shortly after that my mother gave me her old Kodak Brownie. I became obsessed with photography at a pretty early age, and my allowance often was spent on film and processing. When I got to high school, I signed up for the Photography classes they offered. I usually failed the class though because I only signed up as a means to get darkroom privileges. I never did the assignments. :lol:

After high school I kind of lost interest in it. I still took pictures, but with a p&s, and never paying attention to the creative aspect. In the early 80's, I got online with the local BBSes and became very close friends with someone named Todd Pittman. He had AIDS, the unfortunate result of tainted blood during a transfusion (he was a hemophiliac). During the last year or two of his life he discovered photography and his passion for it reignited my own.

My first digital camera was a Casio QV-30 (320x240 images) in 1996. I have since upgraded eight times, my ninth digital camera being my 20D.

Six years ago I decided I was living a very unhealthy lifestyle and had better make some changes before I died. I quit my 20-year, 2-pack a day smoking habit. A year later I quit drinking. I don't think I'd call myself an alcoholic, but I was definitely drinking way more than a person should. I also started exercising in the form of hiking. This helped me lose 75 pounds that I really needed to get rid of (I've since gained a little of it back, but not too much). My work schedule changed about then too, giving me a three day weekend every other week, so I started taking advantage of that by going on short trips, travelling all over California, Nevada and Arizona (I put about 35,000 to 50,000 miles on my car every year). The hiking and travelling have always gone hand-in-hand with photography, and I've amassed an incredible number of pictures over the years, one or two of which are actually a little good, IMHO.

As far as my musical abilities. As a yung'un, I took piano lessons for 11 or 12 years, and got to be quite good. During a move about 20 years ago, my piano fell apart and I haven't touched one since. I'd be hard pressed to remember how to play chopsticks now. :( I've also dabbled a little with the guitar, but never seriously.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[WepWaWep]

What to say?

My name is David and I began photography when I was a teen, nearly 30 years ago. My first serious camera was a Pentax K-1000. Since that camera, I bounced along with Olympus for the longest time. First digital format was a P&S from them, then I bought a used E-10. When I decided that the fixed lenses were a problem I went with the decision to get a Canon. Lens selection and quality were a big factor in my decision.

I am a rabid hobby enthusiast, main area of interest is wildlife. I love being outdoors and stalking some poor critter that moves faster than I can react, trying to get that one shot which brings a smile to this face.

Personally, I am married, my wife and I have been together nearly 25 years and we have three boys. One is a teenager, the other two are still in the single digits. Puts a little crimp on the shoots having two little ones dragging behind on outings but somehow I manage. We are home schoolers, so I play Mr. Mom at home. My days are full being the school marm but the reward has been awesome. All my kids are doing great academically. The youngest one is two grades ahead, writing full paragraphs at age six. The middle one is the math wiz and the oldest has an incredible voice when writing fiction.

I too spent some time training in music yet I put down the guitar a few years ago. My interests switched a bit, photography seem to loom larger in my needs. So I have my arsenal of my 20D, 100-400, 17-40 and 100 macro that I carry every chance I get. But I'm not addicted, I swear... it's more like a glorious obsession.

[neil_r]

I was not going to do this but then I though “Hey I can use it for the dating agency submission as well ;)”

I will be 50 on the 28th January 2006 and I have been taking photographs for 30 years. The Army taught me both photography and photo processing and paid for me to practice in some very interesting places, from a “work” perspective these included Oman, Berlin, N Ireland and the Falklands and from a “fun” perspective, Canada, Alaska, and Cyprus. I have continued photographing both as a serious hobby and as a way of making money ever since.

I started with Pentax kit and for almost 20 years I used the same pair of Pentax MX 35mm cameras and a Bronica ETRS. Manual everything :rolleyes:!!!

I swapped over to a Canon EOS1n when it was released and held out until the EOS D60 came along before going over to the dark side.

I have two sons from a previous marriage, the eldest completed his law degree before telling me he wanted to be an actor and he is now touring Austria with the English Theatre of Vienna. The youngest is in the final year of a Politics degree at Nottingham where he is currently completing his first semester at the UBC in Vancouver.

I am coming out of a serious midlife crisis complete with motorbike, silly sports car and a wonderful wife. (The wife is not part of the crisis; but she is wonderful)

[MazerRakhm]

Hi my name is Kevin,

*Group* Hi Kevin…

And I’ve been a POTN addict since about three months before my join date. Back in those days I lurked in secret, then I joined, and now I even post sometimes.

Anyway, I just turned 30 years old this past summer, and have been into photography for a while, but was able to finally step it up by convincing “cost control” (aka my lovely wife) how much money we’d save on picture processing last year if she’d let me buy a digital. It’s been steadily downhill for me since then as I bought my 300D, and as of my birthday this summer a 70-200 2.8L.

My wife and I have a 10 year old daughter who loves to have her picture taken, the sillier ( http://ksmith.smugmug.com/photos/31538675-M.jpg) the better.

My day job is in IT working with large IBM machines, (Somewhere in some post or other CDS posted a picture of them… but I can’t remember where.) and read POTN while I’m not busy. I love this community, you people are helpful and kind, and I’ve probably learned more about photography from this site than the rest of the net combined.

Mazerrakhm (Mazer Rakham) is a character from the book Enders Game (If you like Science Fiction I highly recommend it, it’s my favorite book I even got my wife to read it and she loved it.) that I chose as my moniker 10+ years ago because my name or any combination of it is usually taken.

(Here is a hint, I share the same name as the person in the icon, only I’m better looking!)

[tommykjensen]

Hi

My name is Tommy. I am 38 years old and live in Wonderful Copenhagen.

I work as a consultant in the Service Management business. Just started 2 months ago. Before that I have worked 9 years in Mærsk Data (now bought by IBM), first in the helpdesk and later in the Service Management department.

My interest in photgraphy started when I was around 15 years old and the school had photography classes. I had no camera at that time so I had to borrow the schools camera. I can't remember if it was canon or nikon (I hope it was a Nikon) but I can remember that I might have broken the camera by mistake :o I think I put the lens on wrong....

It wasn't until 1996 I was able to afford a SLR which I bought just before I went on my first trip to USA, Florida. At that time I had no idea what an L-lens was and I would probably have bought Nikon if that had been on sale that day but luck was that it was Canon that was the hot item that day so I have stuck with that.

I found POTN reading the forums on dpreview :o I was looking for a new gallery and had tried both Coppermine and Gallery but did not like either. Then a user on dp suggested Exhibit Engine. I got here, downloaded, registered in the forums and have been here since. All my first posts here is all about EE. So great work on that Pekka and hopefully we get the next EE version as a christmas present :D

I am honored that Pekka found me worthy to join as a moderator. Though so far I think I have had the smallest task of all the mods. With my new job I have not had as much time as I wanted to work with the FAQ which is the task Pekka appointed to me. That'l teach me not to bug CDS about getting a good FAQ started :lol: Hopefully I will soon be able to get up to speed in that department (any ideas just send me PM). A good FAQ is definately needed to guide new users well into photography and post processing.

EDIT: Hey my introduction was post number 3500 ... About time :lol:

[fslshooter]

I'm Jerry Hale. I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in the 50s working for my dad in his service station. After graduating from Baylor University, I was in the real estate and insurance business for three years then joined the U. S. Air Force. About half of my 22 year military career was spent in the states and the other half overseas in Vietnam, Germany and England.

I've been married to my second wife for 26 years and we have no children between us. We have two grown children by my first wife - a daughter who teaches high school in Atlanta, Georgia and a son who teaches at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Neither of our children is married and we have no grandchildren.

For more than 30 years of my adult life, I was a keen bicyclist, racing a bit back in the 70s then turning to long distance touring in the late 80s. Two of my most memorable bicycle rides were the 1,000 mile End-to-End run from Lands End, England to John O'Groats, Scotland, and a 500 mile ride along the Northern Ireland coastline. Six years ago an inattentive driver hit me from the rear almost killing me and ending my ability to ride a bicycle.

My interest in photography began when I took my first photo as a child with my parents' Brownie Hawkeye. When I didn't chop off the top of my sister's head nor her feet, I became the family photographer. Although passionate about it, photography was nothing more than an expensive hobby of mine as I pursued a military career. I've been an avid baseball fan most of my life and soon after we retired to central Florida I began attending Daytona Cubs games -- always with camera in hand. The fan club used my pictures on their website and before the season was over the Cubs were using some of my photos on their website too. During the off-season the general manager asked me if I would be their team photographer. Prior to the start of the 2005 baseball season, I became the Florida State League photographer.

I found POTN about this time last year and after lurking for a while I asked for tips on how to get an aerial shot of a ballpark. The information provided by the folks here was almost overwhelming, convincing me that I needed to be a part of this group and I've been a member ever since.

[jwilson]

I'm Jeff Wilson, born in Detroit in 1966 but raised in the better side (West side) of Michigan. Grew up dabbling in photography but nothing serious. Spent most of my time chasing girls on the beaches of Lake Michigan. I've got a bach degree from U of Mich in International politics/Security (grad in 1989). Served as an officer in the Navy for 8 years then came back "home." I now work as a buyer in a mfg company but still "play Navy" on the weekends (I'm still in the Reserves). Married with one child - 18 month old Cameron (yea, I started a little late) and he keeps me pretty busy. I shoot with a DRebel and D60 - primarily weddings/portraits but have recently getting into landscape photography and am actually selling prints in a local gallery. Also do event photography (concerts) and am gaining quite a local reputation for my work there. Hopefully, with alot of luck and hardwork, I'll retire from corporate America earlier than expected and pursue photography fulltime.

[Andy001z]

Hi, I am Andy (33) from Bath, England. I have always had a camera in hand from a young age, but really only in the last couple of years have I bothered to learn how to use a camera. Before that, I would just shoot what I liked and enjoy the sucesses and failures.

I own a D300 with standard kit, I have just got myself some Colkin ND filters to take out to India, which I am very excited about.

My favorite subjects are skys, landscapes and big old buildings.

I work in IT, but dream of becoming a travel photographer, but I just dont have the skill or balls to let go of full time work.

Found the forum and love to see people work

Andyh

[mgreenlee]

Hello all,
I was born in 1960 (not something :)). I've been married for 25 years. I grew up in Wichita and have lived here most of my life with a few years in Tucson AZ. Sure miss Tucson, temperature is going to be ZERO or lower tonight. I run a small but growing aircraft interior company. This keeps me busy, maybe too busy according to my wife. Not many hobbies except now digital photography and sailing.

I grew up taking photos. My father and grandfather both were avid slide photographers. My grandfather loved flowers and my dad loved trains. Myself, I like nature and landscapes. My favorite forum is, let's see, all of them.

I used to be an avid photographer but in the mid 90's someone broke into our house and decided he/she wanted all of my equipment more than I did. I lost my Pentax LX (loved that camera), about 6-8 lens and large selection of filters. Insurance paid to replace all of it so I decided to go Canon. I went with a A2E but I couldn't get into it.:cry: But here I am some years later going at it again. I hope to have a lab scan our slides; I'll post some when I get this done.

Thanks for allowing me to share, Marion
PS. Great thread, it should be a requirement to post here prior to joining.;)

[Blue Deuce]

My name is Mike and I am a photoholic.

I have a absolutely gorgeous sweet wife of 17 years who I dont see too often because of the demands of her being a dedicated school principal. It does has its advantages in that it affords me time to pursue this hobby I discovered in high school. I am a landscape architect catering to the well heeled folks that live in and are moving into Orlando. No kids, just a few animals we love.

[markubig]

Name: Mark

Born: 1974 . . . which would make me 13 :p

Residence: Born and raised in New Joisy :p:p

Degree: Electrical Engineering

Occupation: Pharmaceutical Sales (totally makes sense w/ my degree ;):D:p)

I have been happily married to my wife, Cristina, for almost 3 weeks now.:D No children (hey, it's only been 3 weeks, so stop rushing me!) and we are expecting to close on our first home next week.

My first camera was a Yashica film P&S that was given to me as a college graduation present. My introduction to digital was a friend of mine, who bought one of the first Kodak digital cameras . . . the Kodak DC200, a 0.9MP monster that at $400 came with a 4MB compactflash card that could fit up to 8 photos at the highest resolution. My first digicam purchase was a $400 1.3MP Olympus Camedia D-460 Zoom. It came with an 8MB Smartmedia card, but "NO!" that wasn't enough space for me because I wanted to take tons of pictures before having to transfer them to the computer, so I shelled out the big bucks $$$ and got me a 32MB card, which allowed me to save over 60 shots at the highest resolution. yeah baby!!! I was considered the man for having sooo much memory on my camera.;)

After about 2 years, I wanted more power (at the time, megapixels were everything to me), so I upgraded to a Canon Powershot G3. I owned it for almost 2 years before I realized what it was capable of. Did a search to learn a little more about photography and found this forum. Last year, I got engaged and after seeing the results of our engagement photo shoot (and with a little nudge from this forum), i sold my G3 and bought a 300D Digital Rebel (a black body 300D, which was out for only a week or two when I bought it). I loved that camera and learned a lot with it. Sold the 300D and bought my EOS 20D this past April because I wanted the FEC, more fps, AI Servo, and less high ISO noise. This camera is TOTALLY my baby. I also ended up getting a G6 which I use when I don't want to carry around the hefty dslr. I just came back from my honeymoon and the G6 worked out very well.

So here I am. I haven't been as active a member the past few months w/ the wedding/house hunting/honeymoon. I also got promoted over the summer, which increased my work load, thus decreased my POTN time:(. However, everything is starting to settle down and I hope to be spending more time here learning and sharing with you all again.

See you on the forum! :D:D:D

.

[Belmondo]

I have been happily married to my wife, Cristina, for almost 3 weeks now.:D No children (hey, it's only been 3 weeks, so stop rushing me!) and we are expecting to close on our first home next week.

Congratulations on the promotion, the new bride, and the new house. Now, let's start filling that house up with lots of little Shreks.

We look forward to seing more of you again now that the excitement has died down a little.

[markubig]

Congratulations on the promotion, the new bride, and the new house. Now, let's start filling that house up with lots of little Shreks.

We look forward to seing more of you again now that the excitement has died down a little. Thank you very much, Tom . . . I just hope they don't turn out as GREEN as I am though . . . :p :p

[dgcorner]

Hi, the name’s John, and I’m the 5th “Kiwi” to post in this thread. I’m originally from the Philippines, born in ‘64, and was named after the late John F. Kennedy, as well as after his son, Patrick… so I have one of those funny sounding names – American-Irish first names + Filipino surname = 8-). 14, going 15 years happily married to Tina, and the fruits of that union are my two boys – David & Gabriel, hence my login name – dgcorner, which actually is short for: David & Gabby’s Corner… and the name has just stuck.

