STICKY:  Member introductions

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!

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.

...

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

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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&GlobalUndergrou​nd, 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.

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? ) 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 !!!

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)

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 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!)

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 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 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

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 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

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.

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.