Hey All,

I'm John - 21yr old New York City native, currently studying for a BA in Photography at Fordham University [Lincoln Center.] I'm particularly active in the "downtown scene," if you care to acknowledge that as being anything you care for, but it certainly shines through in my photographs, and my peer group is my main source of inspiration. I've held jobs at W Magazine, Picture Magazine, and sit as a resident of The Still House Group.

I tend to take photography, and all art for that matter, very seriously. So if my critiques ever come across as "too tough," that's "too bad."

I have my share of experience in the digital realm, having shot with multiple digital kits for jobs/work, but my own work is done primarily in film. I shoot with a Contax G2, a Nikon FE, Yashica T4, Ricoh GR1, Mamiya 7, and Hasselblad 500C/M. But my primary, every-day kit would be my trusty G2.

Look forward to seeing good work from everyone on here, and at the very least, the exciting progression of each contributing poster.

bump for more confessionals

Good day all... as some of you may know, my name is Damon. I am a 35 year old former Marine who is strating his life over again in New Baltimore, VA and working in DC. I am an avid outdoors enthusiast and being here is making my life that much more complete. I am a total photo junkie and you may be able to tell, I love B&W. I will use any excuse to avoid color unless the situation dictates otherwise. I am a hack, as I have no formal training and a P&S for now (buying a Nikon D60 today I hope).

I hope to be able to put my creativity to use here and start posting some higher quality work.

OK...

My name's Tolga. I am 43. I moved to the States, to NC specifically, in December 1988 (I was on flight 103 from London to New York, exactly one week before the bombing over Lockerbie :shudder: ). Got my MS in Management from NCSU, and moved up to NJ to be near my inlaws. (Although, it's been surprisingly good for the most part).

I have 4 sons, been happily married for 13 years. Live and work in Medford NJ, a smallish town in the Philly suburbs.

I don't have any photography training, and for me, it's a hobby and a way to document the progress of lives of me and the others in my life. I cannot critique much due to lack of technical expertise, but I can give you a subjective, layman's critique, if you will, on your work.

I own a mega zoom Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3, and a smaller p&s, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33. I cannot justify the expense of a DSLR now, but maybe eventually.

OK - here goes:
Hi ! My name is Sujatha Mizar (32 years old) and I'm a dSLR newbie - just bought my Nikon D300 in March, 2008. I wasn't very creative with my NSOP screename...Hence "smizar" YOU GUYS ROCK!!!! I am constantly amazed by the beautiful photos I see in this group. A ceaseless source of motivation for me. Also, needless to say - I am yet another NSOP addict in the making I was born in South India (Mangalore, Karnataka) and moved to the US for graduate studies (Worcester Polytechnic Institute - MS in Electrical Engineering with a specialization inComputer and Communication Networks) and have lived/worked in the Boston area for the last 9 years.

By day I am a Software Engineer and because of a long workday don't really have time to indulge in hobbies . On weekends, I enjoy hiking, cycling, swimming, reading and cooking besides photography.

Currently my critique style is inadequate me thinks I have yet to learn how to critique usefully and constructively. Am working on it...

Originally Posted by smizar

Currently my critique style is inadequate me thinks I have yet to learn how to critique usefully and constructively. Am working on it...

Keep critiquing as it will help you notice things differently when taking your own images.

johnnywas = irony

Hi I am Pol, 20 years old

I am in the process of gettig my BA in kinesiology

I only recently started actually trying photography, It was always interesting to me, but i never really got into it until now. Im am half way through my first photography class, but i have taken many art classes, freehand, paint, etc. Which really doesnt give ma an advantage other than ive been screamed at to fill the canvas and to use better angles to make my peice be more interesting. I will do my best to make suggestions, i may be wrong a times, but i am still learning and i guess i can fill the part of what a person that doesnt know allot about photography thinks ha.

Ok, I'll contribute. I'm not sure I've been here long enough to say that I "missed" this thread, but this is the first time I've seen it.

I'm jerm, established 1970. I never went to college, but I think I'm doing ok without.

I started shooting in high school, mostly black and white film that I would process myself. I later worked as a photographer for about ten years, shooting action sports like skiing and snowboarding, rafting and kayaking, rock climbing, base jumping, and anything else we could find that people were willing to pay for. I've shot thousands and thousands of rolls of film, and I can't even count how many days I spent in a darkroom.