We moved to Auckland, New Zealand in the middle of winter (July) 2000, after giving up on the sad state of the Philippines brought about by what we call “Trapos.” This word actually has two meanings, one of them is “traditional politicians” whilst the other, in the local language, meaning (wet, stinking) rags – an apt description I would think! The country was/is falling apart and Tina and I felt that we needed to give our two boys the best future that we could give them. To give way to our long-range plans for the future I abandoned my successful career in sales & marketing working with a top Swiss based multinational company in my industry… and we haven’t looked back since. Two years ago, we decided to permanently call New Zealand our home by becoming Kiwis ourselves, hence my being the “5th Kiwi to post in this thread.”

I’ve been shooting pics since I was a little kid. I remember being allowed to use my father’s “sleek” P&S Minolta, the model of which escapes me. It was cool to be taking pictures of people, landscapes, and other stuff… but the excitement was tempered by the expensive film and developing costs during those days. In between, I had (as gifts) several P&S cameras to document our life as it evolved.

The first real camera I purchased and owned was the Canon EOS 500N. I purchased this some 10-15 years ago… but remained a P&S photographer because it was getting expensive to have 5-10 rolls of film developed and printed every so often… and then be lucky just to get 2 great shots out of a roll of 36 exposures.

Things changed when I decided to go digital some 3 years ago and I purchased a Nikon Coolpix 5800 since Canon at that time didn’t have an affordable 5MP camera. At first, I did P&S pics, then realised that I wasn’t getting anywhere, not to mention that Nikon’s full auto settings was crap ;-). So I started learning (and I still am) how to shoot manually when the time allows.

I was made redundant from work some 6 months ago… went through the usual psychological cycle of denial, anger, depression, and (hopefully, full) acceptance. I still am looking for work but am resigned to the fact that nothing is going to happen until next year due to the coming holidays.

However, one of the many good things about the whole experience is I realised that photography was/is my passion... And I felt that in order to take better pictures, I needed to upgrade my kit, as well as my skills. In my quest to learn more, I stumbled upon this forum, hung around the sidelines for a couple of weeks, taking in the comments and suggestions, then actively joining to post my own comments. It certainly has been a colourful few weeks! And in between the posts, I then purchased my 20D & lenses… and things are looking up!

Pekka -- thank you for your vision, and more importantly for acting on it. There are very few people who will take that initiative. The forum has helped me keep my depression at bay, and my sanity intact. It has also allowed me to meet other fantastic members on-line, as well as Kiwis who share my passion and love for photography – for that I am truly grateful.

Cheers!

[Claire]

Hi,
I'm Claire. I haven't been around much lately which is a bummer, but that's due to my new job.

I'm 26 (bloody 'ell, time flies!), born and bread in Gothenburg, Sweden. I'm half Swedish and half Thai, and no, I don't speak any Thai. But I do love Thai food...

I grew up in a suburb to Gothenburg and I'm an only child. Mom used to dress me up in pink dresses with ribbons in my hair and I still have nightmares from it all...:p So, instead of becoming a girly girl I began to read Marvel comics and became a tomboy. Then puberty hit and I slowly eased into accepting the sad truth I was a girl. LOL
In High School I studied natural science, but realised maths wasn't my thing. So, instead I ended up applying to degrees in Communications and Journalism. I ended up in London and that was a huge step for me. Being away from home for the first time, new country, new school, new city, new language and knowing nobody. Scary and exciting!

At Uni I met people from all over the world and that has made a huge impact on me. I've always felt very Swedish, but I guess there were pieces of the puzzle that were missing, and I found them when hanging out with people from other cultures.
My BA years consisted of the usual working hard, ignoring classes because they were too early (9am), partying, being involved in clubs and societies, gaining and losing friends, falling in love and having my heart broken. After those 2.5 years I pursued my MA in International Journalism. That was also a fun year. Made very good friends there.

Since I left London (too darn expensive for someone without a decently paid job) I've moved back in with my parents. I've been substitute teaching for the past two years and recently landed a job at a newly started company. I am thrilled with working within my profession, but scared ****less of all the responsibilty they're putting on me! Want to live up to expectations as well as keep my job...

I have always appreciated photography and wanted to take a B&W course, but never did. My parents gave me a Canon IXUS 300 for my BA graduation. I had no clue how they got the idea, but boy am I thankful they did! At first I just took regular party shots. During my MA I turned into the class photographer. When I got back to Sweden I began to take walks and bring my camera along. That's when I began to experiment with nature shots more and more. Finally I decided to get a DSLR. I read up on them and ended up with my Canon 300D. I don't own lots of fancy equipment, but I'm enjoying my hobby.

If anyone wants to buy me an Xmas gift, I would very much like a good macro lens and a couple of Crumpler bags. :)

[forsaken]

Kiaora

Simon here (another kiwi to add to the invasion), I am 28 and have been taking photos for as long as I can remember, which isn't saying much as my memory is not that good. I started with an old pentax film camera that I got cheap and then got given another 5 lens' for it. I then decided that digital was the way to go and brought a sony cybershot which treated me well for around 4 years taking photos of car shows, car club events and my pets. Then I got turned to the darkside and with helpful information from friends and aquaintances (cheers moppie) :) decided to upgrade to a DSLR in the form of the canon 20D.

I work as a CNC machine operator for a small engineering firm making parts for marine winches and spend 90% of my spare time taking and editing photos trying to improve my skills and hope to 1 day land a job as an automotive photographer (hey I'm allowed to dream, and it keeps me busy)

[Belmondo]

---and hope to 1 day land a job as an automotive photographer (hey I'm allowed to dream, and it keeps me busy)

Good luck on your dream. You're still young enough that it could actually happen.

[StevenRaith]

Morning.

I'm Steven R [guess the surname ;) ], I am an IT Engineer and plug computers in by day, and haunt internet forums by night, often a bit drunkenlyt following excessive inebriation in some of the decent pubs in London. I moved to Hertfordshire, England, a few years ago having grown up in the John O Groats area [go to maps.google.co.uk and enter 'Thurso' ...] and havent looked back since.

I currently get paid too much for doing too little, althoguh these are relative terms - I'm not rich by any use of the term ;)

I started photography very recently - back in June - with a Fuji S5100, and found it to be rather bloody good, if a bit lacking on control and accuracy. I was mainly shooting cars and motorsport when I got the chance to go to events.

I recently sold the Fuji and a few nights ago picked up a 300D with 18-50 SigmaF3.5-5.6 and I picked up a Tamron 70-200 F4-5.6 yesterday, and I am very much looking forward to using it - after only a couple of days with the SLR I have started to work out effects changing the ISO and arpeture have, to a much greater degree than I could tell on the Fuji.

Still need to get a tripod mind. Well, christmas is coming and my dad [who is quite chuffed I am taking up snapping as a hobby] is offering to 'help me out' - he used to do a lot of camera related jiggery pokery 'in his youth', sometime back in the early 19th century....

My use to members of this forum is quite limited in terms of camera related stuff as I am quite new to all this mirror lock ups, arpeture adjustment, etc - but I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm glad to have found a forum that is fairly open and 'self moderating' [insomuch as the place isnt filled with trolling idiots, so moderation seems to be mostly housekeeping as opposed to deleting posts all the time] which is always a good thing, and I look forward to posting lots of utterly crap pictures, and being told where I am going wrong...;)

From looking at some of the stuff on here I can see there is a hell of a lot more to this photography lark than framing a shot, setting the arpeture, ISO and shutter speed, and pressing the button. And I look forward to learning it all.....:)

[flyfisher]

Hi,
My name is Steve, I am 47 years old. My interests are fly fishing (hence my forum name) hunting and photography. I grew up in Massachusetts and still live there with my wife of 26 years, I’m an assistant Forman in a machine shop. We have a daughter 23yrs old and a son 20 yrs old.

I have been taking pictures on and off for about 24 yrs. My firs camera was an AE-1
Have gone thru many cameras since then. Have done some industrial photography, some
Weddings and little league, football, soccer and dance. I am starting to cut back on the photography for pay as I recently had a Kidney transplant (my wife donated one of hers to me BLESS HER) and realized that working 75 plus hrs a week isn’t worth it. I found this forum when I was recovering from surgery, and found all the members very friendly. I really miss Bloo Dogs adventures/miss adventures as they always conveyed the message in a humorous way. I recently started doing landscape photos and really am enjoying it.

Thanks to Pekka and all of the Moderators for making this forum what is for all of the members.

[msad1217]

Manny here. I do more lurking around here than anything else.

I will be turning 37 here in six days. I am originally from the Philippines and have lived exactly half my life in the PI and half here in the US. I am a former US Marine who currently goes to the Seattle Art institute for something. I am an avid musician who lives and breaths metal. In my arsenal of weapons, I currently have a Epi Les Paul Slash signature, ESP M-II Standard, ESP KH-2 relic, ESP EXP and a Tama Rock Star drum kit.

On my last year in the Corps, I started attending at San Diego State University, five years later I received a degree in International Business. After graduation, I worked for HangSeng Bank in the Philippines, got tired of that and started working for a major financial company here in Seattle. In the middle of all that I managed to get married to a beautiful Irish woman from Massachusetts (she's a Master Chef) and have two lovely children. I got tired of working and now I am back in school full time.

I started taking up photography eight years ago, the moment I found out my wife is pregnant with our first baby. My first camera was a Minolta QtSi with Quantaray lens. Since then I've had several different cameras, a polaroid, a Noink P&S, I even had an APS camera, I can't remember the brand. But ever since that day eight years ago, I have pretty much done more photography related stuff than my work that my wife finally said one day if I like it so much I should do something with it. So, here I am, trying to earn my Associates in Applied Arts Degree in Photography and Video Production.:)

I wanted to let everyone here know how much help you all have given me. If not for this site, I would be having a much more difficult time at school.

[jothefish]

Hi, I'm Joann, another Kiwi but living in the Bahamas - yes - life is tough but someone has to do it! :)

I won my first camera at school when I was 11 and proceeded to upset my mother by taking photos of apple cores... at the age of 16 I received a Canon AE1 for my birthday and haven't looked back since. My mother still says the worst decision she ever made was to make me study languages instead of letting me follow my dream of studying photography, (let this be a lesson to all you mummy's and daddy's out there) although I can speak a few languages now - so I suppose it wasn't so bad!

I realised photography was my passion when, living in Italy - working in a poor paying job, I would give up food so I could develop my photos that week...

I jumped into the digital age with a vengence and am a total equipment freak and update often (my lucky brothers and friends who get all my "old" gear).

I am in the fortunate position that I get to travel alot - my son who is 9 has been in 46 countries and on every continent... lucky boy. He just received his first SLR for his birthday. The rule in our house is "If you can carry it yourself - you can take it".

I love taking photographs but hate editing them...

I hope to get up the courage to post some photos one day to hear your comments.

Big hug.

[liza]

Hi, I'm Elizabeth. I live in the U.S. in east central Illinois with my two sons, ages 13 and 10, two cats, and a dog. For many years, I worked long hours in social services with persons who have developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. After tiring of the 60-70 hour work weeks, I returned to school to get my teaching certification. Now I'm employed as a high school special education teacher and also am advisor for the yearbook. I spend many happy hours photographing high school sports and teaching my yearbook staff to do the same.

After 18 years as a serious enthusiast with film photography, I made the switch to digital and have never looked back. Not only do I photograph sports and school events, I also am a regular contributor to the local newspaper and have a senior portrait business on the side. In the spring, I plan to add a second digital body and get some experience as a second shooter for weddings with the eventual goal of adding that to the services offered by my own business. While I photograph people for my business, my passion is sports. I enjoy the challenges presented by sports shooting at the high school level and should soon receive a sideline media pass to photograph college sports at our area university. Perhaps some day my skills will pass muster for Sports Shooter membership!:)

[toddb]

My name is Todd Burke. I'll be 30 here in a couple weeks. I'm a farm kid converted to tech geek. Lived in Washington State all my life, first on the east side (closest town was called Royal City) now over on the west side in Redmond. I went to WSU and received a Computer Science degree in 1999. Got picked up by IBM and I've been there ever since.

I've always kind of been into Photography. Of my 3 other siblings, I was the one that always wanted to use my dad's 35mm camera on outings. I got first place in my class in the 5th grade science fair for making a shoe box camera that I developed the film myself in a make shift dark room. It wasn't until about a year after my first born though that I was really getting interested in photography again. I had a few digital point and shoots and I just couldn't get the pictures I wanted with them. Mostly because I shot indoors mostly and the delay was too much to catch a moving target. So in June of 2003, I got the 10D (still my main camera). I figured I shot enough pictures the first month that if I had film, it would have been more then the cost of the camera itself (that's my justification and I'm sticking to it). Really though, I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to learn photography with film and not having that instant feedback and EXIF info.

My other interest have been my wife and kids and before that motorcycles. I had to give up the bike thing until I grow up a little more, lol. Started dirt bikes when I was 5 and got my first street bike in collage (900RR). My last bike was a Honda 954RR and what a blast it was getting to work every day. Now I drive a mini van. I like it because I get to take my family everywhere I go.

http://www.toddburke.net/forumpost/me.jpg

[farmboy]

Howdy, Brandon Taylor here. I grew up in the Texas Panhandle in a small town of 1700 people. SUNRAY, TX home of the fighting Bobcats! My dad would take me with him to the farm when I was in diapers. Ever since then farming has been a way of life for me. I even have a tattoo of snoopy driving a tractor. Being a farmer requires the skills of an electrician, mechanic, welder, plumber, and a few more. Pops helped me get my own farm back in 97. The first time I pulled into the field it was 640 acres (a section or one square mile) of weeds taller than the tractor. By mid spring it was a my garden of eden, and no there are no apple trees. Three years ago I had to make one the hardest and most painful decision of my life, I had to sell out due to the ridiculus increase in the price of natural gas, which is used to fuel the engines that pumps the water wells.:cry: This was so hard because divorce was one the many prices I paid for doing what I loved.

Anyways I thought I try my hand at dirt work so I bought some tractors and scrapers to pulled behind them. For all the traveling I have to do I got a fifth wheel and sold my house. Beats staying in motels. Last year I teamed up with another dirt mover and went to Buckeye, Arizona to build a dairy. I getting a little ahead of my self let's jump back.

Why Brandon Got a Camera

Three years my cousin, a contractor, took me under his wing and showed me a few of the ropes of this buisness. He told me that a real contractor always carries a camera with him on the jobsite for legal and sentimental reasons. Well I had some extra cash so I go to Best Buy and tell them I want the best digital camera they have, and I walk out with my 300D and a 512m memory card. For the next two years the pictures I never took it out of automatic and all the pictures I took filled about half the card.


How I Become Addicted

Anyway, I arrived in Arizona at the first of the year and start the doing the dirt work on a dairy out here. I snap some photos nothing special. Auto Mode of course. so anyway the job progresses I'm paying my bills Then I meet a lady and a month later marry her. Don't take this the wrong way, But every thing has fallen apart since we got married. The General contractor that my partner and I were subbed to went belly up. I'm owed a ridiculous amount of money and possibly will never see a dime of it because I shook a man's hand instead of signing a contract and no legs to stand on in court. September comes around I my "give a ****ter" breaks and I lock myself in my trailer and through my self one hell a pity party. Then one day I was looking through for some papers in my pick-up and I noticed my camera so I picked it up and realized I paid 1200 dollars for this damn thing and I know nothing about. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. New Hobby!, something to care about. something that with practice I can be good at. And you wanna know something? My "give a ****ter" started working again. I've read a few books learned some new things about photography. I'm still very green. I can't put the damn thing down. I'm addicted.

