Deja vu, Frag. I feel as though some of this has been posted somewhere before.
A little bit of it might be in my bio. But I elaborated some. To be honest, I've posted it in more than one location, so its also possible I forgot I posted it here somewhere, and reposted it. My memory gets a little dicey sometimes.
Hi my name is Brad and I'm a digiholic ...
Hi, my name is Brad. I'm 46 and live on a golf course in Edmonton, Alberta with my wife and one 4 legged kid (Buddy the Wonder Dog). And like many on this site, I have "the bug". I've had it a very long time ...
It started when I was a kid carrying the battery pack for my dad's flash that had a guide number of about a bazillion. Ok, maybe not a bazillion, but it could fill a big hall and had a 700 pound lead acid battery pack. Ok, maybe it wasn't 700 pounds, but remember, I was just a little kid! I got my first camera at age six and started snapping. I still have many of the very first B/W photos that I took. As I grew up, I sat through many a saturday night slide show as my dad pulled out tray after tray of newly developed slides .
The bug bit me again when I was in High School. I enrolled in a journalism course and before you knew it, I was the photographer/layout/production guy for the school newspaper. The very first time I put my first exposed piece of paper in the developer tray was MAGIC ... not sure why, but it just was. Those were the days that I always smelled of fixer. My mom hated it, but to me, it was heaven.
One would have thought that the protagonist of our story would have left school, camera in hand and ventured into a budding career in photojournalism. I had actually wanted for years to be a marine biologist. Somehow I ended up getting a degree in music instead. Go figure ...
Well, the years have gone by, I made a career change, got another degree (MBA), and today I'm the Manager of Corporate Planning for a billion dollar Canadian retailer. Then the bug REALLY bit a couple of years ago. The V.P. Franchising got himself a little 2 megapixel Canon Elph and I made the "mistake" of borrowing it for the weekend. I took some pictures of BTWD (Buddy the Wonder Dog) and it was one of those life changing moments ... really. Soon after, I purchased a Canon G2 and Photoshop 6 and I've hardly exposed a roll of film since. Yes, the camera has several limitations compared to my Canon SLR, but digital is SO ....(you fill in YOUR favorite word). But the limitations are soon to be a thing of the past ... my "new baby" is expected any week now ...
I have to say that digital has really improved photography. Sorry film guys. Part of becoming better at any craft is practice. Not too long ago I recently read the acticle for the first fully digital National Geographic pictorial. What blew me away was that the average 2-3 week assignment required the photographer to expose 600-700 ROLLS of 36 exposure film. Now they ONLY shoot the equivalent of 200 rolls. Taking that many pictures, even a guy like me should be able to get ONE good photo in his lifetime! I know from my days of teaching music that very few people are truly blessed with with pure natural ability. If you want to be good, you have to work, and work hard. Shooting digital lets us try and fail, over and over again, with very little cost except our time.
I love this site. It has it all. Technoweenies, professional photographers, and lots of people that just appreciate seeing someone else's photos. It lets us connect as a world.
Great post, Digi! You summed it up perfectly, I think. Lots of practice, no incremental cost... and a nice place to show off the good ones. Thanks for such an eloquent intro!
andy's story (one of them, anyway!)
I got into photography at an early age, about 7 years old. Ever since then,
I can recall always always taking photographs. When I was 12 i started
working for the local camera store. I stocked the shelves and swept the joint.
In a year, I was opening up the store on my own on saturday mornings, and
it was just me and those Kodak Instamatics and about 90 kinds of Kodak film
behind the counter
The owner had one of the only commercial b&w darkrooms in the area,
and he taught me how to develop film, and make prints. A giggle:
I remember often developing rolls of film from one particular guy -
he shot "nudies" (not nudes, in the artistic sense) whenever
I'd get this film developed, the owner would always send me down
the street off on "errands" and "important deliveries" for the
store. Riiiight. as i got wiser, I remembered the guy who brought
in the "special" film. Once, i pocketed it, and developed it the
next morning and made the prints. Hoo-boy did I get an eyeful
and also, the owner was none too pleased, but since I did such a
good job with the prints (even fixed a few) he said he'd forget
about it.
Soon I set up my own darkroom at home, comandeering the basement
bathroom. Mom wasn't too happy about it, but she gave in and even
bought me the expensive Kodak paper and all the chemicals I ever
needed.
I continued there for several years, and then got into other types
of jobs, but i always had my camera with me. I'll never forget
working there.
So, how did you get started with photography? tell us your story,
and share a photo or two if you've got them!
Here's an early self-portrait, with a voigtlander rangefinder 35mm
and a timer. (I was 8 yrs old):
Here's a photo i took in 1971 of my brother after he wrecked his
car.. This one made it into the local newspaper
Here's a portrait of my folks and our dog, taken in 1973 with a
Pentax k1000 35mm slr:
My dad flyfishing in 1975, taken with the same pentax
A river scene, near where i'd go fishing in the adirondacks of ny,
taken with a canon a-1:
Oh boy... Let's see, my name is Bryan and I take pictures.
I am 31 and live in what Money Magazine considers the best city in the west, Rancho Santa Margarita, California (between LA and San Diego). That means it is manicured, planned and perfect for raising my 2 sons (3 and 10 weeks) with my wife of 6 years.
I started shooting with Dad's A-1 in High school, then took several B&W classes in Jr College. I bought my first Camera then, Canon Rebel. I shot a lot, then the camera got put away. Several years later my sister borrowed and dropped the camera. I fixed the body when our first son was born, and the bug was refound.
My first Digi was a freebie a vendor gave me, Olympus D-520zoom. I was convinced Digital was it, wife was not. Then the Digital Rebel cam out, I bought it, pissed her off. She wanted piles of pics surrounding her, so I bought a printer, she is hooked. Yesterday I ordered a 75-300 lens, to replace the one sister broke years ago.