After leaving that position, it was several years before I touched an SLR again. When I finally jumped in and bought a new DSLR, I immediately realized that shooting action sports is as easy as falling off a bike for me. Other types of photography, however, were not as natural for me at first but I've since gained some ground in that area. I still struggle with some things, but I'm learning all the time.

I'll try to never be harsh or mean when critique your photos, but feel free to tell me to **** off if you disagree or dislike my opinions or suggestions.

My name is Jared...

Born in Jersey on a snow day in '82...
I have also lived in South Carolina and Colorado, and currently live in Vermont...

Highschool educated... Real World re-educated.

Have been clicking on and off since I was in middle school, took Photo all 4 freshman years in High School ...

Didnt take it terribly serious until about a year ago... I am here to learn

so, here I stand before you all. A married man, father of one, brother to none and,
one fiercly loyal friend...

Originally Posted by By Chance

i have taken many art classes, freehand, paint, etc. Which really doesnt give ma an advantage other than ive been screamed at to fill the canvas and to use better angles to make my peice be more interesting.

pol, i'll bet this ends up helping you a lot more than you think it will.

composing the photo is (ime) the single hardest part of what we're doing; all other choices are mere byproducts and consequences of the composition.

good point.

I never did one of these either.

I'm Scott, 33, software engineer.
I have very little formal training in photography. I remember using pinhole cameras in 6th grade and developing our own photos. The smell never really leaves you.

Took a brief community college class with my dad when I was in highschool and shortly thereafter bought a minolta maxium 7000 from a neighbor. Fell out of the habit in college when my minolta stopped working (frozen shutter ).

Got back into photography about 2 years ago when I realized how cheap digital had become. Picked up a D40 on a recommendation of a friend. Ended up upgrading to a D300 (Hi Markitos!) in July and have been going full bore ever since. Have recently gotten into the strobist thing. Have never been paid or published but hope to some day make this expensive hobby pay partially for itself.

Hello, My name is Ken. Fiddling with imagery can make me laugh... life's simple pleasures. That why I love playing with photoshop so much.
I carry a camera around just about everyday, but might take a shot like once a month <-- weird. I need to get out and shoot more, I guess.

Stefan, 35 and married with one boy and one girl.
BS in Criminology and am currently an Active Duty Army Infantry Officer.
I was never much into pictures untill I went to Iraq with a little Point and Shoot and realized what I was missing picture wise! I think the pictures gave me the opportunity to tell the story of myself and the people I met in Iraq and from that I started to gain interest in photography.

and now here I am, trying to learn!

Aaron Berg, 24. I have a degree in Bio from WVU, and currently in medical school at WVU (class of 2011). I am now doing a Post-Sophomore Fellowship in pathology, where I basically act as a first year pathology resident. I really don't have any formal photography background.

I've taken many pictures with my mom's old film SLR. In 2003, I started using my brother's old Canon AE-1. When I took it to Peru, I realized how much I liked photography. I continued using film until the summer of 2004, when I bought my friend's used Canon 300D that I used to until this March when I got my 30D.

Photography is still just a hobby, and due to school, I lack the money to get the gear I want (stupid debt). haha

ben wa?

how did i know ken would come up with ben wa balls....

im tyler sladen
i think im the youngest on here
im only 16
i used to live in MA
now i live here in jersey
i have 4 sisters all younger i like action shots bmx,skateboarding, skim and surf soon to come this summer shooting for skim life but i do try portrait and landscape work not so much luck i started shooting photos when i was like 14 but never got big into it i had a canon rebel xt at first but it was stolen and i droped the idea for awhile untill reccently i was always picking up bits and pieces never really getting to do much of my own work josh huston taught me all of the basics i know for shooting im entirleey self taught on photoshop and video editing as for photos i purchased a nikon d50 off craigs list a little over a month ago and the only feedback i get is you guys take note i havnt been doing anyof this long at all

thats all i got

I guess I never really posted here! Um.. Elisa, I'm 28, I live in a tiny mountain town in New Mexico and work at a giant national lab as an engineer. I skate rollerderby and shoot it as well .. lately I find that the challenging of capturing sports in motion under challenging conditions to be a lot of fun! (well, when I get it right) but traditionally I've been more of into landscapes, nature, and abstractions of angles and light. I started with a camera in high school, an antique Miranda (which is still going strong) and fell in love with B&W and darkroom processing. In college I didn't grow at all as a photographer, no classes offered and no time.. I did take over as the yearbook photography editor my senior year though so I could have my own personal darkroom and budget and fill the yearbook with my shots In retrospect I wish I had been able to take better advantage of that..