Well there's a little about me

[Beka29]

I’m Rebekah, will be 16 on Dec. 29, and live in New Brunswick, Canada. I haven’t posted much at all, but I hope that will change when I get a bit less busy. I have always loved art, whether it be writing, music, drawing, etc. I became interested in photography last spring, but I became totally obsessed, for lack of a better word, when I went to Calgary this past summer and saw the beauty of the mountains. My dad graciously let me take his little point & shoot (Sony DSC-P52) to Alberta, even though he was somewhat protective of it… there is a long story about how my mom left our old digital camera on the edge of a table when I was ten and I accidentally knocked it onto the floor… anyway, I took a lot of pictures over the 2½ weeks that I was there, though we only had a 64MB card at that time and that was a bit limiting in the mountains. When we went to Banff National Park, I had the chance to use my grandfather’s Canon (also a point & shoot, the S60 I think, but a WAY better camera than what I was and still am used to) and took two of my best pictures. That convinced me that I would eventually get a Canon, but I wasn’t totally happy with the specs of any of the ones that I looked at, and was getting increasingly frustrated with the limits of my dad’s camera.

One rainy day in September – I think it was September – my family needed to get our picture taken for our grandparents. My dad’s good friend is a pro photographer and often shoots weddings, so he did the family picture for us. Afterwards, he and my dad were talking about my interest in photography, and so he let me hold his camera (a Nikon F100, I believe) and showed me how to hold it, focus, etc. After that, I knew there was no way that I was getting a point & shoot or prosumer!

Now, I have done much research and made up my mind to get a Rebel XT, though it will take me awhile to save up enough money. I will probably work next summer – for now, the parents say, “School is your job” – and I hope I can get my camera before our family vacation. I have learned more about photography in the past few months than I ever imagined that I could learn, have taken almost 8000 pictures, and hope to get much better as the years go by. My most common subjects are my golden retriever Amie and now Christmas tree ornaments :rolleyes: but my favourites would be landscapes (or anything in nature) and the kids that I know. No one in my family will let me practice on them, not even my dog. She’ll close her eyes whenever she sees me with the camera because she dislikes the flash (she’s a pretty smart dog, I must admit). I’ve accepted the limitations of the camera I use… it is more mine now than my parents’… but that has made my decision to buy a DSLR that much easier.

Well, that’s about all I can think of at the moment, except that I have a friend who recently bought the S2 IS and is trying to convert me! She’ll never succeed :wink: .

[::John::]

Maybe my login name should have been YAK (yet another kiwi)!

JT here - born in the mid 50's in the South Island of New Zealand, I was given my first camera when I was about 12 (so dad could get his ones back).

I travelled a lot with work and always had a camera of some sort with me. My first SLR came along when I was in my early 30's and was, strangely enough, a Canon).

I left that behind for a Pentax at one point that a girlfriend managed to take with her - so I bought a Canon EOS 1000F in 1996 which I still have.

My boss sent me to Sydney, Australia, in May, 2000 for a 3 month contract (I work in IT) and then sold the company to an Australian who promptly closed the NZ company - leaving me here in Sydney with no prospect of a job if I returned to NZ - so I stayed here in OZ where I met and married my current wife.

I have 2 sons from previous marriages and my wife has 3 kids from her previous marriage.

I bought and played with some very basic digital cameras until a friend in Oregon sent me his old Sony Mavica (the one that saves pics to diskettes) which really rekindled my interest in photography.

After playing with it for a while I really wanted something a bit more powerful so I bought a Sony Mavica CD500 and, boy, I loved that camera. I took over 4000 pictures in less than 2 years!

The Sony was a toss up - I wanted the then new Canon 300D but decided, as it was $1000 more than the Sony, that I would stick with the Sony to see if I really was interested in photography or just playing around.

I bought the Canon 350D in April this year. I chose Canon because I already had Canon glass with my 1000F and wanted to be able to re-use it.

I am delighted with my choice and am now looking carefully at the 5D.

One day.... I see a 5D and at least one L lens in my future.

Thanks for this site - it has already taught me a lot.

[FlyingPete]

Kiwi number 8 or 9 here, lost count now :rolleyes:

I think I am the second regular kiwi member to join behind Nzl-G3User.

I live in East Auckland, Pakuranga Height to be specific, I am originally from Chirstchurch, but moved up to the Bucklands Beach/Half Moon Bay area in my early teens, as can be expected I was born at a very young age, :p a 1974 model to be specific.

Married to Shona with one daughter, Elizabeth who just turned two last week, she already is showing an interest in photography (we will ignore the fact she shows an interest in what ever dad does or has :rolleyes: )

I am another member of the great and growing GKPE (Great Kiwi POTN Expedition), now participating in the two main events, plus at least three 'mini's'

My day job is a Consulting Engineer for an IT Services Company, my speciality area's are storage (SAN/Backups) and Server Virtualization (I am a VMWare Cetified Professional), my aging Microsoft Cert is the MSCE equivalent for Windows NT3.51 :o.

I love my gadgets and toys, and have been playing with SLR's for 17 years now, my first photo 'job' taking pictures for my school magazine in 1989. Cameras I have owned: Kodak Brownie Reflex, Kodak Instamatic 110, Konica 35mm Autofocus thingy, Olympus OM1, Pentax P30N, Olympus OM10, Canon EOS50, Sony Cybershot DSC-S50, Canon EOS30, Canon Powershot G3 and finally a Canon EOS20D.

Personalty wise, a little wacky, probably compete a little with Warren (Wazza) for wacky acts on GKPE outings :D

[Nidz]

My name is Nidan Baxter (I challenge anyone to find soebody else with my first name). I am from Melbourne, Australia. I work as a technical support person at an Internet company as my full time job. I used to like computers but these days I am getting sick of it all and need a change. I hope to persue my photography more in the comming months. I have been doing shoots for a Automotive website and hope to further expand to other types of photoraphy and framed prints. I have learned a lot from this site which continues to help me with technique and other various things.

I too am a gadget man. Anything expensive I will try to get my hands on. I've been through all your Remote control toys and hotting up my car and stereo and computer and other various electronic tech gadgets. I've always been interested in photography but until September this year haven't been able to afford to get my hands on some serious equipment.

So that's pretty much all for me.

[lostdoggy]

Hi my name is Billy. I was born n the 60's in Hong Kong and raise in The Bronx and currently living in Queens w/ my significant other and our 2 kids.

I love photography since I was very young, but didn't really have the time to work on it. I started out w/ a Pentax SLR (don't know the model) and move to a Nikon FM2. I migrate over to digital w/ a sub 1MP Olympus then to a 3.2MP Sony DSC72. It wasn't until I saw my brotherinlaw's 300D when my interest in photography revived. But for the past 9 month I was side lined with a rupture Petella Tendon and could only limp from place to place.

My profession,Hmmm. As you can see I don't write for a living. I'm a jack of all trade master of none. My main function at work is to maintain the enviroment in the building and the associated equipment. I also service HVAC, electrical, plumbing and nything else that can break down. I also construct and build anything that needs to be. For the first half of my work day. On the other half of my work day I'm a Union delegate. Protecting the membership from cold ruthless idiot management. I'm reponsible for writing grievances against management and denouncing their inability to read. I have a 70% win ratio. Gofigure, from a guy who can't write.

[aradia]

Hey to everyone reading this. My name is Jennifer, I'm 23 years old, living in New Jersey, USA. :) I work as a team leader in the mail room for a large mortgage company here in Jersey. It bores me to tears, so I like to play on the internet alot.

My mother was into photography when she was younger and gave me her Minolta 35 mm SLR when I moved out and for Christmas bought me a Canon S2 IS (I'm dying because I haven't been able to get my hands on it. It's just sitting out, torturing me). After Christmas, I plan to be taking lots and lots of photos and posting them here. For now, I'll just troll around and marvel at everyone else's photos. :)

[markubig]

Hey to everyone reading this. My name is Jennifer, I'm 23 years old, living in New Jersey, USA. :) I work as a team leader in the mail room for a large mortgage company here in Jersey. It bores me to tears, so I like to play on the internet alot.

My mother was into photography when she was younger and gave me her Minolta 35 mm SLR when I moved out and for Christmas bought me a Canon S2 IS (I'm dying because I haven't been able to get my hands on it. It's just sitting out, torturing me). After Christmas, I plan to be taking lots and lots of photos and posting them here. For now, I'll just troll around and marvel at everyone else's photos. :) Fellow New Jersyan . . . Welcome!

[HJMinard]

Greetings fellow POTN'ers! My name is Jay and I'm 40 years old. I was born and raised in Detroit, and I currently live in Marysville, Michigan, U.S.A. I'm employed as a designer (CAD) in the automotive industry - currently designing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) components for the next generation GM full size SUV's (Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade, Yukon, etc.). That's what I do for a living, anyway ... my real purpose in life is serving the Lord. I'm married and have three children (19 y/o daughter, 15 y/o son, and 12 y/o daughter).

I developed an interest in photography in 7th grade, and joined a photography club that a teacher organized as an after school activity. I saved up my newspaper route income and purchased an Olympus OM-1 with 50mm lens. I eventually added a telephoto lens, a flash, and other necessary equipment. The OM-1 served me loyally and well for about six years - until my parent's home was broken and entered by someone who apparently needed it more than I. That (unfortunately) was the end of my film SLR experience, as I used the insurance money to buy a stereo system for my dorm room at college (Western Michigan Univ.). Seemed like the thing to do at the time. :(

I bought and used relatively high end point and shoot film cameras for many years ... and then came the digital revolution and a purchase of a Canon G1. My passion for photography was completely rekindled. I rapidly upgraded to first the Digital Rebel, and then the 20D. My lens collection experienced a similar rapid escalation from kit to mid-range to "L". I enjoy all sorts of photography, but particularly wildlife.

[otlip]

Greetings to All

If its OK to say it, I'm another one of those folks from NJ (exit 14, Billy Crystal). I'm a captain of a small tanker that operates out of New York Harbor. We run as far East as Portland Maine. I also pilot ships when I home; this help to pay for my son's (20) education at Colgate.
I had an old Konica camera in the 70s and shot many slides. When my son got involved in sports I got a Canon Elan 2E. Developing became expensive so I got a Rebel 300, two years ago this month. I added several new lenses 100-400 IS, and a 85 1.8 and a 1.4 extender. I've found that NOW my son appriciates me taking pictures of he and his buddies surfing, and rowing competitions, etc. Since I work on the water I take may shots from the boat, but have not posted any. Just going through a new hard drive on my laptop (most pictures were stored there) which was not backed up. A lesson to all!
This is a great place to learn from. If any other NJ folks would like to have a photo get together email me and lets try to arrange an shoot.

[markubig]

another New Jerseyian . . . uh-oh, we might soon outnumber the Kiwi's :p;):lol:

[ErikW]

Hello all, my name is Erik Wynstra. I've been lurking for couple weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience! I'm very impressed by the quality of the photos and the constructive criticism provided. As far as experience goes, I was a sports photographer for my high school yearbook and frankly, I wasn't very good at it. After graduation, I got away from shooting but earlier this year I picked up an A520 to document weather phenomena, as meteorology is a hobby of mine. Unfortunately, it was hot and dry over the summer which is fine if you like taking pictures of clear skies and dead grass. :rolleyes: After perusing this site, I've been inspired to take full advantage of my little point-and-shoot! I love outdoor photography and have a special place in my heart for old boats. I'm afraid I'm a bit computer illiterate and my technical knowledge is embarrassing. I hope I can make some sort of contribution and criticism is always welcome! :)

[Belmondo]

Welcome, Erik.

[Tin Man]

Who I am… My name is Thinh Nguyen, however, most people around me can’t say my name right and they called me Tin Man. I’m from Vietnam and resident in the U.S since 1980. What a beautiful country, my first job was to wash dishes for Marriott Hotel that is when I spent my whole paycheck for the Pentax K 1000. In the meant time, I went to school for Electrical Engineer but most of my work was computer relate and I’m now working as an IT consultant for the U.S Department of State.

I have so many hobbies included photography, sky diving, flying, boating, biking.. I own a boat, I’m licensed to fly and I’m certified to jump solo, and I still biking with my camera. But photography seems to last most… All others seem to go away as ages and physical requirements.

I’m lucky to be married... my wife said so :) and with two beautiful daughters and I’m pound that one of them has a SLR camera glue to her nose.

[Steve Parr]

Well, the "name" part should be obvious: I'm Bob Jones.

Okay, that's not true.

I was born in 1962, and grew up on New York's Long Island. I left New York at 18, when I joined the US Navy. That spur of the moment decision turned into a successful 20 year career. I retired in January 2001.

I started playing guitar when I was 14, and knew that, when I retired from the military, I would do something related to guitars. After I retired, I was with a start-up company that made travel guitars. We did pretty well, but the owner (how should I say this?) "lacked vision". While doing sales for that company, I'd grown it to have 28 US dealers and three distributors overseas. Within six months of my leaving (I literally would've killed him otherwise), the dealers and distributors had been cut off.

After that, I worked guitar retail at a large retailer here in San Diego, as the resident acoustic guitar expert. I was hired there on 9/11/01 (easy date to remember). Retail was good, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. After working there for 2-1/2 years, I was offered the position of Inside Sales Coordinator by Taylor Guitars, which is located only about four miles from the house. I'm now the Regional Sales Manager for Canada. It's pretty cool, as I love to travel. Travelling on someone else's dime only makes it better, and the photo opportunities abound.

I've always played in bands, although my last band "retired" in July of this year. Frankly, I was ready for it. At 43, inloading the van at four in the morning was gettin' old. The money was good, but the hours sucked.

After giving up the band gig, I thought about what else I liked to do, that I might be able to make a few bucks at. Well, photography was it. I started a little thing on the side, called OnStage Photography and, while it's certainly not paying the light bill, it puts a few odd bucks in the pocket, and it still keeps me abreast of what's going on in the local music scene. I've got photos on various websites, and also have a few photos for a local artists' CD cover. My website is www.onstagephotography.com (http://www.onstagephotography.com).

Other than that, I'm married, and have one daughter who'll be 20 in May. We live about 20 miles east of San Diego.

And, if you're wondering, it's supposed to be 82 degrees on Christmas day!

Steve

[Shutter22]

Hi my name is Kevin,

*Group* Hi Kevin…

And I’ve been a POTN addict since about three months before my join date. Back in those days I lurked in secret, then I joined, and now I even post sometimes.