I work in IT, so I have the computers, now I need to learn Photoshop and get this hobby rolling! If I could only find a business reason to take Photoshop classes, then they would pay for the classes. Hummmm....
That is my story, My boys get most of my exposures right now.
Beautiful color and detail and the soft baby skin, Bryan. Nice shot.
If you're looking for good books for your version of Photoshop, check out anything by Scott Kelby. Great tips, easy to follow, a picture for every step - and at least one book for every 'modern' upgrade of PS.
Damonff
Finally got around to this...I'm Damon...the ff is Francis Fernandes, my other two names. I'm from Washington, D.C. I'm a teacher by trade. I teach literature. My favorite writers are Faulkner, Joyce, and Morrison. I also love looking at paintings; my favorite artists are Picasso, Pollock, and anyone who painted that Italian stuff in the 14th and 15th centuries. I dabble in religion, though I subscribe to none. My favorite religion is Hinduism because it has a balance of freedom, art, and spirituality that I find appealing. Siva is a pretty cool art subject. I live in China; I teach here. I stopped teaching in the States because the testing system (no child left behind) is stifling to a teacher's creativity. Teaching for the test is not education in my opinion. Thought I'd check out China and found the same thing going on here...oh well. I'm married to a beautiful person named Lida. We have no children. We plan on seeing the world for a while, but we'll probably go back to D.C. to make some money first. We're going to buy a Vespa with a sidecar when we get back...we used to have a new Beetle but gas prices are way too high now...going for the scooter. Photography is my hobby. I have film and digital cameras. I use my Sony 828 most of the time but my Canon AE1 Program is also never idle for long. I speak English, Portuguese, Farsi, and Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese). I can read and write Sanskrit. I learned that when I was studying under a yoga master about 10 years back. I taught yoga for a while outside of Detroit but it's hard making a living in full lotus pose (padmasana). I want to buy a Nikon D1X. Can't afford it...have to save. Can't think of anything else. I love smugmug and digital grin.
Great story, Damonff. I always wondered what you were doing over there, assumed you worked for a corporation of some kind. Turns out you're a bit of the anti-corporate type, eh? Maybe teaching in the English private school system would suit you? 30 years ago they didn't seem quite as focused on teaching for the test - dunno about now, though.
Finally got around to this...I'm Damon...the ff is Francis Fernandes, my other two names. I'm from Washington, D.C. I'm a teacher by trade. I teach literature. My favorite writers are Faulkner, Joyce, and Morrison. I also love looking at paintings; my favorite artists are Picasso, Pollock, and anyone who painted that Italian stuff in the 14th and 15th centuries. I dabble in religion, though I subscribe to none. My favorite religion is Hinduism because it has a balance of freedom, art, and spirituality that I find appealing. Siva is a pretty cool art subject. I live in China; I teach here. I stopped teaching in the States because the testing system (no child left behind) is stifling to a teacher's creativity. Teaching for the test is not education in my opinion. Thought I'd check out China and found the same thing going on here...oh well. I'm married to a beautiful person named Lida. We have no children. We plan on seeing the world for a while, but we'll probably go back to D.C. to make some money first. We're going to buy a Vespa with a sidecar when we get back...we used to have a new Beetle but gas prices are way too high now...going for the scooter. Photography is my hobby. I have film and digital cameras. I use my Sony 828 most of the time but my Canon AE1 Program is also never idle for long. I speak English, Portuguese, Farsi, and Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese). I can read and write Sanskrit. I learned that when I was studying under a yoga master about 10 years back. I taught yoga for a while outside of Detroit but it's hard making a living in full lotus pose (padmasana). I want to buy a Nikon D1X. Can't afford it...have to save. Can't think of anything else. I love smugmug and digital grin.
Damanoff? looking at you through your pictures you are exactly who I thought you were. (maybe much smarter) your qualities shine through your shots. We are glad you love smugmug and digital grin cos' we love you too.. and I know I can speak for all when I say that.
Lynn
Hello everyone ! My name is Nick Luvaul , but most know me as Byl . I live in boring Ocala Florida .I am 15 years old and i got my first camera this past Christmas , ever since i got it i have not been able to put it down . I started to mostly take skateboarding pictures of my friends , untill i got my macro lens ... so now i my favorite thing to is taking macro pics of bugs and flowers . My other hobbies are skateboarding ,surfing ,mountain-biking ,and painting .
I'm from Central Florida also, never found Ocala boring. But, I am not 15 anymore... However, you have a treasure trove of areas around you for some fabulous wildlife and nature photography.
My personal favorites are photographing gators. That's an adrenaline rush! My last trip up to Paynes Prarie, not too far from you, filled me with enough adrenaline to float me for about a month! Keep shooting, and keep posting.
Hello everyone ! My name is Nick Luvaul , but most know me as Byl . I live in boring Ocala Florida .I am 15 years old and i got my first camera this past Christmas , ever since i got it i have not been able to put it down . I started to mostly take skateboarding pictures of my friends , untill i got my macro lens ... so now i my favorite thing to is taking macro pics of bugs and flowers . My other hobbies are skateboarding ,surfing ,mountain-biking ,and painting .
Hi Nick, welcome to the forum! we are looking forward to seeing some of your bug pictures. Lynn
I'm from Central Florida also, never found Ocala boring. But, I am not 15 anymore... However, you have a treasure trove of areas around you for some fabulous wildlife and nature photography.
My personal favorites are photographing gators. That's an adrenaline rush! My last trip up to Paynes Prarie, not too far from you, filled me with enough adrenaline to float me for about a month! Keep shooting, and keep posting.
