i'm new to NPN, but have been involved with photography on and off for a bit over 20 years, since i got my first "serious" camera, a Pentax ME Super. back in those days, i shot mostly things like airshows, car rallies, and the odd snapshot of family and friends, though i did work for a summer as a freelance photographer for a whitewater rafting company up in B.C.
i started shooting digital about 3 years ago, with a small pocket point-n-shoot which i still have, though it's seldom used. after a few months, the limitations of the camera became obvious, but i was hooked. i bought a "superzoom", a Panasonic FZ20, which kept me occupied and amused for a bit over a year before it, too, became too limiting. i still use from time to time as a second camera or as a backup to my newly acquired Canon 30D. i don't have a lot of lenses for it; i'm not a collector, i just get what i need to do the job at hand. i currently have only two - a Tamron SP24-135 (possibly the most underrated lens out there), and a Sigma EX 80-400 with image stabilization. those two cover most of what i need, though for some things, even the 400mm (640mm on my 1.6x body) is sometimes not enough.
i currently live in Kirkland, across Lake Washington from Seattle. it's too crowded, traffic sucks, taxes are outlandish and home prices worse, and the leftist politics here drive me nuts some days, but it's close to my job, and since i haven't yet managed to make photography pay the bills, i gotta stick with the daily grind. i'm 55, divorced, with two kids at home, ages 16 and 23, who sometimes think i'm on crack, but are mainly supportive of my near-obsessive focus on photography. the main thing i like about Washington is that within a 3-hour drive of my home, i can be in almost any kind of environment you can name... desert or rainforest, mountains or seashore. there are almost limitless photo ops here, for those willing to pay for the gas to get to them.
i'm not sure i'd ever want - or be able - to make a living at this, but i would like to turn it into a paying proposition at some point soon - if nothing else, to pay for that new camera! it's been years since i made any real money at it, but some of my work in the last year or so has been chosen for motivational posters for a college in Ireland, for publication in a calendar produced by the Bellevue Botanical Garden (which will be available this fall), and one of my photos has been selected to appear in the reader photos" page of National Geographic magazine! i'm also working on a deal with a local musician who wants to use one of my images as the cover photo for a CD he plans to release later this year.
so.. that's me in a nutshell. i'm looking forward to sharing and learning with the others here at NPN...
thanks for the welcome, guys... i've posted some shots over on the main NPN forums, in the avian, macro, and earth and sky categories... take a look there for now, i'll be posting some here a bit later...
Discussion
3 repliesi started shooting digital about 3 years ago, with a small pocket point-n-shoot which i still have, though it's seldom used. after a few months, the limitations of the camera became obvious, but i was hooked. i bought a "superzoom", a Panasonic FZ20, which kept me occupied and amused for a bit over a year before it, too, became too limiting. i still use from time to time as a second camera or as a backup to my newly acquired Canon 30D. i don't have a lot of lenses for it; i'm not a collector, i just get what i need to do the job at hand. i currently have only two - a Tamron SP24-135 (possibly the most underrated lens out there), and a Sigma EX 80-400 with image stabilization. those two cover most of what i need, though for some things, even the 400mm (640mm on my 1.6x body) is sometimes not enough.
i currently live in Kirkland, across Lake Washington from Seattle. it's too crowded, traffic sucks, taxes are outlandish and home prices worse, and the leftist politics here drive me nuts some days, but it's close to my job, and since i haven't yet managed to make photography pay the bills, i gotta stick with the daily grind. i'm 55, divorced, with two kids at home, ages 16 and 23, who sometimes think i'm on crack, but are mainly supportive of my near-obsessive focus on photography. the main thing i like about Washington is that within a 3-hour drive of my home, i can be in almost any kind of environment you can name... desert or rainforest, mountains or seashore. there are almost limitless photo ops here, for those willing to pay for the gas to get to them.
i'm not sure i'd ever want - or be able - to make a living at this, but i would like to turn it into a paying proposition at some point soon - if nothing else, to pay for that new camera!
so.. that's me in a nutshell. i'm looking forward to sharing and learning with the others here at NPN...
cheers!
Rocky
cheers!
Rocky