Anyway, I just turned 30 years old this past summer, and have been into photography for a while, but was able to finally step it up by convincing “cost control” (aka my lovely wife) how much money we’d save on picture processing last year if she’d let me buy a digital. It’s been steadily downhill for me since then as I bought my 300D, and as of my birthday this summer a 70-200 2.8L.

My wife and I have a 10 year old daughter who loves to have her picture taken, the sillier (http://ksmith.smugmug.com/photos/31538675-M.jpg) the better.

My day job is in IT working with large IBM machines, (Somewhere in some post or other CDS posted a picture of them… but I can’t remember where.) and read POTN while I’m not busy. I love this community, you people are helpful and kind, and I’ve probably learned more about photography from this site than the rest of the net combined.

Mazerrakhm (Mazer Rakham) is a character from the book Enders Game (If you like Science Fiction I highly recommend it, it’s my favorite book I even got my wife to read it and she loved it.) that I chose as my moniker 10+ years ago because my name or any combination of it is usually taken.

(Here is a hint, I share the same name as the person in the icon, only I’m better looking!)

If the icon isn't you, it reminds me of Kevin Smith.

PS I've read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series around five or six times. Simply amazing.


Hello! My name is Danielle. I've always had a camera at my side since I was six. When I turned six I got this really cool looking rectangular camera. I'll have to find it. I had countless photo albums filled with pictures of my fingers covering half the picture by the time I was ten. If it wasn't for optical zoom and lenses I'd probably still be doing that. About a year and a half ago I got my first digital camera. I burned through that little thing like nobody's business. It was always in everyone's face and constantly going off. I was obsessed with taking pictures of cool looking things and people performing routine acts. earlier this year I got an S2 IS. I love it. I recently purchased a few tele-converter lenses. Iplanonexpanding moe once I get a part-time job, but it's been great.

I'm currently living in northeastern Pennsylvania, and attending High School in a school of around 400-700 students. I also live in the only town in Pennsylvania. Quite an accomplishment, eh? I'm currently undecided what I want to do when I get out of here, and I better decide soon. I know whatever I want to do has to include photography. Whether I want to go into it professionally and full time, or maybe part time, or just as a hobbie? I have no clue.


I get very agitaded at school when people start to talk about "photography". It sems like every teenager now-a-days has a digital camera. It kind of irritates me because I hate showing my pictures to anyone my own age because they'll either say, "Wow, that's really cool. You took that?" or "Uh, I don't get it."/"It's kind of boring, where are the people?" I've recieved that last comment so many times, it makes me sick. It's also the latest trend to download Adobe Photoshop and change your clocks on your computer so you have it forever. Then overprocess your pictures, make them all black and white, and bump up the contrast so high you can't even tell what the picture is of. It makes me sick. It's like no one takes me seriously because "everyone does it".

Sorry, I kind of ranted on that last part.

Anyways, I really love this place because this place isn't just another trend. I escape here. Eventhough, I don't comment a lot, I love looking at the pictures and recording settings you used, and reading comments. Maybe I should comment more.

Oh, and I play violin, write, and read in my spare time.

[toddb]

Looks like Silent Bob. Enders Game is a good book, my coworker convinced me to read it this year. I too love Douglas Adams books. Good people here for sure. :-)

[SuzyView]

Hi! I'm SuzyView, actually, I spell my name Suzie. I have thoroughly enjoyed the forum because I have loved photography ever since my brother owned his first Canon F-1 when I was 12 years old. He never let me use it then, but shares thoughts about photography with me now that we are in our 40s. I am first a wife and mom. Been married 23 1/2 years to a great man, who lets me buy the equipment I need and want because it's important to me. My 4 sons are the loves of my life and the reason I started buying good equipment.

I am a teacher. That's my passion. I love photography, but not as much as I love teaching. So, I won't give up my day job yet. I taught myself piano, I sing alto, I dance, I cook and I get involved in everything. I REMEMBER EVERY GOOD MEAL I'VE EVER HAD. I wish I knew more about my hobbies because I want to do better. And I have great friends. I feel blessed.

Thanks for all the great comments, Pekka and Moderators. You keep the chats going and make things fun and interesting.

Edited 10/25/06: Got "a title" and celebrated my 1 year anniversary here in the Forum. Still looking for that perfect shot!

[MazerRakhm]

If the icon isn't you, it reminds me of Kevin Smith.

PS I've read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series around five or six times. Simply amazing.

It should remind you of him, as it is the famous Kevin Smith (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/) where I am the less than famous Kevin Smith. On the bright side, I never have to wory about someone I don't want finding me on the internet by searching for my name I suppose. :roll:

[JennB]

Hello,

My name is Jenn and I'm so glad to have found these forums. :) My family and I are currently residing in MD, but will soon be going back to TX. I mostly take photos of my family and friends and also my children's activities. I do love photography and would like to take some courses on it. Just received most of my equipment on Christmas day and am very thankful to Santa! :D

I am looking forward to learning with and from all of you here!

[HJMinard]

Looks like Silent Bob

Kevin Smith = Silent Bob ... but you knew that, right? Just making sure. ;)

[spencer87]

I love reading these threads and learning a bit about the real people behind the avatars :)

My name is Spencer and I live just north of Baltimore, MD. I'm currently a student at UMBC majoring in visual arts (graphic design track) and business. I also work part-time as a make-up artist. I started out in film slr years ago and made the jump to digital slr about a year ago. In the past year or so I have really gotten back into photography, and have been steadily building up a portfolio and taking some freelance projects under my belt. You can check out my portfolio at http://www.spencermhall.com.

I'm also a 'culture vulture' (to quote Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), my boyfriend and I love to travel and we have a long list of places to see and photograph. I love learning new languages too- I speak some Greek, Italian, and French. When I have time I also love to cook.

that's me. these forums are awesome, although it seems like the more time I spend here on the boards, the more money I spend on lenses!
:rolleyes:

[SugarAddict]

Well I'm not gonna type out anything long...but.

My name is Amanda, I'm 21 and a senior at Duquesne University. I'm majoring in elementary education, so this is my last semester and I will be spending it student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom until April 14th. I graduate May something, 2nd or 4th or close to those dates...and after that I have no idea what I'll be doing, maybe substituting?

I just got the PSA520 for Christmas, so I've only owned a digital camera for a week now. I would sometimes use my dads old digital camera because he got a newer one, but I never messed with any of the features or anything, just did point & shoot. So I am excited about learning all about my very own new one. :)

Yeah thats about it I guess.

[wrphhi]

As the signature says, my name is Randy. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and went to college at the University of South Carolina on a swimming scholarship, which got me from one coast to the other. Having grown up in the city, I fell in love with living in city that had clean air, seasons, pine trees, and a river running through it. I’ve lived in South Carolina ever since, except for my time in the Navy. During my Navy time, I was fortunate enough to visit various places in Asia and Australia. While in Australia, I learned my name has a much different meaning down under than it does here, although not entirely inaccurate at the time.

I’ll be 50 in a few months and am an attorney by trade. I’ve been fascinated with photography since I was a young child and have owned many different type cameras over the past 40 years. In my 20s, I had my own darkroom (in the bathroom), where I developed B&W. Never learned color development. For one reason or another, I let photography go for a number of years, although my interest in it did not die. About 10 years ago I started getting into video and became the family videographer for weddings, parties, etc. I also filmed several local rock bands as a hobby. About 4 years ago I got a Sony digital camera (3.2 megapixels) and rediscovered my passion for photography. The instant feedback of digital and ability to manipulate pictures post shooting was a real attraction.

About 5 months ago I got my Digital Rebel XT and have been obsessed with picture taking even more. I lurked for several weeks before joining the forum and learned a lot during that time. I am looking forward to becoming an active member, making new internet friends and becoming a better photographer through this forum.

Thank you to all who run the forum and those who contribute as well.

[Shutter22]

It should remind you of him, as it is the famous Kevin Smith (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/) where I am the less than famous Kevin Smith. On the bright side, I never have to wory about someone I don't want finding me on the internet by searching for my name I suppose. :roll:

Ah, excellent man.

[Mark_Cohran]

Okay, I'll take a shot at this. Hello, I'm Mark and I'm an L-aholic. I was born in 1958, and like Steve, I'm a Navy vet, retired in 1996. I got to do a lot of photography courtesy of the Navy (mostly through periscopes though). I've been involved in photography since I was about 10 years old when my parents bought me a camera and a telescope.

In the Navy I was an electronics technician/nuclear operator and my undergraduate degree is also in electronics. My graduate program is in Management of Science and Technology. I've studied photography at the New York Institute of Photography, Florida Tech, and Portland State Univeristy. I bought my first SLR, a Canon AT-1 in 1978, and I still have it. It still works great, and I have fun using it from time to time. I can set up a darkroom, print in B&W and Color, and tone the final print. However, I haven't been in the darkrooom since 1999.

I've been married for 28 years (an accomplishment I'm quite proud to acclaim), and my three children are grown and out of college. I am a pending grandfather, though I don't think I'm old enough for the moniker of "grandpa."

Photograph has been my passion for many years. I started shooting weddings in the 80's, have done quite a bit of glamour photography for aspiring young models over the years, have taught photography for the local high school, and in recent years have concentrated on product photography for websites and catalogs. Photography is a hobby and a side business for me. My current profession is as a Training Manager for a major high tech company with which you are all familiar (especially those of you who use Pentium processors).

I'm a friendly guy, if a bit passionate about civil rights (and the rights of photographers). I don't consider myself a great photographer, but merely an adequate one. I probably could make a living with my photography, but I choose not to do so, because I think it would cease to be fun.

I have White Lightning strobes, portable backdrops, Canon Digital SLRs and EF lense, Canon FD SlRs and Lenses, and a Mamiya MF system with a Metz CL-45 strobe. I've never used a large format system, though I have studied them in school.

I live in Oregon, which is probably one of the most photogenic states in the Union. I have a fascination with all things British (including Australia, New Zealand and Canada), and I enjoy Monty Python.

That's me a in a nutshell.

Mark

[cking2]

I wanted to post a little about myself….I joined this forum a few weeks ago and really enjoy the content and information available here.

I am a semi-retired 46 year old Hello,
….who is renewing his passion for photography. I love to photograph my 11 year old son playing the various sports he plays. (Football, Basketball and Baseball). I have owned several digital SLR’s in the past three years including the first Digital Rebel, then the D10 and now the D5 and currently I have a lust in my heart for a Mark II N. (I think I need this)

Unlike a lot of newbie’s this board I am not making the jump from point and shoot cameras…..I do know ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed from my Minolta SLR days. I first started with my brother’s completely manual Minolta XG-7 and progressed to my own camera the almost automatic X-700. I used to shoot quite a lot of 35mm stuff when I was younger….and now all I need to do is find what knowledge I thought I had and refresh it with the help of this website. As a point of nostalgia…Does anyone else remember being able to get prints developed for seven cents? At least now with digital we have the option to dump our bad shots before we develop themJ During the late 80's and 90's I let photography slide to the back of my priority list……wife, job and children …well the whole cat and a cradle thing.

Because I am semi-retired I now have the time to explore what once was my major hobby…photography. The age of my son is perfect for me to study and practice shooting sports and I hope to become good at that as well as portrait photography. I am going to read a lot, take some classes, attend a few workshops, conventions and give my new camera a workout. At this point in my life I have decided to open a studio to explore my passion for photographs and the art of taking them. Don’t really need or expect to make a lot of money from this new enterprise but I hope to have a good time doing it.

Thanks for your time,

Rick

[Astbury]

Christopher from Cheltenham England now living and working in Zurich Switzerland. First brought a Canon EOS 650 when I was around 16 and as I thought did pretty well. Now living is Switzerland I got myself a nice 20D after reading a billion reviews and I will be wickedly happy with it when I mange to get to the bottom of its focus problem.
I work in IT for an American company and have done for the past 5 years. Usually take my vacations all in one go to travel overland in places like Africa, East Europe, US and later this year planning on a 10,000 km trip through China.
Some of my photography (if that what you can call it) can be found here (http://christopherastbury.blogspot.com)

Cheers

C

[SuzyView]

Christopher, nice shots. Really like the way you see things. Welcome to the FORUM! It's the nicest group of people I've met in a long time.

SuzyView

[Johnson24]

Hi, I'm Jerred, I mostly go by Johnson. I'm 24 and spend my time between school and working in the oil fields. I was born, raised and still live in the great state of Kansas. We have lots of great places to take photographs, and many different wildlife. I've had several cameras and one digital, this year for my birthday I got Digital Rebel XT, several lenses , and Ikelite housing for Christmas.

I plan to use the camera for everything, but the most important feature will be when SCUBA diving. So, if anyone on here is a diver, I'm available to chat anytime.

[futura]

Ah I've only just come across this thread :p I wondered where newbie introduced themselves. I'm Andy and I'm based in Surrey, UK. I've been interested in photography for about 3 years now but only taking it more seriously in the last year and half. I enjoy taking portraiture work, street photography but also like dabbling in landscape and wildlife. Hopefully I will be able to contribute to the forum as well picking up a few pointers from others.

[lakiluno]

Hi,

I'm Leo. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am 15. I currently have an A75 which I got as a christmas present last year (04). Before that I had an atrocious Kodak Mc3, which took pictures worse than my webcam.

I am currently saving up for a 350D. I've been interested in photography from before my A75, but I felt the limitations of my Mc3 almost immediatly, which is why I upgraded. I've been really interested in photography and manual modes etc. for about 6-8 months.

I like to take landscape photos, and pictures of stuff that interests me. I am in 4th year at school and will do my Standard grades soon.

I currently have £220, and I hope to have a 350D by July.

Leo

[ephereal]

Hi everyone :)

I just stumbled on this thread and it's fantastic! It has been great reading about all of you.. so i guess ill share some about me as well - my name is lisa and im 25, living in my dream spot right on the beach in perth western australia which is nothing short of inspirational.

My day job consists of being an Executive Assistant / PA which I enjoy, but it doesn't rock my world.. so I always have something on the side to keep things interesting.

I started off with makeup. I'd always had a passion for it and did a short course which I loved. Started getting some work and decided to pursue the SFX side of things which allowed me to be more creative. So a few years ago I did a fulltime special effects course which I loved, and have been working as a freelance makeup artist on the side since.

I got into photography because ive always wanted to capture what i see. I used to get frustrated at jobs because some of the photographers i worked with just didnt seem to see what i did.. they seemed to get so caught up in creating a standard shot that they lost the beauty of the individual. i remember one girl that had such an amazing smile which lit her entire face but the only shots that were taken that day were moody cold stares.

so after returning from a stint working in london last year i decided to bite the bullet and give photography a shot, and it has been rocking my world ;)

Its been such a steep learning curve & I've got soooo much to learn but im having fun doing it!!!

and thank you to everyone on this forum for providing such a positive place to learn & share - it has been fantastic :)

[Thornfield]

Hi all,
Well I seem to be the only South Islander from New Zealand on this forum. My name is Alfred (Fred to my friends) and have lived in New Zealand since 1981. I was born in The Netherlands and before coming to NZ spent most of my youth moving between The Netherlands, England an Ireland. I started photography with an old Cosina slr and made more mistakes than I care to remember. Took a course in photography in 1994 with Richard (Dick) Poole and have not looked back since. I've only done this as a hobby though people keep pushing me to do this for a living. I think I have too much to learn before i get into that, maybe when I'm 60 and retired from my day job :). I work in the plastics industry doing mainly quality control. I mainly do landscape work though it's my portrait work that people realy love. They see the end result and all I see is the things that could have been improved upon. Well that's enough of me for now. Look forward to seeing all the other posts. There are some great people on here.