Hi Wolf, yes you do have some fabulous wildlife to shoot down there. I was in Florida not long back and took some gator shots, not too good tho.. lets see some of yours..:D Lynn
Hello everyone ! My name is Nick Luvaul , but most know me as Byl . I live in boring Ocala Florida .I am 15 years old and i got my first camera this past Christmas
Hi Byl, great to have you here. Please note you're getting an early start in Photography, sort of like Andy did - and look how good he is! Shoots lots and post 'em, love to see your work and your growth.
And why do most people call you Byl? Is there a story there?
Bio, Ginger
Hey, you all know me, I am ginger, 64 yrs old, live outside of Charleston, SC, married to a school photographer, 4 grown children, with children. Besides, my husband, I live with a Yorkshire Terrier, two Welsh Corgis, and a cat.
They are my unpaid models.
I am sure I have been avidly taking pictures longer than Andy, since I am older. I got my first camera, a Brownie, when I was 8 yrs old. With $1.00 a week allowance, I could buy a roll of film and have it developed, or buy ten comic books. It was probably a 50/50 decision with weather a factor.
I have had a progressive hearing loss all my life. It was undiagnosed until I was 21, but it was probably a contributing factor to my interest in photography. I was born in 1939, it was the late sixties/early seventies that I got a Nikon, a darkroom and started to roll with obsession. I took classes, workshops, was a mother by day, a photographer, also, by day, by night I was a darkroom technician. Love the smell of those chemicals.
Like many artists, I got a college degree in biology, a science. They seem to go together, the arts and the sciences. I didn't get my degree until I was 45, I still had marvelous camera equipment, but no darkroom, and I had let the compulsion go. At one point I worked part time at a small town newspaper as a photographer. My time became theirs, and when I was told I would be working on my daughter's sixteenth birthday, we parted ways.
Can't remember your other questions. I sold my Nikon equipment about 5 yrs ago to pay the mortgage, but my eye was on digital. As soon as possible I got a Canon Elph. This year I bought a dRebel with our tax return. I bought the lenses I wanted and could afford, so I feel back in the groove of photography: real zoom lenses, interchangeable. I believed in digital photography from the beginning. That is important to me, as I was talking up digital, and the company my husband works for still uses film.
I think all photography is a miracle. The first time I developed a black and white print, I likened it to having a baby.........and I knew. My child bearing days were over, but my years of creativity had not ended.
My interests were always in the area of photojournalism. I was really a bit narrow minded about that. I do not use a tripod, not that I won't. I have owned them and rarely used one. I like to hand hold my camera without messing with a lot of equipment. So far I still have not used the flash I bought to use with the Rebel. I have not needed to. It is in my camera bag.
My hearing loss has reached the edges of the profound range. Without my hearing aids, I hear nothing. Using the phone is becoming very difficult. Photography is a pursuit I can still follow, be around people without the emphasis on conversations. With a camera, I will go anywhere, do anything, they are magical machines, don't you think?
Ber Himwich, Photographer
I've been a photographer since I was sixteen (1998). Basically, I'm self-taught: I taught myself manual exposure and how to develop film and prints. When I lived in Cincinnati, I had a fanbase made up of my dad's middle school students, who were very intelligent for their age. Then I moved to San Antonio and had some trouble finding people who were interested in my work. But I eventually found a place where people love what I do. And now I have a Smugmug site, which believe it or not, I plan to make my income from. I have dealth with both the highs of praise and the lows of criticism when it comes to my work. That is why I want to do everything on my terms and just have people buy my prints online. I believe I've been hurt by some people (even family members) who think photography can only been done in certain ways.
I've been a photographer since I was sixteen (1998). Basically, I'm self-taught: I taught myself manual exposure and how to develop film and prints. When I lived in Cincinnati, I had a fanbase made up of my dad's middle school students, who were very intelligent for their age. Then I moved to San Antonio and had some trouble finding people who were interested in my work. But I eventually found a place where people love what I do. And now I have a Smugmug site, which believe it or not, I plan to make my income from. I have dealth with both the highs of praise and the lows of criticism when it comes to my work. That is why I want to do everything on my terms and just have people buy my prints online. I believe I've been hurt by some people (even family members) who think photography can only been done in certain ways.
Man, I hear ya on that last part! That seems to be my personal battle with everything I do; fate would have it that I become interested in industries or topics that are so highly subjective, people just cant help but argue. Ive gotten alot of the same stuff from people around me, and sometimes it gets to me, but otherwise I tune them out with my powers of ADD and short attention spans!
Well, I was also wondering about the whole smugmug-profiting scheme/thing, so Ill let you ask the questions; my name around here has become synonymous with "poisoning the well"!
Welcome to Dgrin; heres your helmet!
Hey, you all know me, I am ginger, 64 yrs old, live outside of Charleston, SC, married to a school photographer, 4 grown children, with children. Besides, my husband, I live with a Yorkshire Terrier, two Welsh Corgis, and a cat.
They are my unpaid models.
I am sure I have been avidly taking pictures longer than Andy, since I am older. I got my first camera, a Brownie, when I was 8 yrs old. With $1.00 a week allowance, I could buy a roll of film and have it developed, or buy ten comic books. It was probably a 50/50 decision with weather a factor.
I have had a progressive hearing loss all my life. It was undiagnosed until I was 21, but it was probably a contributing factor to my interest in photography. I was born in 1939, it was the late sixties/early seventies that I got a Nikon, a darkroom and started to roll with obsession. I took classes, workshops, was a mother by day, a photographer, also, by day, by night I was a darkroom technician. Love the smell of those chemicals.
Like many artists, I got a college degree in biology, a science. They seem to go together, the arts and the sciences. I didn't get my degree until I was 45, I still had marvelous camera equipment, but no darkroom, and I had let the compulsion go. At one point I worked part time at a small town newspaper as a photographer. My time became theirs, and when I was told I would be working on my daughter's sixteenth birthday, we parted ways.
