Photography
I got into photography with a point and shoot digital camera sometime around
2000. I had no idea about the fundamentals, rules of
composition, etc., but I was having a great deal of fun snapping shots. Nature
was (and still is) my favorite subject - the more colorful the better! It's said
that there are more sunrise/sunset photos than there are people, and maybe it's true,
but that doesn't lessen the enjoyment of sitting on a hillside trying to capture
those amazing colors.
In 2005 I got my first dSLR, the Nikon D70. This camera opened up a new world
to explore and pushed me into learning the fundamentals. Since then I've upgraded
through the Nikon system to a D80 and then on to the D700 with each jump opening up
new techniques to learn. Now I have super-close macro systems, complex lighting systems,
sound triggers for high speed stuff, and a slew of other tricks, but what I still
enjoy most is sitting on that hillside waiting for the sun to do its thing.
Current Interests
- Kids in the Valley, Adventuring! - I volunteer
to shoot the monthly events whether it be hiking, a river cleanup, or a rainy day in
the garden.
- Panaramio - Using GPS
information to 'geotag' the photos you take, you can upload them to Panaramio and see them on
the map. Many online services do this these days, but the ones on Panaramio eventually wind up
being included in Google Maps.
- Stock Photography - Selling pictures to designers to use in magazines, ads, websites,
and anywhere else they may need an image but don't want to go through the trouble of
having it taken.
- Flickr - A great place for sharing
images with friends and getting feedback from great photographers.
Hand-crafted Pens
Using a wood lathe, we make custom pens out of various exotic materials from 50,000 year old wood
to stone compressed sunflower seeds. I really enjoy pen making because it's an exercise in precision
from beginning to end. There's little chance of hiding a mistake so it's a great feeling to make it
all the way through the process ending up with a flawless pen. As one of
the most functional forms of art they make great personalized gifts that people will actually use.