[Tsmith]

Well since I've never formally introduced myself let be begin.

I live in South Mississippi, born and raised right here. I'm 44 years and married to my lovely wife of 25 years with one son who's 19 years old (second year in collage $$$) and our Golden Retriver named Garce. I work for a large area Hospital that I've been employed at for the past 14 years, much more stable income compared to the Mechanical Contracting Industry I chased around all over the Southern US for 14 prior.

The wife and I love to travel taking at least one extended trip a year with several ventures to our favorite city New Orleans, LA. Only thats temporally on hold due to hurricane Katrina but we'll be back soon enough.

Got interested in photography partly due to my oldest brother having all the equipment years past. I started with the Canon T70 then progressed to a T90 (loved that camera) and then moved over to Minolta which I was was never really fond of. I was absent in the most from photography for about 3 years cause hassles of shooting film ... then hello little Olympus 520 and the digital world. So here I am now back enjoying what I use to so much.

[philbyuk]

well time to introduce myself.
Im phil from the northwest uk hence the member name.I'm 42 married with 3 girls(is that good or bad?)..
started off some 20 odd yrs ago with a Canon AE1 camera then stopped for a few yrs then got a Canon S50 a cpl yrs back for holiday 'snaps' got me hooked on photography again.tried a D20 last june..liked it so much i bought one , my interest in photography lie in macro and hopefully in landscape(mainly the lake district....awesome place and only a couple of hrs away).well enough rambling on now, just waiting for this miserable grey weather to go,then i can get out and about.great forum, ive learned so much and still learning hope to meet with some other north west uk'rs in the future

[BIGTUFFGUY]

well here goes,

I'm a 23 year old history major @ Concordia University. I live in the "west island" of the city of Montreal, Canada. I have recently become interested in photography. My first camera was a Fujifilm A210, then i bought myself a Canon S500, recently sold it to afford the Canon 350XT. I hope to have it by the spring with many accessories. I have recently taken my mothers old AE-1 out of storage and eagerly await it's return from the shop.

Although photography is what brought me here I have many other expensive hobbies that i can't afford. I play hockey, paintball, tennis, squash. I enjoy spirited driving and keep buying performance parts for my car. I am also an audiophile and have a high end sound system in everything i own. I'm a gadget geek and if it has a screen i'll take two!

I have my own website, which i plan on doing something with, eventually.

Well now you know who i am, I look forward to reading about who you are.

[Becca]

I don't know if I have anything really interesting to tell about myself, but here goes... :)

My name is Rebecca, but I go by Becca, or Becky, or occasionally Hey You! I have lived in New Hampshire for 12 years, but was born and raised in the middle of Michigan (and I still call it home!) I am 42, single, and loving every minute of it! I love to travel and of course take pictures of the places I go. I work for a large, privately-owned software company as a Quality Assurance Engineer. My dream is to retire, buy a motorhome, and live wherever the mood strikes me!

I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. My first really horrible memory was when I left my little instamatic camera (remember the ones with the cube flash bulbs?) at Girl Scout camp. After the instamatic years, I swiched to an Advantix, but I took so many crappy pictures that it was costing me a fortune to develop them. I got my first digital camera in 2003, a Fuji Finepix. Nice little camera, and I took some very nice pictures with it. That's when I got really interested in photography... I could take a LOT of pictures and it didn't cost me anything but disk space! I took a photography class through the local continuing education department and saw the great SLR digital cameras that some of the others had and was hooked! I received a small inheritance in March of this year and bought my first Canon.

One of the gentlemen in my photography class recommended this forum as a place to ask questions (since I am a complete newbie!) and I was welcomed so warmly that I was hooked. I have learned so much and I learn more every day here.

[Beka29]

I already introduced myself on page 4, I think, but right now I just have to add that I got a Rebel XT for my birthday! Well, actually it was a Christmas-birthday present. Anyway, I am so excited about it! I've taken so many pictures already, and I can't wait to take more :D. It is way better than my dad's camera - and now he wants one too :lol:. When I get some really good shots, maybe I'll post some...

My camera was the last one in the store and it was the one on display... it didn't come with a manual or software, but I have it all now (and I read the manual on the computer while researching), so it's all good. I didn't even expect a camera because the box was plain brown cardboard (labelled "Logitech dual action gamepad" whatever that is) until I saw the letters NB-2LH inside!

There seems to be some stuff in my camera somewhere though, because I can see some spots and fibers or something through the viewfinder, but it's not affecting my photos so I'm just ignoring it ;).

- Very happy Rebekah & her Rebel XT :D

[Mat Fitzsimmons]

Hello all,

I joined up last night, so I guess I might as well introduce myself straight away!

My name is (surprise, surprise) Mat Fitzsimmons, and I'm a Mining Engineer by profession. My work has taken me all around Australia, but I'm currently living in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland.

I was lucky enough to see two and a half months of the sixties, but I don't remember what they were like ... possibly like many people who were somewhat older than me at the time :)

I started into photography when my parents bought me an EOS700 SLR with it's "unique" 35-80 power-zoom lens for my 21st birthday ... errr, some years ago ... so I have them to thank for introducing me to such a rewarding part of my life. I currently use a 20D and an assortment of Canon lenses, but I also run a roll of film through an old AE-1 Program (which is in the cupboard behind me, along with the EOS700) every now and then. I like to think of myself as an extremely enthusiastic amateur :)

When I'm not at work or taking photos I love reef fishing, which is nice and accessible from Brisbane.

I'd love to find some more time to travel for photography, though I do have a trip planned to New Zealand in May. I was over there last year, but had nowhere near enough time!

Looking forward to becoming part of this great community.


Cheers,
Mat.

EDIT: Oh, and have fun with the new Camera, Rebekah :)
(just read back to your original post)

[Grampaw]

Since it's my birthday, I might as well make my 100th post.

I'm either 62 or 65 years old, depending on who you ask. My Driver's License says 65, but Social inSecurity says I'm 62.

I was born and raised in New Hampshire, met my late wife on a blind date in New York, and moved to South Florida 35+ years ago. It was a compromise, my wife was from Peru, and never saw snow until she married me (and never wanted to see it again).:)

I have one child, a son, 40, and three grandchildren, who claim I taught the Cave Dwellers how to paint on the cave walls.

I'm a retired Field Engineer (Radio), and have worked many different types of jobs over the years, including chef, restaraunt manager, recording engineer, truck driver, TV Cameraman and Studio Supervisor, Disk Jockey, programmer, and, of course, Photographer.

Picked up my first camera when I was about 8, my father's old box camera, graduated to my sister's Brownie, and numerous Instamatics. I still have my first SLR, a Nikon F, purchased in the late Sixties, and my wife's Minolta. My first dSLR is my current camera, the Canon 300D. Since I'm now on a fixed income, my kit probably won't change much.

[vcutag]

I always thought these kinds of things were cathartic, so here goes.

I'm Tom, a 23-year-old recent graduate of the print journalism program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. I was born and raised in Smithfield, a little town outside of Norfolk known for the ham industry.

I've lived in Richmond for the past six years or so. My partner, Dan, and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday (it had to be Friday the 13th). We have two cats, an 8-month-old tabby kitten with plenty of personality named Marlowe, and a 2-month-old tortoiseshell who hates me named Tasha. She'll come around, though.

I got into photography on March 26, 2004. When I say got into, that was the day I decided that I wanted to make a career out of it. I was running late for a class on Shakespeare, and on my way to the classroom, saw a huge plume of smoke coming from Broad St. At the time, all I had was a Nikon Coolpix 2100, but I pulled it out and started taking photos (http://www.shadesofblack.org/gallery/fire) on the spot while elbowing my way toward the fire. I shot until I filled my CF card, ran the camera back across campus to the student newspaper where I was a writer, and ended up getting drafted to cover the event, which turned out to be the biggest fire in Richmond's post-Civil War history. I spent 40 of the next 48 hours on the scene or in the newsroom, and I was hooked.

I wanted to be a press photographer.

Through the course of my studies at VCU, I got the opportunity to work in the Virginia General Assembly as a news photographer and to cover events throughout the city.

I was eventually able to save up the money to buy my Digital Rebel and a cheap lens used from the photo editor at the paper (he went up to a 10D). I've managed to slowly add on to my gear list through saving and freelance work.

Unfortunately, the real world didn't cooperate. I graduated on December 10th and landed a job at a small weekly newspaper outside of Petersburg. Nobody in the area was hiring photographers, at least not photographers without 3-5 years of experience under their belts, so I had to start as a reporter.

I ended up not being able to work at the small paper (mainly health issues involving smoking in the workplace), so for now, I'm doing freelance gigs, both photographic and print design. I'm trying to land a job either at a local paper or magazine, or doing photography for an ad or creative agency.

Eventually, I'd like to start my own business. But that's down the road a bit, for right now, I need a steady paycheck.

And in closing, I'd like to thank all of you... regular lurking since I joined has really helped, both with Canon-specific questions and general photography.

[IainUK]

Hi - I'm Iain (really?????)and I live in Surrey in the UK near a town called Guildford. My day job is in sales for a systems integrator (IT). It has it's fun moments but on the whole the part of my day that I like the best is coming home to the WTB (wife to be) and our son.

I've always loved photography. I still use a Billingham bag that was bought for me as a present on my 18th birthday (I'm now 36) and it's still going strong. Over the years I've had Nikons but had a long time away from it after I had a Nikon F301 stolen after only owning it for about a week:mad: so and so's!!

I then made a big mistake in buying a Canon EOS IX APS camera :o for a round the world trip. Knowing what I do now I could have got such a better camera than that for the £800 I paid for it!

It's only since I've bought my 350D and 24-70mm f2.8L that I have really started to take it more seriously and try some stuff out. Next on the wish list is a 70-200f2.8 L and possibly the 100mm macro plus extension tubes. Oh and thanks to this site I'm trying to find a C-2020 to give IR a try as the results look amazing.

Why couldn't I have found a cheaper hobby!! :lol: :lol:

[Meaty0]

Hi Everyone,

In this life, I'm known as Paul; a 49 y.o. optometrist from Brisbane, Australia. Mat Fitzsimmons (see a few posts above) told me about the forum and I just had to join.

I've practiced optometry in my own business for about 28 years. At university, when we studied optics, I became interested in photography and bought my first camera in 1976; an Olympus OM1. This served me well for many years until I bought an OM4 and a fantastic Olympus Macro setup for "Clinical Photography" (have many gruesome photos in that collection).

On a recent trip to New York City, I had several "disasters" with my Olympus and decided it was time to go digital all-the-way. Went to B&H Photovideo and had a look around and decided on the 20D. WHAT A LEARNING CURVE! I had no idea there was so much to know and every day, I seem to find out something new. I am thoroughly enjoying "relearning" the latest version of my old hobby.

With your help, I might start churning out a few decent photos again.:)

Thanks for all your help (in advance).

[Kevin]

Hello All.
My name is Kevin, but everyone just calls me Kev. I am soon to be 54 and still think I'm 25. I was born in Southern California and shortly after my parents moved me to Fresno where I grew up and spent 50 + years. I have always been interested in photography and was taking pictures when I was old enough to hold a camera. I am a third generation photo nut and spent many a hour with my grandfather in the darkroom. I was a member of the Fresno Camera Club for many years. I was self employed for many years as a manufacturer of aerospace components for the military as well as commercial aircraft. My main passion beyond photography has always been hot rods and racing. I raced cars as an armature for many years and in 1986 was injured in a freak accident in Riverside California which left me paralyzed. Since then I have been using a wheelchair throughout my daily life. This has not stopped me from continuing my many passions. In late 2004 I decided to semi-retire and my wife of 33 years and I sold our home in Fresno and moved to Morro Bay California. We have always loved to the coast and the beauty it offers. I now enjoy getting out and taking as many pictures as I can capturing the coastal wildlife and urban lifestyles. When digital cameras hit the forefront I bought the first Canon G1 and was quickly sucked into digital. After the Nikon stuff spent a few years in the closet I parted company with it and continued to explore the digital craze. I now have a 20D and quickly became a Lcohlic. My son is also a photo nut and my camera seems to be spending a lot of time in his hands. This is not acceptable and is forcing me to purchase a 5D. That's only because your kids can't have something better than you, ha,ha. I joined the forum in September of last year and have found it to be very rewarding. The people here are very nice and extremely helpful with many a good suggestion and kudos. Having members from all over the world is like traveling the globe without leaving your home. Well I've rambled on long enough. Good luck to all and keep shooting.:) :) :)

[JumpJtfp]

I'm Kevin,
I am 36 and as you can see, I joined in October of last year and have very few posts under my belt. I tend to join a forum, lurk for a certain amount of time until I feel more comfortable posting.

I grew up in Northern California but moved away many years ago and lived in various places until ending up in Chicago. I don't think I'll ever leave here.

My full time job is teaching. My full time passion is photography. My first camera ever was a Kodak Disk Camera from about 18 years ago. That was given up for a Minolta 7000 a few years later. That was replaced with a Canon AE1. It was with the Canon that I truly started exploring the possibilities of photography about 8 years ago. Sadly, as a poor, older, single parent college student, photography was not affordable. I sold the Canon and put photography in the back of my mind for some years. About 3 years ago, my wife bought me a Canon Rebel Ti. I started finding my way back into photography. I swore then that I'd never go digital. I was going to be a film snob.

As time went on, I finally gave in and got the 300D. I've been becoming more and more serious about my photography and with the support of my wife, I've moved up in quality a bit and am starting to get some paying gigs.

My dream is to be able to do this full time. I have visions of grandeur when it comes to photography but it gives me something to pursue. I still have so much to learn, but the journey is wonderful.

[beeahna]

Hello to all... I am Anne and live in Montana. Been interested in photography going on 15 years or so... Started with p&s, but after shooting my dad's manual canon SLR one day I switched to a Minolta SLR and then finally a Canon EOS about 6 years ago. When my daughter was born 2 years ago, I could not afford to shoot as much film on her that I wanted so I "got" by with my measly 6 year old 1.2 megapixel camera until I could get a 10D last Christmas. I am loving life now.

I hope I can take advantage of the knowledge here and get to where I want to be!

I keep telling myself I want to do photography on the side but am having a hard time taking that leap. I can shoot and compose well I just need to relearn the technical aspects and learn how to correctly post process. That is what is kicking my butt right now.