Can't remember your other questions. I sold my Nikon equipment about 5 yrs ago to pay the mortgage, but my eye was on digital. As soon as possible I got a Canon Elph. This year I bought a dRebel with our tax return. I bought the lenses I wanted and could afford, so I feel back in the groove of photography: real zoom lenses, interchangeable. I believed in digital photography from the beginning. That is important to me, as I was talking up digital, and the company my husband works for still uses film.
I think all photography is a miracle. The first time I developed a black and white print, I likened it to having a baby.........and I knew. My child bearing days were over, but my years of creativity had not ended.
My interests were always in the area of photojournalism. I was really a bit narrow minded about that. I do not use a tripod, not that I won't. I have owned them and rarely used one. I like to hand hold my camera without messing with a lot of equipment. So far I still have not used the flash I bought to use with the Rebel. I have not needed to. It is in my camera bag.
My hearing loss has reached the edges of the profound range. Without my hearing aids, I hear nothing. Using the phone is becoming very difficult. Photography is a pursuit I can still follow, be around people without the emphasis on conversations. With a camera, I will go anywhere, do anything, they are magical machines, don't you think?
Trouble is something I don't make, I am not that powerful......
DewrGleason, repeat after me:
I Don't Make Trouble, Trouble Makes Me
hehe, I made that up after being called, affectionately I insist on believing, a trouble maker. Gosh, I would hate to think Bush and I each said something similar, we don't have the same speechwriters, smile. Enough said, there.
I have had no problems here, yet, don't know when I joined, over a month ago, I am sure. The hard drive available space has physically disappeared with the additions of new photographs, and many attempts at bettering same. I think I have been in 3 Challenges, maybe 4, don't know.
I never thought about a helmet, didn't read the biographies for awhile, when I did, I went YIKES, sure glad I didn't know how good everyone else had been when I joined, never would have entered anything, or said a peep.
I will say that I have had more fun experiences, actually just more experiences, in the short time I have been a member here, then in the last 20 years. And I am 64.
Felt like a young person of 35 again, standing in the rain, watching a rainbow form over the marsh of the low country, calling it down to reflect for me, I shouted, begged and said, "Come to mother". It did. Dripping wet, I shot my first rainbow in that 20 yrs at about the same spot I shot my last one. The power I felt, I called a Rainbow, and the Rainbow came. Am still excited.
Hello everyone,
My name is snappy. I am over 50+. I work as a paralegal. My hobbies are gardening, crafts and photography.
I've always been a creative person. I had a number of my water colors displayed in the "display case" when I was in grade school. My favorite class in highschool was art. I wanted to go to art school after highschool, but my parents said it was frivolous. So, I got a job with the phone company and then got married after a year. (Amazingly, my husband and I are still married after all these years. And, happily, I might add.) I continued working for the phone company as a service rep until I had my first child. I have three kids now, all grown, and my son has twin boys, age 7.
I've always been a snapshot taker since I got my first camera for christmas at age 10. Hence the name (plus my last name). But I got my first "real" camera in the '80s - a Canon AE-1 Program. My daughter was taking a photography class in school and gave me a few pointers. I was selling real estate at the time and I got a wide angle (24mm) lens to take interior shots. After a while I bought a Tamron 35-135mm TeleMacroZoom for it. Macros became my favorite thing (especially flowers). I used the zoom for travel shots when my daughter and I took a trip to England and Paris in 1989. (I dropped my camera on the marble steps of the Louvre in Paris and it survived unscathed.) I love that Tamron lens. It's so versitile. No distortion on the edges when shooting tall buildings etc. either.
I sort of put my camera away after that. The recesion of the early 90"s hit. Real estate was in the tank. Developing film was too expensive. Money was scarce. I couldn't find a job. Law firms were closing all over town, husband wasn't making any money. Bad times. We sold our house and rented for a few years. Economy recovered. I went to college and got a degree in "Health Information Technology". We bought our current house. I worked for a few years in long term care settings. I was director of medical records at a long term care facility for a while. When my husband's office got very busy, he trained me as a paralegal and I went to work for him.
I became pretty good with computers (my creative side again). I researched and installed all the new legal software. We got lots of new tech stuff including a great scanner. BING! I can scan photos. Enter Photoshop Elements. Just started small. No big investment yet. Took out the old camera also bought a small (point & shoot) Pentax IQzoom with a 38-140mm zoom. It's small enough to carry in my pocket. I use the zoom to blur background. I refused to buy a digital camera because the 2 megapixel meant poor quality and the better cameras were too expensive. (my dog knocked over my tripod and jammed my Tamron lens, so I had to pay $350 for a new one in 1995.) I had to keep using what I had. Scanned a lot.
Cleaning dust specks off of scans got really old after a while so I broke down and got a digital last fall. I wanted "small" to take on a 2 week European Cruise. (The Canon and lense was a back breaker on trips.) Got an Olympus C5050z. I'm not real happy with it. Zoom is totally inadequate; view screen is too small and I can't see it in daylight; menus are hard to figure. I can't use it on manual at all. I just take lots of shots and try everything. Haven't really had time to find a place to learn. Users manual is not helpful. My old SLR was so easy on manual. Turn dial, push button.
I took over 400 pictures on our Mediterranean trip, found Smugmug in January, led to Digital Grinn in May. Am now hooked again on photography. I forgot everything I knew about cameras, so I'm starting over. I"m sure I'll end up getting Photoshop one day soon. I am also researching digital SLRs. I'll just have to find the money somewhere. Looking forward to learning lots from all of you more experienced folks. Snapapple
"Felt like a young person of 35 again, standing in the rain, watching a rainbow form over the marsh of the low country, calling it down to reflect for me, I shouted, begged and said, "Come to mother". It did. Dripping wet, I shot my first rainbow in that 20 yrs at about the same spot I shot my last one. The power I felt, I called a Rainbow, and the Rainbow came. Am still excited."