I sort of stopped shooting anything seriously for a while, though I did get like an original edition nikon coolpix in 03 or so that I took *everywhere* and became acquainted with having to PS images after the fact to really bring them out. Also essentially completely stopped shooting film, or learning. (laaaazy) In 2007 I finally got myself a "real" camera, the 20D which I took a lot of shots with, mostly nature and hikes and that sort of thing, and asked my at-the-time bf tons of questions (he was film, Pentax, MF kinda guy). Then about a year ago I really got seized with an obsession and started pushing my own boundaries and learning what all the settings meant and how to use them to my advantage. I think in the few months I've had the 40D I've got almost as many shots on it as with 2 years of the 20D. I love seeing what other people do, it inspires me to try and recreate something on my own.

Anyway, that's me. I'm opinionated with no formal training at all, isn't that always the best

Newcomer here, but I have to say hi and introduce myself, although I don't think I will be able to offer much of an advice....at least a serious one....yet

Nikos 38 and growing, from Athens, Greece, married, two kids, expecting another one in a couple of months.

I have a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Neural Networks and a PhD in Elementary Particle Physics. I have worked at CERN, Geneva and a Nuclear Centre in Greece. About 7 year ago, and after pursuing a position at a University for much too long, I decided to completely switch career path. Sooooo, I ended up being an IT Consultant for a Belgium-based IT company.

Concerning photography, my father was a keen photographer and painter, but not by profession. Unfortunately, I am colorblind (in specific i have a deuteranomaly or dichromacy, if I am writing it correctly) so I don't have the painting skills he had. And I am surely trying with photography. I use an SLR (and DSLR lately) for about 10 years, but only the latest 2 I take it quite seriously for an amateur.

So, that's about it.....

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I kind of stuck a bit longer on Jacobsen's photos on POTN, and followed here when I found out that he "owns the place".... :-)

Hi, my real name is Aaron Christoferson.

I am 17, and have been in photography for about a year now. I have never went to any school for photography, I just ''DID''. I love it, and wouldn't mind if it became my career.

As to critique, give me the best you have.....pleeeaaase.

Just ran across this thread, so here I am.

I'm 31 soon to be 32, never wed & no kids. I grew up a Navy brat so I've lived alot of places. As for work, I'm going on 10 years with the same company. That must be why I'm really into photography, takes my mind away from the exciting world of banking.

I'm a very quirky and open minded person. I'm here to have fun and learn.... it's been a blast so far =)

Hello. My name is Mick. I'm 28 and married. I've lived most of my life in the state of Georgia with a 2.5year stint in Milwaukee. I have been interested in photography since I was young. My dad taught me how to use his old manual Minolta and I was hooked.

After I moved to Milwaukee back in 2001, my love for photography was refreshed when I started helping my girlfriend (now ex) with her various photo projects for school. Shortly thereafter, I bought my Elan 7e and have been using it ever since.

A little over three years ago I started shooting sports portraits and action for my father in law's business as a side job and an excuse to spend more time with my girlfriend (now wife). I finally gained a bit of experience with digital photography while shooting with both Canon 30D and 20D and a variety of lenses.

I recently had the opportunity to start my own photography business and picked up a Canon 50D and a few more lenses. I am here to learn. I greatly appreciate the knowledge that I've found on this forum and hope that I can add to it with my own experience.

Thank you, Ben, for telling me about this forum!

I guess if I'm gonna play I'd better pay.

I'm Brian. I'm 35, married, 4 kids ranging from 16 years old to 10 months old, living in Phoenix. I've been into photography off and on since my sophomore year in high school when I took an elective photography class. My folks bought me a Pentax K1000 which is still happily collecting dust on my bookshelf. My wife had a really nice Minolta film rig with several lenses and we used to go out and shoot when we had spare weekends during college. I learned a lot about metering and lighting in general chasing deer through the forest in Northern AZ, and those night skies are probably what got me hooked on low light and night photography. My father-in-law has a darkroom capable of both b/w and color processing, and I've got some experience doing both types. While we hardly ever use it anymore, it's a neat skill to practice on rainy days, and the kids like to play with the enlargers and b/w paper.

I'm almost completely self-taught, and consider any day I learn something new or improve my skills to be a good day. While I don't critique often, I do try my hardest to provide not only constructive feedback, but also to point out things that have gone right in people's work as well.