[scottykm]

Hi

I'm Scotty, 29 years old and from the UK.
got interested in photography when i was a tender 20 years old serving in Bosnia, got myself a yashica mp108 from the NAAFI, spent loads of time taking photos out there, with varying results (mostly bad). came back and kinda lost interest, got myself a digital point/shoot from fuji,at the time a massive 3mp, used it all the time, getting better at it.
took the plunge after returning from Iraq the first time with a fuji S2 pro with some cheap lenses (ignoring my own rule of buy cheap buy twice) and a manfrotto tripod.
Tried without success to transfer into the photographic trade in the army, started taking it a lot more seriously after that, got myself a EOS 20D with 580EX & 17-85is the day before leaving on another trip to the sand, then spent 3 months taking photos for my unit of everything from funnies of the guys to a visit from old tony (i am sorry:o )
i think i am getting better, my new sigma 70-200 2.8 has yet to used in anger tho, cant wait to get near a rugby pitch!

[rklepper]

Those who know me just call me Doc, those who do not call me Robert. I am a Physiological Biochemist by trade, but currently teach. I just got burnt out on the 80 hour work weeks working in industrial genetic engineering. I am having more fun teaching, although the pay is bad.

I am a displaced Welshman living in Iowa. I know, why Iowa. Long story.

I began taking photos at age 6 when my Dad gave me a camera. I have fun, but am definately not the best technically. I just keep learning. I always figure I will continue doing what I do until I no longer have fun doing it.

[chancellor]

I was not going to do this but then I though “Hey I can use it for the dating agency submission as well ;)”

I will be 50 on the 28th January 2006 and I have been taking photographs for 30 years. The Army taught me both photography and photo processing and paid for me to practice in some very interesting places, from a “work” perspective these included Oman, Berlin, N Ireland and the Falklands and from a “fun” perspective, Canada, Alaska, and Cyprus. I have continued photographing both as a serious hobby and as a way of making money ever since.

I started with Pentax kit and for almost 20 years I used the same pair of Pentax MX 35mm cameras and a Bronica ETRS. Manual everything :rolleyes:!!!

I swapped over to a Canon EOS1n when it was released and held out until the EOS D60 came along before going over to the dark side.

I have two sons from a previous marriage, the eldest completed his law degree before telling me he wanted to be an actor and he is now touring Austria with the English Theatre of Vienna. The youngest is in the final year of a Politics degree at Nottingham where he is currently completing his first semester at the UBC in Vancouver.

I am coming out of a serious midlife crisis complete with motorbike, silly sports car and a wonderful wife. (The wife is not part of the crisis; but she is wonderful)

Neil, I came across this thread accidentally and noticed that today is your birthday. Happy Birthday! I wish you a ton of L glass in this wonderful year and some health so you can actually carry it! :lol: Cheers!

[neil_r]

Neil, I came across this thread accidentally and noticed that today is your birthday. Happy Birthday! I wish you a ton of L glass in this wonderful year and some health so you can actually carry it! :lol: Cheers!

Thank you very much ;) . It was a wonderful day and I did get a very nice piece of L

N

[condyk]

I'm Dave, as anyone who's bought gear from me or shared a PM joke or insult will know ;-) I was born in 1959 but am wearing well in most ways: I believe I become sillier as I get older. This could be a very positive thing, or the sign of early onset dementia.

I was married for quite a while, still am technically, but as my wife likes home life, kids and normality, while I like traveling, can’t be that bothered with kids after more than 5 minutes and enjoy the absurd ... something had to give eventually I suppose ;-) Luckily we are both very nice and generally well balanced people so remain 'good friends'.

I have been a bad Buddhist for 20+ years and have supported Liverpool Football Club from just a few days before birth. Both can be called religions of sorts, but I consider them more like enjoyable world-views to hold! Like most Scousers I have a keen sense of humour and nothing I say should be taken seriously. As a Buddhist I don't believe anything exists, even myself, so my humour can be a little surreal and I often need to apologise to those with a more literalist perspective on life ;-)

I spent considerable time at school looking out of the window during lessons. This was a useful education and I have continued to look out of windows on a regular basis. One such window I suppose is my viewfinder. I am mainly interested in wildlife, but being stuck in the Midlands and city life I am now playing with candids and street snapping … and photography itself is just part of a wider love/passion for travel and adventure.

At the moment I am project managing a big bucks Government project which is fine most of the time and the contract lasts to around March 2007 when I intend heading off to Aussie for 6 months on a 4x4 based outback adventure. Since returning from my last big trip I have slipped in and out of freelance and interim senior management roles, usually in the charity sector, which is pretty varied, gives more flexibility and experience than a conventional career and also pays nicely. I much prefer being on the road taking things day by day in some exotic locale. Being in the moment like that is when I am most content.

I've had a camera of one sort or another since around 1991 when I first travelled beyond Europe to India. I think it was a Ricoh P&S film jobbie with a Zeiss lens, or something. Took some great shots. I've had several since. My longest trip lasted two years when we took along a Sigma SA5 SLR with a 28-200 cheapo zoom and a nice 400mm prime as well as a Kodak DC240, which died in the sand and heat of the Kalahari, and then a DC280. These together did a good job and I took many of my most loved shots during those two years without even a sniff of L! Having owed a number of top quality lenses I don’t believe gear and gizmo’s make for a better shot, but it depends what you look for. My most expensive lens at the moment cost around £60 and the 350D is small enough to go in my coat pocket. I use manual everything and only shoot RAW. I call this approach an instant L upgrade

I originally bought a 300D by chance. I was actually thinking I'd get a Panny FZ20 with Leica IS lens as I like to travel light, but I spotted a few nice Sigma DSLR's on ebay and after missing out a few times I looked at other DSLR's more seriously until I eventually decided on a 300D. Felt better in hand, which matters to me. I nearly bought the Nikon D70, but was a few quid more back then. The choice is still a close call for me as my needs are simple and I expect I'll end up with a Leica DSLR at some point just because their approach seems to suit my own requirements best.

I was initially put off by some people here when I first joined. They seemed to suggest that anything less than spending thousands of £'s would be a waste of time and that I would learn that fact (sic!) the hard way. After several weeks I finally cracked and bought a 70-200mm f4 after being advised it would be suitable for wildlife. Of course, that was dumb advice and then when I next accepted the recommendation to get a TCon for it, which simply meant it hunted very badly, I decided I'd be better off doing my own research and using my judgement.

Since then I've mainly learnt stuff by trying things out myself, researching, looking at other people's images, or listening to people here who are wise and experienced. The community chages on a regular basis as new people come and go but there is a very solid core of long standing members who manage to keep everything on track of focused in the right way … friendly, objective and helpful.

[Sledhed]

My name is Chris, I'll be 40 in April, and I live in the South suburbs of Chicago, IL. Chicago's pretty small so you might not have heard of it. ;) Have been married for 10 years to my lovely wife and we have 2 daughters, 6 and 8 years old, and a 9 year old German Shepard. BTW, he's the best dog in the world.

I'm a huge Chicago Cubs fan, pro baseball team for you non Americans. At least they claim to be. ;) It killed me when that other baseball team from Chicago won the World Series this year. Oh well, wait 'till next year as the saying goes.

I was born in Kosciusko, MS and moved here in 1977. Got started in photography at 13 years old and been at it ever since. I went to school for photography.

I'm the print buyer and photogrpaher for a publishing company and I have worked for them for 16 years. I'm responsible for the quality for all of our books and related materials.

[MazerRakhm]

I'm a huge Chicago Cubs fan, pro baseball team for you non Americans. At least they claim to be. ;) It killed me when that other baseball team from Chicago won the World Series this year. Oh well, wait 'till next year as the saying goes.

My wife was at a store when the other team won, and the guy behind her was putting a lot of Cubs stuff on the conveyor so she stared laughing.

“Making a stand?” she asked.

“YES” Was his defiant reply.

[DRBair]

Hello all:
I just noticed this post tonight. My name is Dave. I will be 50 this year. Currently living in South Dakota. I have a BS & MS in Mechanical Engineering. Though currently I am running an electronics manufacturing division for a larger company.

I haven't seriously been in to photography except for the last couple of years. I inherited a number of 35 mm slides (3,500+) and photos (2,000+) of my grandfather's. He took pictures all over the west and the oldest one dates back to 1957. Anyway, I have scanned in all of the slides and photos. Looking at some of the photos has gotten me interested in taking my own photos and here I am.

On a more personal note, I grew up in Colorado and have lived in Utah, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Arkansas, and now South Dakota. I have been married for 27 years, have 5 children and two grandchildren.

[sam walker]

Hi All I'm Sam in Cleveland Ohio I'm a Great Lakes birder and sailor I'm nterested in photography. I started photography four years back and have noved up a cam each year. I started with an Oly 2mp moved to Fugi 3.0mp Kodak 5.0 10x 5.0 and now the powershot S2 12x 5.0. I do this work one handed (right hand only) since I have no functioning left hand. I rely on a lot of automated features like auto-focus and power zoom. i'm married with no kids and one cat. I try to shoot every day mostly birds
Sam:D

[20DNewbie]

Howdy names Christian, right now I'm living in Massachusetts about half way between Boston and Cape Cod.

Oh yeah, 34 years old, no ol' lady at the moment, no ex-wife/kids. Wait a minute, what am I doing here? I should be selling everything(aside from my shiny[ok, not at all shiny]new 20D, my lappy, my iPod and backpack) and buying a one-way ticket to anywhere and clicking away!

Oh well, I'm still here so I may as well try to glean some of the great knowledge here on what exactly I am doing so this technology isn't wasted on me.:lol:

[Ryzz]

Hi All,

My name is Ryan, im 25 and live in Sydney, Australia.

At christmas time i bit the bullet and went out and purchased a Canon 350D with a Tamron 18-200 Lense.

This has been good so far, but i finally got the bug and today received my latest toy. A Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lense.

Havnt had a chance to try it out yet, but im really looking forward to it!!!

[Belmondo]

Hi All,

My name is Ryan, im 25 and live in Sydney, Australia.

At christmas time i bit the bullet and went out and purchased a Canon 350D with a Tamron 18-200 Lense.

This has been good so far, but i finally got the bug and today received my latest toy. A Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lense.

Havnt had a chance to try it out yet, but im really looking forward to it!!!

Ahhh, Ryan, you're hooked. We gotcha'.

Seriously, good luck with the new glass. It's one of Canon's best.

[samnz]

Kia Ora from Christchurch, NZ. Sammy here. New to the forum and my first post! 34 years young. Full time with Aviation Security Services, Christchurch International so, if your ever passing through the security point, I'm more than likely to be asking you if I can hand-check your film! :) See thru plastic bags and cannisters please...gives me more time to chat :-)

First SLR at 15. An old Minolta SR'somethin' hand-me-down from Pops. Tried a hand at darkroom - sucked! Tried a formal group shot or two - sucked real bad!

Later on in life, studied Music in Wellington then joined the Army. (Yeah...right out of left field aye?! Study the romantics and renaissance periods, distinguishing harmonies and cadences...then WAM BAM - "YES SIR, NO SIR!" Deployed to Former Yugoslavia Mar '95 with my X700 in hand. Tried a bit of pj - mmm....now we're talkin. A few posey shots here and there - nothin fantastic but I was starting to get a feel for this photography thing again.
Yaddi yaddi yah!

After a few more Minoltas (7xi/9xi) and a Canon 500, I got my first DSLR: D30. WOW! Was hooked for life! Got the 300d with kit lens 18-55 a couple of years later (2002'ish). Grabbed a couple of mates-rates weddings - much better results than my first feeble attempts. A couple of advertising promo gigs in Nelson and Wellington. Borrowed Si's 10D for a wedding and it was all over rover! Or should I say "I was over" when my wife saw me walk in the house with a brand new 20D!!! NOW COME ON GUYS...why should we justify our exuberant overspending to our wives - on a gadget which has a "faster frame rate", "excels in handling noise at high iso speeds", "looks great", and..."looks great!" :) [guys huddle together...heads nod in agreeance - but noone DARE utters a word!] :D
Seriously folks, my wife's a gem and has accepted she married a 'financial liability' :) We do weddings together now and she helps me out big time with the small things like setting out the refreshments for the bridal party, adjusting brides and bm's dresses - and constantly reminding me of timings...ya know - the little things that count.

I'm far from being a Gold Award winner at the NZIPP but at this stage I'm happy/ we're happy - and my 'clients' are happy. My gear may not top notch - yet, dear - but we'll get there.

Sorry to yabba so long but it's been great chattin. Must fly

Later! Sammy

[Belmondo]

I'm far from being a Gold Award winner at the NZIPP but at this stage I'm happy/ we're happy - and my 'clients' are happy. My gear may not top notch - yet, dear - but we'll get there.


Although the subject continues to be discussed ad nauseum, I think it's been finally resolved that equipment does not a photographer make. We look forward to seeing some of your work.

Welcome to the forum. We have a strong NZ contingent, and it appears you guys really seem to love your photography.

[MarkP]

Stumbled upon this site searching for ways to take photos of the moon with my Canon Rebel XT. Thanks for this site and all the help it provides. I will be around a lot more!

[Thornfield]

Kia Ora from Christchurch, NZ. Sammy here. New to the forum and my first post! 34 years young. Full time with Aviation Security Services, Christchurch International

Later! Sammy

Finally a fellow Mainlander!

[superdiver]

David Albertson, from Ketchikan AK.

Brand new to photography thanks to a christmas gift of a Rebel Xt to myself. Now I am blowing money on lenses....LOL

Not sure what else to post, feel free to ask if any questions.

Oh Yeah, you can see my front yard by checking out my thread about "kayaking on christmas morning in S.E. Alaska" on the landscape thread, I think is where I poted it...

[dgcorner]

Finally a fellow Mainlander!

NordieBoy is another Mainlander...

Sammy, welcome to the Forum.

When you Mainlanders are up in Auckland drop us a line and surely some or most of us can meet up for a few drinks ;-) Photography is always a great topic :D

Cheers!

[Spphotos]

Im Sebastian , 15 yrs old. I love photography and hope to make it a career soon. I got my first camera when i was about 10 after seeing some guys with nice cameras , i wanted to be like them. Im taking the NYIP course now and plan on taking a class at shool to help improve my skills.

[samnz]

NordieBoy is another Mainlander...

Sammy, welcome to the Forum.

When you Mainlanders are up in Auckland drop us a line and surely some or most of us can meet up for a few drinks ;-) Photography is always a great topic :D

Cheers!

Hey cheers guys for all the notes of welcome. I'll try and get on the forum as often as I can. It's a bit of a juggle tho' with POTN and TradeMe. :confused: (for those livin in the states or where eva, TradeMe is the kiwi equivalent to Ebay). So looking forward to chewing the fat! Ciao for now. Sammy

[TaylorAtCTS]

Hi there, my name is Taylor I live in Memphis, TN. I recently picked up photography, but one day I hope i can make some money bc i enjoy it so much. I have alot to learn but im excited!