I just love the way you phrased this. It conveys your feelings so well. The image is lovely and the story is great too. Very very nice.
My story
Hi, I'm Bill Jurasz. I recently started Mercury Photography as a means of trying out the waters of commercial photography. I got the name from the god of speed, Mercury, and because I like things that move fast. Being an ex Corvette and shifter kart racer, I think the name fits.
I'm 37, I live in Austin, Texas. I work for AMD, but have also worked for Motorola and Texas Instruments. Always in engineering, and my degree is a BS in Computer Science from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
My dad always played around with cameras as I was growing up. I had a 110 cartridge camera as a youth. My dad explained to me what an SLR was, how it worked, why they were useful. Through college I took pictures of friends and such, but usually with a point-and-shoot 35mm camera. I didn't have the money for anything better.
I got my first SLR, a Canon EOS Elan, when I started working for Motorola. My income took a big boost, I always wanted one, and I was going to the Motorola 300 on the employee package. So I took that as an "excuse" to get a better camera. I took 9 rolls of film of that race. I started using it more, including shots of my Corvette, shots of others racing, etc. For whatever reason the hobby waned on me for a few years. I was even dating a girl once who managed a shop that could print directly from slide (positive paper and chemicals), and I had her do two prints, but still the hobby was dormant. I did learn a lot from her, and she tells me I have a good artistic eye and good composition.
About 9 months ago a friend bought a D10 and the bug hit me again. Finally, an SLR digital camera with enough pixels to make enlargements a possibility. I had a point and shoot Fuji. Nice camera, but I really, really wanted an SLR again. I just don't like point and shoots. So six months ago I bought a Digital Rebel. Since I've bought two other lenses.
I'm back into the sports photography. My site has pictures from the Austin Grand Prix (shifter karts, some of the drivers ex-competitors of mine), and motocross racing. I'm one of two track photographers for advmxpark.com. The track owner is really happy with my work. Trying to get a second track to sign me up. Also did my first commissioned work last night for a custom glass blower who does jewelry. Tough session!
"Felt like a young person of 35 again, standing in the rain, watching a rainbow form over the marsh of the low country, calling it down to reflect for me, I shouted, begged and said, "Come to mother". It did. Dripping wet, I shot my first rainbow in that 20 yrs at about the same spot I shot my last one. The power I felt, I called a Rainbow, and the Rainbow came. Am still excited."
I just love the way you phrased this. It conveys your feelings so well. The image is lovely and the story is great too. Very very nice.
__________________________________________
Thanks Snappy. My daughter majored in English at college, mostly poetry.
Before she became a compulsive mother she was a compulsive poet. She lived on the island with me for her last 3 yrs of school. She said that she
really liked the photograph, with many superlatives, but she said the experience of seeing the rainbow, being there, taking the picture must have been something she could not even imagine. She knows the area well, is in the DC area right now. She doesn't write poetry anymore that I know of, but she understood about the picture.
Someone asked if I had all these places to take pictures, or something. Actually, I have used up two, the marsh being a favored spot, I like it better than the ocean. I really do live in "heaven". I have a love/hate relationship with it. It is home now. Taking these pictures helps me "bond" with my low country life, after growing up in very different surroundings in Michigan and Colorado. I have lived here since 1984, longer than anywhere else in my life. I was so miserable the first year, but I did love the marsh and the Sullivan's Island. I went to school at the Medical University for eight hours a day or more. That was in Charleston and was very stressful. Crossing that marsh meant a lot to me.
It was heaven then, unfortunately in my opinion, this area has grown considerably and has the problems associated with rapid growth beyond the infrastructure. Condominiums have been built on marsh land. All the things one reads about in novels, it is happening here. Heaven has changed a bit, but that picture would have been the same 20 years ago. I photograph what I love, so I am photographing things, areas I have been familiar with since I moved here. They are taken out of context, are somewhat deceptive of how this area looks, but it is how it looks to me. As my other daughter said of the fourth of July pictures, they are so Southern. They are, and I fear it will be gone all too soon.
I did not plan that picture. There were others I planned that I have not taken, and I still might. I was waiting to see some of the ones I planned on here. In another form, of course. One of them was a nature shot, Cypress trees make great reflections. Problem is that they are at a park with a closing time. I have gotten great pictures there, but I don't usually go in the summer. I planned to try that.
Then I planned to go to an antique shop with lots of windows, a huge porch with antiques outside that reflect in the windows, that was my impression when I was there on the fourth of July.
Or I could go downtown to some of the more upscale antique stores, I really like that one photo that Andy posted, as an example, it had a book, or a movie score and a bldg, I think. We do not have large modern buildings, heaven forbid suggesting it to the powers who keep Charleston historic, but I was going to try that to see what I could get, keeping Andy's photo in mind.
I am rambling, and I am not sure what forum I am on, but someone could pick up on the ideas that I might play with, but dare not use, I have an entry. It is of a special place to me. The evening I took it was magical, so it will stay.
I am kind of throwing this stuff out, I might play with doing some of it, but someone else could, too. I like the way Andy's examples played to a central image, or focus point.
Thanks for your kind thoughts conveyed to me about my writing.
Comments
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
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MainFragger
Hi, my name is Brad. I'm 46 and live on a golf course in Edmonton, Alberta with my wife and one 4 legged kid (Buddy the Wonder Dog). And like many on this site, I have "the bug". I've had it a very long time ...