Hello. I'm Keith Casey and I hardly ever read stickies at the top of forums.

Married, no kids, and grew up in Warren RI, only 5 miles away from where I live now in MA. Skipping high-school. Doesn't matter. When I was 21/22, I travelled the states and spent 5.5 months in Europe as a performer (sing/dance) in the non-profit group Up With People. That's when I finally figured out that what I "knew", was totally and completely different than how the world functions. Growing up a Rhode Islander certainly didn't help things.

After I got back, I figured out what I wanted to do with my life, got my BS in Telecommunications (Video/Radio production), found my mate, and also found out about, and started participating in autocross (autox) in the mid/late 90s. Getting enough seat time, I started to get better. Many now consider me a good autoxer and I've won some national titles and many trophies competing on the national level.

I just turned 40 this year and have been ebbing and flowing into and out of photography since a kid shooting film. Having a video degree and expertise, photography is a natural exentsion to what I do for a living, and a fun hobby. No expert in photography by any means, but don't really push myself that far like I do with video work either.

And really, I haven't produced any video work outside of my real job in a long time, so photography fills that void for the time being (besides spending $$ on auto-x and photo gear takes away from my home video budget... becuase if I were going to do it, my cost of entry wouldn't be cheap for what I want to do.)

Even at 40, I'm in a constant mode of learning. New software, new ideas, new concepts. Never give up learning. You can never know everything about anything.

I'm honest, to the point and very, very direct. I say what I think, and what I mean. Political correctedness does not exist. Don't take whatever I say personally. Ever. It's not. Especially on the internet.

--kC

Originally Posted by nukaidee

Hi, I'm Kai, early 20's (single and looking!) =P

I've got a business degree, and dabble in just about anything.. cooking, sewing, mechanics, carpentry, and of course, photography! Yes, I am a guy if anyone is wondering. I just happened to go over a few thousand family pictures and decided I just didn't like how they looked! I loved the memories, but the photos didn't do it any justice so I went out on a self improvement / web self learning.

Bought my first DSLR 30D and using my dad's old EF lenses and now am just shooting for fun, mainly people at any event I happen to be attending. I appreciate any kind of feedback!

Welcome! Just remember if you want constructive feedback, post in the Critique section.

which forum did you find us from?

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

which forum did you find us from?

vwvortex.com photography section.

I'm Tom, 28, from PA.
I have degree in communication, with emphasis for broadcast.

I'm a TV photojournalist, which I've been doing for over 10 years. I primarily work on covering sports in the Mid-Atlantic region, and have been nominated for Emmy awards, and have won numerous accolades from the Associated Press for my work.

Video is my strongest suit, but I've also done still work for numerous publications and professional sports teams in my spare time.
I also shoot photos on occasion for my station's website.

I'm also a Subaru enthusiast... And heard of this site from Armin.
Also, (added later) I'm sort of an audio geek, too.

For you gearheads, I'm a Nikon guy, but shoot all of my video with an Ikegami...
Looking forward to helping out with the discussion- particularly helping out in the video section!

Originally Posted by Tylersladen

im tyler sladen
i think im the youngest on here
im only 16
i used to live in MA
now i live here in jersey
i have 4 sisters all younger i like action shots bmx,skateboarding, skim and surf soon to come this summer shooting for skim life but i do try portrait and landscape work not so much luck i started shooting photos when i was like 14 but never got big into it i had a canon rebel xt at first but it was stolen and i droped the idea for awhile untill reccently i was always picking up bits and pieces never really getting to do much of my own work josh huston taught me all of the basics i know for shooting im entirleey self taught on photoshop and video editing as for photos i purchased a nikon d50 off craigs list a little over a month ago and the only feedback i get is you guys take note i havnt been doing anyof this long at all

thats all i got

LOL

Originally Posted by danm

Dan- 24

i have recently discovered that i like taking pictures. the post your pictures thread on NASIOC has helped to inspire me to try taking great pictures for my self. I bought a big zoom p&s from kodak and got some good pics but wanted chrisper/sharper pictures. so i started researching and found out about DSLR. i have an XTi on order and hope to turn an interest into a passion.

i hope to learn alot about photography here, hopefully meet some local people to shoot with and get a lot of good critiques of my pics.

wow its been a while now, upgraded to a 5dii over a year ago and moved into the world of strobes. that last sentence still holds true. i guess i could a decent example of what this forum can provide someone. if you look at my first few pics compared to me last few.