I'm 16 and in highschool still, i have a gf and im generally pretty busy. I own a webdesign company here in Memphis; been running it for about 3 years now. I am very involved with computers, from building computers to programming to Photoshop. I have photoshop CS2 and I use it for webdesign, graphic design, and post image processing!

I like shooting in the RAW because of my photoshop background, it just gives me more control over my pictures. To be honest, I am much better at editing pictures and creating graphics from scratch than I am at photography. I hope to change that soon!

[KatmanDu]

Dang, this is a huge forum... er, um, anyway...

Mid-thirties guy in Northeast Georgia, US, working as the training officer for a mid-sized Sheriff's Office (I know; Georgia, Sheriff's Office... yes, I have said "Yew ain't from around here, are ya?" once :)). I guess my very first camera was a little 110; I don't remember which brand. My parents got me a Pentax K-1000 for my birthday; I dabbled with it, mostly interested in high-speed photography after reading an article about Doc Edgerton but lacking the funds for the equipment needed. Messed around with developing as the darkroom guy at my high school. The K-1000 stayed with me until 10 years ago, when it took a fall off a deck railing (OOOPS!). I replaced it with a Pentax ZX-50 because I still had several K-mount lenses, and I didn't trust them newfangled digital thingamabobs. I ended up selling it and all the lenses a year ago, but kept a Canon digital P&S to use at work (documented many a wreck scene with it... some not-nice photos). Finally, I gave in and took my tax refund this year and bought a 20D. Wish I had read these forums before I bought that Quantaray lens, though...

I still consider myself a beginner, because I never took the time or took enough photos to really learn when I had a film camera. Film and processing was expensive when I was making minimum wage. Now, though... hell, I took about 100 pics the first weekend I had the 20D, and I'm learning quite a bit reading the forums.

[rsheele]

My name is Rich, I'm 35 and live/work in NJ. I work for Franklin Mutual Advisers as a general IT guy. I handle all of the servers/LAN/IP phones/ect...
I took a B+W class in college and really liked it. I haven't done much since then but I want to get back into it. So far I love this forum, it has answered every question I've had so far.
That's about it.

[ahalowell]

Greetings from Mesa, Arizona!

I would like to first thank Pekka and anyone else involved in starting and maintaining these forums. Wow! I have learned so much in such a short time.

My name is Al Halowell. I am 53 (that would be 29 for the the 24th time!). I am married to Chris. We have been married for 26 years, and as she continually reminds me, I will ALWAYS be older than her....

We moved to Arizona about nine years ago from Pittsburgh, PA. We both went through mid-life crisis together. No kids, no siblings, no parents, no reason not to move! It was the best thing we ever did!

My wife is a nursing director and I am into supply chain management.

While in Pittsburgh I got started with 35mm film and morphed into 6x4.5. I started doing weddings to the point where I almost went full-time at it. Quite honestly it got to be NO fun anymore so I kinda dropped out of photography all together. I sold most of my equipment and my darkroom.

After we moved to Arizona I got my first point 'n shoot digital camera. There is so much to shoot here and I started to get the itch. Then I found your forums. I learned a lot before making the jump into DSLR. The wife bought me a Digital Rebel XT for my birthday last year. We've added a few things to it and I am having a ball learning and relearning the craft.

I don't post too often, preferring to learn from you folks. When I feel I have something relavent to add I will post, but mostly I just skulk in the background and read a lot!

Well, enough of my babble. Thank you again for providing this type of environment for learning and exchanging ideas! Keep up the good work!! I'll be lurking out there somewhere...

[Belmondo]

Greetings from Mesa, Arizona!

I would like to first thank Pekka and anyone else involved in starting and maintaining these forums. Wow! I have learned so much in such a short time.

Welcome to the forum! It's really the members who make this such a great place (with Pekka's guiding hand, of course).

You have the privelege of living in one of the few places that's almost as hot as where I live. Not quite as hot, but certainly warm enough.

Enjoy the forum, and participate. You'll be surprised how many friends you'll make here.

Tom

[ahalowell]

Welcome to the forum! It's really the members who make this such a great place (with Pekka's guiding hand, of course).

You have the privelege of living in one of the few places that's almost as hot as where I live. Not quite as hot, but certainly warm enough.

Enjoy the forum, and participate. You'll be surprised how many friends you'll make here.

Tom

Hi Tom!

Thanks for the advice. I was kinda worried about moving to the desert at first (I am, shall we say, pretty well insulated...)

It has not been a problem at all. And of course, like the old adage says, "Ya don't hafta shovel sunshine!"

Thanks again, I look forward to chatting and learning!

[photov]

Hello all! My name is Kara. I am 27 and reside in central Illinois. I am an industrial engineer by degree and logistics consultant by trade. However, in about 1 week I will be informing work that I will not be returning in order to care full-time for my 4-month-old daughter. Shhh...don't tell :) I'm enjoying it so far...I can't imagine not spending every bit of my day with her.

I won my first camera in a fundraising contest when I was 9. It was one of those Kodak 110 cameras, which I'm sure don't exist anymore. I would take pictures of everything. Family, pets, stuffed animals, and landscapes. Looking back, my landscapes weren't too bad considering I was 9 and didn't have a clue. I decided to take a class, mainly on darkroom techniques, a year ago and start trying to really learn about photography. Boy is there a lot to learn!

...which is what led me here. I joined these forums about a month ago and have already learned sooo much. The people here have been so helpful. I hope someday to make a bit of money with photography, at least to support my habit since I won't be earning my keep anymore!

[Lotj]

Hello there!

I'm Charlotte De Fevere, a.k.a. Lotj. I'm almost 16 years old, and I live in Belgium. So if my English isn't that great, don't break my neck :)

I felt in love with photography two years ago, and decided to save for my own camera. Two months ago, I finally got enough in my piggy bank and I bought myself a Canon EOS 350D standard kit with an 18_55 lens. I'm still learning a lot about it, thank God, I wouldn't forgive myself it if I would refuse to learn something.

Well, I don't really know what to say... But I hope you guys will appreciate the introduction of a little Belgian newbie!

Chocolats for everyone :)

[Belmondo]

Hello there!

I'm Charlotte De Fevere, a.k.a. Lotj. I'm almost 16 years old, and I live in Belgium. So if my English isn't that great, don't break my neck :)

Your English is better than a lot of native-speakers.

Congratulations on the new camera, and welcome to the forum. I really wish they'd had digital when I was fifteen, but they hadn't even discovered fire back then.:lol:

Tom

[JRJay]

Hey everyone,

New guy here from Denver, CO and thought i'd say hi.:) I am a novice/amateur with cameras and I plan on getting a rebel xt here soon so I can broaden my knowledge and expertise in taking photos. Still trying to decide if I should get the lens kit or just the body and another lens. Well, back to doing more searches in the forum.

Jason

[Pekka]

Chocolats for everyone :)

I just love Neuhaus chocolate :) Welcome!

[PetKal]

Hi, people call me Peter probably because that's my real name.
I am 19 years old. I am retired, but not retarded. I do not do much...just idle and easy stuff like taking 100-200 photos a day, on the average.

My real passion is inline skating/racing. Also cliff diving, but I do not do that as much any more. Also my joint maladies prevent me to play tennis and squash these days.
I have one daughter who is married to a moron. I have a grandson who is a PC degenerate.
My wife keeps me in a subordinate role.
She is losing it, maybe not fast enough, but surely.
I take all kinds of helpful medications. I do not do any mind altering drugs any longer: can not afford the good stuff anyways.
I used to do janitorial work...I was one of the best.
I have a pet fish. His first name is Goering.

[Airedale1]

Greetings from the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire. My Name is Paul and I am 52 years old. I work in public safety. Besides photography which has been a life long love for me, I enjoy chess and kayaking.

As my member name implies, I love Airedales. I have had them ever since I was a kid and as anyone who has ever owned one will attest, they are the finest animals on the planet.

Another thing which I enjoy very much is this website and the wonderful people who share their knowledge and craft here. Thank-you to all and especially Pekka who's wonderful site makes us all better at what we love to do.:D

[Teme]

Hello everyone!

I'm a Finn but currently live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I moved here a couple of years back to pursue a career opportunity. I'm 35 years of age and engaged to be married - double income no kids. The job (I'm what most would probably call a correspondent banker) keeps me busy but I like to spend my free time at a more relaxed pace with a good movie, a book, a nice dinner or going nuts with espresso coffee related stuff (this is a real passion for me). I do travel a fair bit on the job as well as for personal enjoyment.

A few years ago I did get my first digital camera (a Canon Ixus II) and I have recently found it to be inadequate for my needs and wants. I therefore purchased a Canon 350d and a couple of books. Armed with these and a firm intent to learn how to use them, I would describe myself as an enthusiastic beginner when it comes to photography.

Most of my photography to date has been family, holiday and hobby related snapshots (and not very good ones at those). This is likely to be the bulk of my photos also going forward, but I am hoping to find my portrait and landscape shots improve in quality as I learn more. This forum has already been a big help for me and as a newbie, I'm quite sure I will be around seeking advise from those wiser and/or more experienced than me...

Regards,
Teme

[ifonline]

Hello everyone. My name is Ian, and I live in Georgia. I was in college for Architectural or Mechanical Engineering (at the time I hadn't decided) but left to join the Marine Corps. After six years of service and several trips around the globe, I took up Law Enforcement and love every day of it.

My roommate purchased a Canon 20D a few weeks ago, and suggested that I check out this Site. I did, and found this to be a great place to learn about photography. So, I took the plunge and got a Canon 20D as well. So far so good, and I look forward to learning more than I could possibly have imagined with the help of this Site and the people here.

Thanks to all.

[bacon]

Hi,
Another Kiwi joining POTN, (we really do want to take ova the world) only just joined but have been a long time lurker for 6 months or so, went along on a GKPE trip 3 months or so ago to Taupo with a friend who has been long time POTN member - Jousting photo shoot - no seriously! (Search GKPE)
Proud owner of a little, well loved, well used Powershot A95
Photography has consisted to date mainly of badly composed landscape, and few family things. Aim to improve when i have time.
Work for the Cereal King in Auckland NZ in a sales role, any other NZers will know him as the Mayor of Auckland.
See yas!

[Adpully]

My name is Andy Pullinger and I was born in 1957 and live Close to Oxford. I have been married for nearly 28 years to Claire and have two Children Lucy (16) and Scott(14). I have recently swopped careers from design engineering to occupational health and safety. To do this I went back to college, last year I finished a masters degree in the Science of Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment. My employers are a very large American Corporation and I am about to move with them to a different section of the business where they make different pressure sensors used in various applications such as gas pipelines and aircraft. This quite a change from body scanners and a new challenge for me. This will probably mean that I will eventually relocate. Aside from my photographic interests I am also a self confessed anorak in hifi being especially keen on valves amplifiers and electrostatic speakers.

I started in photography at around 16 when I bought a zenith B then I used kodachome 64 and one or twice Kodachrome 25 I have done a lot of black and white work and spent some years developing and printing my own pictures – this stopped when Lucy was born because the darkroom space was needed. My photographic interests are mainly landscapes nature and urban scenes. I tend to keep equipment a long time and moved from my zenith to a Rollei 35mm system. Then at about the time the kids were born I bought an autofocus EOS 10 with a few lenses. I used this stuff for 3 years but then decided to return to my purist minimal roots. I sold my canon equip and bought a second hand pentax MX and a bag of prime lenses principally now I was using slide film. I really enjoyed using this all for 12 years but finally in Jan 2005 I took the plunge and bought a 10D. I have found this easy to use and much better to handle than my pentax. The POTN forum has been a great help to in choosing my lenses and I plan to collect up a reasonable set of lenses over the next few years. I am very much looking forward to taking pictures this year and hope to begin to understand more about using photoshop. I have yet to post anything in the forum. This is mostly because the weather in the UK has not been very good so I have not been out much.

[CaptainCutler]

Hi, I'm Sal, 44 yrs old and live outside Chicago. I have worked at the same company for the past 22 years as a hardware/software/whatever they want engineer. I was active duty Air Force as a radar tech and then an aircrew member (loadmaster) on a C-130 in the Air Force reserves.

I started with a Brownie 126 in the late 60's. A couple of years later a friend of my dad's gave me an Exa II, had a High School photo? (art) teacher say he didn't understand how I could use the camera without an ASA setting. At the time I didn't understand what he meant.

When the OM-1 was released I bought one (late 70's). Been using that same OM-1 with additions (OM-2s, OM-4, OM4ti) until recently, along the way I acquired some 4x5 and 2x3 Graflex's. Sold my darkroom equipment 8yrs ago (new wife, new house, no room). That's when I started to not use my equipment (except for the obligatory family gatherings). Been looking at DSlr's, just couldn't justify the expense, until last week when I bought a 20d. I like the instant feedback, without a Polaroid back, but I do miss the smell of D76 and fixer in the morning.

[blueminnie]

Hey Everyone! My name is Anna and I live in Minne-"snow"ta;), where we got 9 inches of the white stuff yesterday! Ugh,:( just when I thought spring was here for good. I should know better, I have lived in MN my whole life. Just wishful thinking I guess.

Although I have posted a few times over the last couple months, I have never officially introduced myself. Like many others, I have been passionate about photography pretty much my whole life and about 3 years ago, started my own photography biz. At the time, it was meant to be only a part time gig, but then about 6 months later, I quit my full time HR job and decided to pour myself into growing the business. It's been quite a journey--lots of learning, lots of mistakes, but a lot of successes too. I feel totally thankful to be able to pursue something that I love. I've had jobs where I dreaded going to work everyday, but not anymore. My main niche is infant, kid and family on-location portraits, but I also do seniors, a few weddings per year, and events. In addition to growing my business, I do all sorts of "free-lance" work--interior painting, floral design, HR consulting, financial consulting....I have a variety-filled life!

So glad I found this forum earlier this year! It was exactly what I have looking for and I have a learned a ton from everyones contributions. Thanks to Pekka and all the moderators who keep it a great place to live and learn!!

p.s. My username, "blueminnie" is in honor of my first little car, a blue chevette, that got me through college (hmmm, a few years ago now:rolleyes: )! That car started when it was -50 degrees and made it to something like 200, 000 miles....I remember her fondly :)

[rstuntz]

Hello,

I thought I'd jump in and introduce myself. My name is Ryan and I just started practicing dentistry in a small town in NE Iowa (near the Mississippi River). Lots of bald eagles around here (I'm looking forward to capturing one of them with my sensor one of these days). I'm originally from western Iowa where there are not as many Eagles and other interesting birds of prey. I picked up photography for fun about two years ago with the purchase of a Sony F-828 *gasp* After using it for a couple of months, I got the bug to try some more creative things and wanted the control and ability to take shots above ISO 200 without horrible noise. I quickly moved to a 20D (which I purchased on our Honeymoon with my wife). I haven't touched the Sony since then. We've been married one year this last weekend. I did a pretty good job of balancing my new addiction with our honeymoon :) . I can't believe she went for heading to a camera shop on our honeymoon! Since then, I have been chasing birds and any other kind of shot I can take. Every shot is different and that is what I love about photography. I can take out some old images and I'll notice something I missed the first time.