It started when I was a kid carrying the battery pack for my dad's flash that had a guide number of about a bazillion. Ok, maybe not a bazillion, but it could fill a big hall and had a 700 pound lead acid battery pack. Ok, maybe it wasn't 700 pounds, but remember, I was just a little kid! I got my first camera at age six and started snapping. I still have many of the very first B/W photos that I took. As I grew up, I sat through many a saturday night slide show as my dad pulled out tray after tray of newly developed slides .
The bug bit me again when I was in High School. I enrolled in a journalism course and before you knew it, I was the photographer/layout/production guy for the school newspaper. The very first time I put my first exposed piece of paper in the developer tray was MAGIC ... not sure why, but it just was. Those were the days that I always smelled of fixer. My mom hated it, but to me, it was heaven.
One would have thought that the protagonist of our story would have left school, camera in hand and ventured into a budding career in photojournalism. I had actually wanted for years to be a marine biologist. Somehow I ended up getting a degree in music instead. Go figure ...
Well, the years have gone by, I made a career change, got another degree (MBA), and today I'm the Manager of Corporate Planning for a billion dollar Canadian retailer. Then the bug REALLY bit a couple of years ago. The V.P. Franchising got himself a little 2 megapixel Canon Elph and I made the "mistake" of borrowing it for the weekend. I took some pictures of BTWD (Buddy the Wonder Dog) and it was one of those life changing moments ... really. Soon after, I purchased a Canon G2 and Photoshop 6 and I've hardly exposed a roll of film since. Yes, the camera has several limitations compared to my Canon SLR, but digital is SO ....(you fill in YOUR favorite word). But the limitations are soon to be a thing of the past ... my "new baby" is expected any week now ...
I have to say that digital has really improved photography. Sorry film guys. Part of becoming better at any craft is practice. Not too long ago I recently read the acticle for the first fully digital National Geographic pictorial. What blew me away was that the average 2-3 week assignment required the photographer to expose 600-700 ROLLS of 36 exposure film. Now they ONLY shoot the equivalent of 200 rolls. Taking that many pictures, even a guy like me should be able to get ONE good photo in his lifetime! I know from my days of teaching music that very few people are truly blessed with with pure natural ability. If you want to be good, you have to work, and work hard. Shooting digital lets us try and fail, over and over again, with very little cost except our time.
I love this site. It has it all. Technoweenies, professional photographers, and lots of people that just appreciate seeing someone else's photos. It lets us connect as a world.
Thanks for the opportunity to share.
Long live dgrin, long live smugmug.
Brad
www.digismile.ca
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
I got into photography at an early age, about 7 years old. Ever since then,
I can recall always always taking photographs. When I was 12 i started
working for the local camera store. I stocked the shelves and swept the joint.
In a year, I was opening up the store on my own on saturday mornings, and
it was just me and those Kodak Instamatics and about 90 kinds of Kodak film
behind the counter
The owner had one of the only commercial b&w darkrooms in the area,
and he taught me how to develop film, and make prints. A giggle:
I remember often developing rolls of film from one particular guy -
he shot "nudies" (not nudes, in the artistic sense)
I'd get this film developed, the owner would always send me down
the street off on "errands" and "important deliveries" for the
store. Riiiight. as i got wiser, I remembered the guy who brought
in the "special" film. Once, i pocketed it, and developed it the
next morning and made the prints. Hoo-boy did I get an eyeful
and also, the owner was none too pleased, but since I did such a
good job with the prints (even fixed a few) he said he'd forget
about it.
Soon I set up my own darkroom at home, comandeering the basement
bathroom. Mom wasn't too happy about it, but she gave in and even
bought me the expensive Kodak paper and all the chemicals I ever
needed.
I continued there for several years, and then got into other types
of jobs, but i always had my camera with me. I'll never forget
working there.
So, how did you get started with photography? tell us your story,
and share a photo or two if you've got them!
Here's an early self-portrait, with a voigtlander rangefinder 35mm
and a timer. (I was 8 yrs old):
Here's a photo i took in 1971 of my brother after he wrecked his
car.. This one made it into the local newspaper
Here's a portrait of my folks and our dog, taken in 1973 with a
Pentax k1000 35mm slr:
My dad flyfishing in 1975, taken with the same pentax
A river scene, near where i'd go fishing in the adirondacks of ny,
taken with a canon a-1:
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Let's see, my name is Bryan and I take pictures.
I am 31 and live in what Money Magazine considers the best city in the west, Rancho Santa Margarita, California (between LA and San Diego). That means it is manicured, planned and perfect for raising my 2 sons (3 and 10 weeks) with my wife of 6 years.
I started shooting with Dad's A-1 in High school, then took several B&W classes in Jr College. I bought my first Camera then, Canon Rebel. I shot a lot, then the camera got put away. Several years later my sister borrowed and dropped the camera. I fixed the body when our first son was born, and the bug was refound.
My first Digi was a freebie a vendor gave me, Olympus D-520zoom. I was convinced Digital was it, wife was not. Then the Digital Rebel cam out, I bought it, pissed her off. She wanted piles of pics surrounding her, so I bought a printer, she is hooked. Yesterday I ordered a 75-300 lens, to replace the one sister broke years ago.
I work in IT, so I have the computers, now I need to learn Photoshop and get this hobby rolling! If I could only find a business reason to take Photoshop classes, then they would pay for the classes. Hummmm....
That is my story, My boys get most of my exposures right now.
If you're looking for good books for your version of Photoshop, check out anything by Scott Kelby. Great tips, easy to follow, a picture for every step - and at least one book for every 'modern' upgrade of PS.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Wow Andy, youre experience goes waaay back. Even as a kid you had really good skills. Nice story.
But honestly, and with all due respect to your father, someone should have had a word with him about those pants!
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
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Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Finally got around to this...I'm Damon...the ff is Francis Fernandes, my other two names. I'm from Washington, D.C. I'm a teacher by trade. I teach literature. My favorite writers are Faulkner, Joyce, and Morrison. I also love looking at paintings; my favorite artists are Picasso, Pollock, and anyone who painted that Italian stuff in the 14th and 15th centuries. I dabble in religion, though I subscribe to none. My favorite religion is Hinduism because it has a balance of freedom, art, and spirituality that I find appealing. Siva is a pretty cool art subject. I live in China; I teach here. I stopped teaching in the States because the testing system (no child left behind) is stifling to a teacher's creativity. Teaching for the test is not education in my opinion. Thought I'd check out China and found the same thing going on here...oh well. I'm married to a beautiful person named Lida. We have no children. We plan on seeing the world for a while, but we'll probably go back to D.C. to make some money first. We're going to buy a Vespa with a sidecar when we get back...we used to have a new Beetle but gas prices are way too high now...going for the scooter. Photography is my hobby. I have film and digital cameras. I use my Sony 828 most of the time but my Canon AE1 Program is also never idle for long. I speak English, Portuguese, Farsi, and Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese). I can read and write Sanskrit. I learned that when I was studying under a yoga master about 10 years back. I taught yoga for a while outside of Detroit but it's hard making a living in full lotus pose (padmasana). I want to buy a Nikon D1X. Can't afford it...have to save. Can't think of anything else. I love smugmug and digital grin.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Lynn
My personal favorites are photographing gators. That's an adrenaline rush! My last trip up to Paynes Prarie, not too far from you, filled me with enough adrenaline to float me for about a month! Keep shooting, and keep posting.
i'm not going to pollute the board here with some of the outlandish 70s and 80s outfits my family actually wore!
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Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
And why do most people call you Byl? Is there a story there?
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Hey, you all know me, I am ginger, 64 yrs old, live outside of Charleston, SC, married to a school photographer, 4 grown children, with children. Besides, my husband, I live with a Yorkshire Terrier, two Welsh Corgis, and a cat.
They are my unpaid models.
I am sure I have been avidly taking pictures longer than Andy, since I am older. I got my first camera, a Brownie, when I was 8 yrs old. With $1.00 a week allowance, I could buy a roll of film and have it developed, or buy ten comic books. It was probably a 50/50 decision with weather a factor.
I have had a progressive hearing loss all my life. It was undiagnosed until I was 21, but it was probably a contributing factor to my interest in photography. I was born in 1939, it was the late sixties/early seventies that I got a Nikon, a darkroom and started to roll with obsession. I took classes, workshops, was a mother by day, a photographer, also, by day, by night I was a darkroom technician. Love the smell of those chemicals.
Like many artists, I got a college degree in biology, a science. They seem to go together, the arts and the sciences. I didn't get my degree until I was 45, I still had marvelous camera equipment, but no darkroom, and I had let the compulsion go. At one point I worked part time at a small town newspaper as a photographer. My time became theirs, and when I was told I would be working on my daughter's sixteenth birthday, we parted ways.
Can't remember your other questions. I sold my Nikon equipment about 5 yrs ago to pay the mortgage, but my eye was on digital. As soon as possible I got a Canon Elph. This year I bought a dRebel with our tax return. I bought the lenses I wanted and could afford, so I feel back in the groove of photography: real zoom lenses, interchangeable. I believed in digital photography from the beginning. That is important to me, as I was talking up digital, and the company my husband works for still uses film.
I think all photography is a miracle. The first time I developed a black and white print, I likened it to having a baby.........and I knew. My child bearing days were over, but my years of creativity had not ended.
My interests were always in the area of photojournalism. I was really a bit narrow minded about that. I do not use a tripod, not that I won't. I have owned them and rarely used one. I like to hand hold my camera without messing with a lot of equipment. So far I still have not used the flash I bought to use with the Rebel. I have not needed to. It is in my camera bag.
My hearing loss has reached the edges of the profound range. Without my hearing aids, I hear nothing. Using the phone is becoming very difficult. Photography is a pursuit I can still follow, be around people without the emphasis on conversations. With a camera, I will go anywhere, do anything, they are magical machines, don't you think?
ginger
I've been a photographer since I was sixteen (1998). Basically, I'm self-taught: I taught myself manual exposure and how to develop film and prints. When I lived in Cincinnati, I had a fanbase made up of my dad's middle school students, who were very intelligent for their age. Then I moved to San Antonio and had some trouble finding people who were interested in my work. But I eventually found a place where people love what I do. And now I have a Smugmug site, which believe it or not, I plan to make my income from. I have dealth with both the highs of praise and the lows of criticism when it comes to my work. That is why I want to do everything on my terms and just have people buy my prints online. I believe I've been hurt by some people (even family members) who think photography can only been done in certain ways.
Well, I was also wondering about the whole smugmug-profiting scheme/thing, so Ill let you ask the questions; my name around here has become synonymous with "poisoning the well"!
Welcome to Dgrin; heres your helmet!
thanks for sharing your story.
andy
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DewrGleason, repeat after me:
I Don't Make Trouble, Trouble Makes Me
hehe, I made that up after being called, affectionately I insist on believing, a trouble maker. Gosh, I would hate to think Bush and I each said something similar, we don't have the same speechwriters, smile. Enough said, there.
I have had no problems here, yet, don't know when I joined, over a month ago, I am sure. The hard drive available space has physically disappeared with the additions of new photographs, and many attempts at bettering same. I think I have been in 3 Challenges, maybe 4, don't know.
I never thought about a helmet, didn't read the biographies for awhile, when I did, I went YIKES, sure glad I didn't know how good everyone else had been when I joined, never would have entered anything, or said a peep.
I will say that I have had more fun experiences, actually just more experiences, in the short time I have been a member here, then in the last 20 years. And I am 64.