I'm hoping to upgrade to some L glass one of these days but most of my time is spent working and getting my wife through school, and building my practice. I'm hoping to get out more this summer and get some more shots. Until things get green (and since there is no snow on the ground), I've been limited to shooting pets and birds.... landscapes soon!

Well, that certainly became a ramble.... I've learned more on this forum than all my other souces combined. Great work moderators and thanks for putting in the time to make the best site on the web (IMO).

Thanks and hello to all,


Ryan

[Margie]

Hi, I just saw this site today for the first time and decided to join. I like the idea of being with other canon users.
I am used to on-line forums, but have not as yet figured out how to post a new question! Can anyone help me?
I live in San Jose, CA and am a retired RN.
I am new to my canon DSLR since last summer. Planning a 5 week trip to Portugal, Spain and England soon.
I just finished a Light and Composition class over at Better Photo, which I really enjoyed and learned alot.
Nice to meet you all.
Margie

[O_T]

Hi, my names Rex and I am a fungi fanatic. I had hunted morel mushrooms for many years and after moving to Canada I had lots of spare time on my hands. Once morel season was over, I quickly learned about all of the other wonderful edible mushrooms that grow wild. And also, I found I could supplement my income until I was able to work legally. Well, as I learned more and more about mushrooms and fungi, I realized how photogenic they were, but had no clue about cameras. So I had this little cheap Vivitar film deal, and would scan my NASTY photos and attempt to create a website.
There has to be a better way, I thought, so I snatched up a Fuji finepix 2600z.
Well, I mean it did improve the quality by leaps and bounds, but nothing like I wanted to accomplish. So this past Fall I bought an A610, and my DSLR friends of course told me "your not spending enough money","you'll be sorrrrrrry"--you know the drill. Anyhow, yeah, I want a digital SLR, but don't ya think I oughta learn how to use this first?
I'm glad I stumbled across this forum. It's quite fun for me, and for those of you that take the time to answer my questions, I am grateful.

[Paul_O]

Hi all,
I just saw this thread for the first time and thought it worthy. Firstly a big thankyou to Pekka and all the senior mods for creating a fantastic and very friendly forum for all to enjoy.
Anyway, my name is Paul, 32 years old, born and bred in Perth Western Australia (and very proud of it!), I have worked in the Oil & Gas service industry for the last 11 years, initially in the mooring and rigging supply business and now in the lifeboat inspection, maintenance and service side of things.
I met a Dutch girl and had a 12 month break from work and travelled through Europe with her in a 2 person tent and Peugeot 106 for 5 months and realised that if you could survive that you could survive anything! Anyway, so 4 weeks after we arrived home we got married and had a fantastic wedding attended by her family and friends from Holland (great that they could make with such short notice).
Anyway (the rambling is starting) I only started my photography phase on our European camping tour after I received a Sony DSCS85 from work as a going away gift. In 2002 it was actually a great camera and I now wish that I'd learned how to use it properly beforehand as the photos got better as time went on (I guess this is an excuse to do it all again :lol: ). I got bitten by the bug and realised the limitations of the camera and purchased a Canon 300V Rebel Ti) during our trip and loved the flexibility it gave me.
Skip forward 12 months and I purchased the 300D to get the best of both worlds, whilst I'd love a 20D or 30D the current budget doesn't allow it due to the everyday bills and regular travelling to Europe to visit the in laws who I love very dearly. I have what I consider a nice selection of lenses that is suitable for 95% of what I lie to shoot, whilst not the best I find them useful. My preference is landscape and architectural photography, ie things that don't move or make any noise!
I'm not a big poster here I visit daily as I now regularly work from home and truly enjoy the camaraderie of the site.

Anyway, apologies for the ramble, a very good idea for a thread and I wish the best fo you all.

Paul

[Mikelangelo]

wow...I've been a member for 3-4 days or something. Just found this thread.

My name is Michael. I'm from West Chicago (about 30 miles west of Chicago. Ironic, no?) I'm a web/multimedia developer. I'm a graduate student at DePaul University learning Computer Graphics and Animation. (3D animation and scripting... "Incredibles" type stuff)

I got my 300D a little over a year ago and I love it. (I'm saving for the 30D) I have a photoblog (http://www.mikelangelo.com/blog/). I just learned about this forum about a week or so ago. There are so many posts and so much to learn my head is about to 'explode!' This has been a marvelous community already. I hope I can contribute.

[puddinz]

HI there I am Stevie and live in Suffolk UK. I work in a local secodary school so that I can have the long holidays to persue my many hobbies. I have played around with cameras and photography since i was about 10 but only in the last couple of years have I been at all serious. I have been lurking in the forums for a couple of weeks glued to my pc moniter and just soaking up all the stuff that goes on in here. One of these days I might even post one of my images. I take mostly shots of family and friends but I am involved locally with several amatuer dramatic companies and i do lots of dress rehearsal pics for them.
I have a 350D and love it, It is my first slr up to now I have alsways had either polaroid or compact.
I am mum to 2 great girlies, Grandma to a fabby kid and another one on the way and wife to long suffering hubsand of 28 years.
I am looking forward to sharing my stuff with you all and learning great things.
Stevie
xxx

[Wayland]

Hi, I'm Gary and I'm an alchoholic, Whoops, sorry that's a different forum isn't it.

Well I am Gary, but actually I'm a Viking, at least that's what it says on my CV. I make a living as a living history interpreter working with children which is loads of fun.

When I'm not having fun doing that I like to go to wild abandoned places and take pictures, usually camping wild and up till now toting a Broni or a 5x4 field camera.

That's all about to change. The Broni is spruced up ready for part ex. and I've got my eye on a 5D and a couple of lenses.

I'm quite looking forward to being able to walk without a stoop for a while. :D

So that's me, and I hope I can put in as much as I'm sure I'll take out of this forum.

http://www.lore-and-saga.co.uk/assets/images/eastern_viking.jpg

"Skoll"

[rok]

wassup guys,
name's eric.. found this forum from a link in another forum.. like it so far.. tons of useful information..not much to know about me.. im into music, cars, clubs.. whatever you name it i can probably touch base with..
i shoot night club photography mainly.. if you are ever in san francisco u can probably find me at night in a club taking pictures.. you can see my work at illatainment.com then go to rock the bay then check the galleries i've done from the last foreplay fridays till the most current fame..
i aslo shoot cars when im free.. most of my work is in the norcal forums on clubrsx.. im also an avid poster in the photography section there..
i also dj.. been djing on and off for about 8 year.. if you like hip hop, mainly bay area stuff, check out my mix on myspace..
i am a "youngin", only 19.. but i can say i have accomplished more than most of the people in my age proudly..
later guys!! happy shots!
-eric

[rlhphotos]

Well I guess I'll introduce myself some

Names Rob work as a System Administrator during the day and run a small photo shop at night and on the weekends..Been a hobby photog for many years with Point Shoots and now DSLR's.

I love taking photos and I love learning new things. My mainstay as a hobbiest was architecture and wildlife, and now as a semi-pro amateur wannabe, (whatever the real pros call someone like me)I am doing wedding photography and concert photography.

Im still getting a grasp on the whole shooting people thing since I am used to non moving objects normally, but so far its been good. Three happy couples, and a several concerts and such under my belt so far and a few more to come this year.

All in all its been a great start and I Love this forum, its quite helpful on getting critiques and for some of you who have seen my engagement shoots you know I listen to what you all have to say.

[Mike Bell]

I thought I would celebrate my 1,000th post here by introducing myself and putting up a new avatar instead of that terrible webcam shot which was all I had on Jan 1st 2006 when I joined! :lol:

My name is Mike Bell (doh!;) ) and I have been taking photographs for many years. My first serious camera was an Olympus OM 2N 35mm SLR bought with some of my first pay as a junior doctor in 1979. In 1980 I married a girl called Carolyn and within a few years we had a new Olympus OM 20 ..... oh, and some kids as well! :lol:

As you know kids and work take up a lot of time and attention and photography rather went on the back burner apart from family and holiday snaps. We went digital in 2001 with an Olympus 2040Z P&S camera and later another Olympus C720UZ P&S. The kids went off to university in the last few years and took these two cameras with them. This was the trigger for me to return to SLR type shooting and take advantage of the recent drop in prices of DSLRs to affordable prices for amateurs. I got my Canon 350D in December 2005 and took advantage of the rebates with it to get some lenses.

I joined here on Jan 1st 2006 - best thing I ever did! I took up macro photography in January and the guys who post in Macro here have been so helpful that I have made amazing progress. (Modest eh?:rolleyes: ) My landscapes remain mainly average but again guys like Dimitri and Scottie in Travel and Landscapes are helping me along.

Today I took my 4,000th image with the 350D. Here is the 4,037th - a self portrait seemed appropiate as this post is about me:

http://static.flickr.com/38/128531576_21c69a0d9d_o.jpg
Canon 350D with EF-S 60mm lens. Speedlite 430EX on off-shoe cord. 1/200th at f16. ISO 100.

[nine4surfah]

Howz'it! photography never sparked any interest for me until recently. I started with a Sony 3 mega pixel "point and shoot" for the sake of sharing photos over the net with family and friends. Over a matter of months I began to be more aware about photo compostion and I wanted to improve the quality of my photos. Eventually I was able to save some cash and purchased a Canon Rebel XT a huge step from my previous "point and sshoot". I never had any formal education on photography and Im gathering most of my knowledge from the net. Eventually I stumbled into this forum and So far I'm finding the info on this site to be very helpful.

Lurking in a forum near you,
Rans
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i24/nine4surfah/SpitShineReflection1.jpg

[TooManyHobbies]

Where do I begin? Had a small 110mm camera when I was 8. I got my first Nikon 35mm when I was 12. I had 2 years of photography and darkroom in high school. The photo geeks got hall passes to go anywhere! I used a community darkroom when I got older, but lost interest when I started getting into digital video. Then my good video camera broke and I've been waiting for video standards and technology to settle down. I was building a darkroom in my attic when I decided to go another direction. I sold all my film and darkroom equipment and went to digital photography. I started with a G5 and shortly thereafter got the 20D when it first came out. I've done weddings, requests, and put photos up in restaurants, but haven't pushed the hobbie past that. And here I am with my toy list that keeps on growing.

My call name explains it all. I've got too many hobbies and interests (everything). I love to play sports, but not to watch them (except gymnastics and diving). I play ice hockey every week. I love Corvettes (C3s - I could put one back together with my eyes closed) and Jaguars (XK8 convertible is my new practical car). And...fine wine, single malt scotch, artisan cheese, woodworking, skiing, kite boarding, jetskiing, scuba diving, painting, cooking, sci-fi and fantasy, gardening, travel, sailing, poker, gambling, writing, camping, swimming, weightlifting, skating, tennis, going out, MY DAUGHTER, LIFE, etc.


As for photography, I love all types and techniques.

[Trinimoi]

Hi all... I'm a twenty-something year old female from the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago) supposedly very busy working on a Masters' in Geosciences... but mostly I am engaged in all sorts of distracting hobbies such as web development and photography.

I found this forum while researching Canon digital cameras... I currently use an Olympus Stylus 300D - which is the digital version of the Olympus film camera I started out with... I love taking pics - but I'm ready to stop taking pretty nice snapshots and get into learning how to take quality photographs. So my graduation present to myself is going to be a photography class and a Canon Rebel XT...

Love this site - seems a good place to start learning and get feedback as well.

[Lord_Malone]

Okay, here goes. It all started at UC Berkley in 1973....

[edited for violent and disturbing content]

...and since I couldn't settle with the insurance company after the incident at the circus involving the midget clowns, my drunk wife and actor Gary Busey, I decided that I want to pursue photography for a living. Well, that's my story and here I am. Good to meet y'all!

[J.T.]

Hey all, name is J.T. Salonen, 31 years old .
I have always been into visual arts, took some T.V. and video broadcasting when I was around 19. Then I lived on a 27' Catalina (sailboat) for a few years and traveled the Gulf Islands area of British Columbia for a while. I then worked for a non profit org. as Assistant Coordinator for some time. I first started taking pics on a Minolta, then I got an EOS3 I was so happy...lol. I was right into wildlife and nature shots and drove around everywhere taking pics.... but I got sick of the wait for pics being as I am in a rural area, and was so damn expensive for slide film and processing. So I made the jump to digital with the 20D(Love the insta feedback of digital), seems to be a favorite around here, hehe. Recently just started learning about flash with the new purchase of my 580, 430, st-e2 combo.Kinda strayed off of the nature and wildlife stuff, more into people, and would like to do more modeling/glam/wedding pics, so I'm slowing building my portfolio with some tfp's.So far i've only had my wife to work with...lol but I have a line on a couple more :) I'm doing my first photography wedding this month (did video weddings before) to help build my portfolio some more. I stumbled across this website and have been lurkin a bit, very nice community so I thought I'd join. I really don't have many people to talk to about photos and photoshop, etc., at least not with any depth or passion so I was very happy when I found the forum. Seen some great photos here, and hope I get a chance to talk to some of you more. I will add a gallery link when i get one set up.
Great site!!!!!

Cheers

[shanen2179]

Hello all . . . I'm Shannon. 26, live in beautiful Colorado - and believe it or not, I'm a native . . . very hard to find those here, surrounded by 4 military bases. I'm into photography, but am by no means a professional . . . I've just recently started to join online groups to learn tips and tricks. I have a Canon PowerShot S2 IS.
Not married, (not yet anywho) no kids, but have two kitties that are my kids. I love music (rock is my favorite genre) TOOL is my favorite band. I love taking pictures and I'm just getting into scrapbooking . . . I figure, better to start now, before I have kids and all, so I'll be an expert by then ;)
I'm addicted to Reality Shows . . . I'm very intrigued by people. I work full time as a Loan Processor (auto loans), and go to school at night for Sociology. That's about it for now :smile:

[AdamJL]

Hi all

Adam here. An Aussie based in London. My father was the real drive in my interest in photography. He's been an amateur photographer for decades.
About three years ago, I bought my first camera - a 3000N. Didn't use it much, and the hobby got put on the back-burner.
Then my father gave me his old EOS5 shortly before I went on a trip to Egypt, and I've slowly grown more interested in photography. It complements my love of travelling quite nicely.
I'm still a huge n00b though, but I'm getting better slowly.

[condyk]

... I've slowly grown more interested in photography. It complements my love of travelling quite nicely. I'm still a huge n00b though, but I'm getting better slowly.

Same here ... mainly a traveller but who likes something 'creative' to do rather than work, work, work when I am stuck in the UK. A camera is a great thing to travel with. We went on the road pretty much constantly for two years with camera and laptop and it's wonderful viewing shots at the end of each day and the PP-ing gave me something to do evening time when stuck in some lonely outpost.

Have fun ...