Felt like a young person of 35 again, standing in the rain, watching a rainbow form over the marsh of the low country, calling it down to reflect for me, I shouted, begged and said, "Come to mother". It did. Dripping wet, I shot my first rainbow in that 20 yrs at about the same spot I shot my last one. The power I felt, I called a Rainbow, and the Rainbow came. Am still excited.
ginger
I don't make trouble, trouble makes me.
My name is snappy. I am over 50+. I work as a paralegal. My hobbies are gardening, crafts and photography.
I've always been a creative person. I had a number of my water colors displayed in the "display case" when I was in grade school. My favorite class in highschool was art. I wanted to go to art school after highschool, but my parents said it was frivolous. So, I got a job with the phone company and then got married after a year. (Amazingly, my husband and I are still married after all these years. And, happily, I might add.) I continued working for the phone company as a service rep until I had my first child. I have three kids now, all grown, and my son has twin boys, age 7.
I've always been a snapshot taker since I got my first camera for christmas at age 10. Hence the name (plus my last name). But I got my first "real" camera in the '80s - a Canon AE-1 Program. My daughter was taking a photography class in school and gave me a few pointers. I was selling real estate at the time and I got a wide angle (24mm) lens to take interior shots. After a while I bought a Tamron 35-135mm TeleMacroZoom for it. Macros became my favorite thing (especially flowers). I used the zoom for travel shots when my daughter and I took a trip to England and Paris in 1989. (I dropped my camera on the marble steps of the Louvre in Paris and it survived unscathed.) I love that Tamron lens. It's so versitile. No distortion on the edges when shooting tall buildings etc. either.
I sort of put my camera away after that. The recesion of the early 90"s hit. Real estate was in the tank. Developing film was too expensive. Money was scarce. I couldn't find a job. Law firms were closing all over town, husband wasn't making any money. Bad times. We sold our house and rented for a few years. Economy recovered. I went to college and got a degree in "Health Information Technology". We bought our current house. I worked for a few years in long term care settings. I was director of medical records at a long term care facility for a while. When my husband's office got very busy, he trained me as a paralegal and I went to work for him.
I became pretty good with computers (my creative side again). I researched and installed all the new legal software. We got lots of new tech stuff including a great scanner. BING! I can scan photos. Enter Photoshop Elements. Just started small. No big investment yet. Took out the old camera also bought a small (point & shoot) Pentax IQzoom with a 38-140mm zoom. It's small enough to carry in my pocket. I use the zoom to blur background. I refused to buy a digital camera because the 2 megapixel meant poor quality and the better cameras were too expensive. (my dog knocked over my tripod and jammed my Tamron lens, so I had to pay $350 for a new one in 1995.) I had to keep using what I had. Scanned a lot.
Cleaning dust specks off of scans got really old after a while so I broke down and got a digital last fall. I wanted "small" to take on a 2 week European Cruise. (The Canon and lense was a back breaker on trips.) Got an Olympus C5050z. I'm not real happy with it. Zoom is totally inadequate; view screen is too small and I can't see it in daylight; menus are hard to figure. I can't use it on manual at all. I just take lots of shots and try everything. Haven't really had time to find a place to learn. Users manual is not helpful.
I took over 400 pictures on our Mediterranean trip, found Smugmug in January, led to Digital Grinn in May. Am now hooked again on photography. I forgot everything I knew about cameras, so I'm starting over. I"m sure I'll end up getting Photoshop one day soon. I am also researching digital SLRs. I'll just have to find the money somewhere. Looking forward to learning lots from all of you more experienced folks. Snapapple
Susan Appel Photography My Blog
"Felt like a young person of 35 again, standing in the rain, watching a rainbow form over the marsh of the low country, calling it down to reflect for me, I shouted, begged and said, "Come to mother". It did. Dripping wet, I shot my first rainbow in that 20 yrs at about the same spot I shot my last one. The power I felt, I called a Rainbow, and the Rainbow came. Am still excited."
Susan Appel Photography My Blog
Hi, I'm Bill Jurasz. I recently started Mercury Photography as a means of trying out the waters of commercial photography. I got the name from the god of speed, Mercury, and because I like things that move fast. Being an ex Corvette and shifter kart racer, I think the name fits.
I'm 37, I live in Austin, Texas. I work for AMD, but have also worked for Motorola and Texas Instruments. Always in engineering, and my degree is a BS in Computer Science from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
My dad always played around with cameras as I was growing up. I had a 110 cartridge camera as a youth. My dad explained to me what an SLR was, how it worked, why they were useful. Through college I took pictures of friends and such, but usually with a point-and-shoot 35mm camera. I didn't have the money for anything better.
I got my first SLR, a Canon EOS Elan, when I started working for Motorola. My income took a big boost, I always wanted one, and I was going to the Motorola 300 on the employee package. So I took that as an "excuse" to get a better camera. I took 9 rolls of film of that race. I started using it more, including shots of my Corvette, shots of others racing, etc. For whatever reason the hobby waned on me for a few years. I was even dating a girl once who managed a shop that could print directly from slide (positive paper and chemicals), and I had her do two prints, but still the hobby was dormant. I did learn a lot from her, and she tells me I have a good artistic eye and good composition.
About 9 months ago a friend bought a D10 and the bug hit me again. Finally, an SLR digital camera with enough pixels to make enlargements a possibility. I had a point and shoot Fuji. Nice camera, but I really, really wanted an SLR again. I just don't like point and shoots. So six months ago I bought a Digital Rebel. Since I've bought two other lenses.
I'm back into the sports photography. My site has pictures from the Austin Grand Prix (shifter karts, some of the drivers ex-competitors of mine), and motocross racing. I'm one of two track photographers for advmxpark.com. The track owner is really happy with my work. Trying to get a second track to sign me up. Also did my first commissioned work last night for a custom glass blower who does jewelry. Tough session!
Thanks for listening.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu