Contributor Biographies

Warren T.'s Intro:


Photo by Dennis Fong, proving that it IS possible to do a portrait with a wide angle.

My first camera was a Kodak 124 Instamatic. It used 126 film cartridges and flashcubes. I think I was about 9 or 10 years old. I joined the Photography Club at Marina Jr. High School where I learned the basics from shooting with a roll film, box camera, to developing the film, and printing the pictures. My first serious camera was a Nikkormat (by Nikon) FTn with a 50mm f1.4 lens. In high school, I shot yearbook pictures, and used a Nikon F2 with various lenses. I set up a portable photo lab in the bathroom of my parents' house where I developed B&W film and made enlargments with my a Durst, then later a Bogen enlarger. I moved onto medium format, first using a twin lens Yashicamat 124G, then moved onto a Hasselblad 500CM that I still have today.In the mid-80's, I apprenticed for a local wedding photographer for 3 years. I learned the different phases of the wedding photography business, and I was prepared to take over the business when my mentor retired. Unfortunately for him, I made a major decision at the time NOT to continue in thephotography business, but rather to devote my time and energy towards furthering my computer consulting business which was just taking off at that time. Fast forward to 2004, I'm still working in the computer industry, and I'm still into photography. I'm currently shooting about 90 to 95% digital with my Nikon D100, but as you can see from my first few posts to FPCF, I still dabble in film now and then. I am still learning new things, and as you can tell, photography is deeply ingrained in me from an early age. It's what I would be doing if I didn't already have so much invested in my computer career. In fact, after I retire from computers, I may get into the photography business in one aspect or another. I have no allusions though, I know that photography is a very tough business to make a living especially in today's world. Right now, I just want to explore and share the hobby more, which is part of what prompted me to start this photoblog. Sorry for being so long winded, but that's my story, what's yours?

--Warren

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Steve R.'s Intro:

I first met Steve through our mutual interest in cameras of the former Soviet Union. We are both members of a Russian camera forum. Through that forum, I found Steve's photoblog, and I was very impressed by Steve's work, so I invited him to join our group. I'm happy that he agreed.

Steve posted an intro article to FPCF here.

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Dolph's Intro:

(Dolph has not written his intro, but I do have a picture of him)

Proof that Dolph likes sushi:


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Lea's Intro/Bio:

Hi, I'm Lea and I am totally an amateur photographer. It seems to be quite fun! My little digital camera (Canon PowerShot SD750) has carved out a little place in my heart, and replaced my first love, the SD400 :) Also using an Olympus E-510 now, it's small enough to tag along on most photo opp treks!

My approach to taking photos so far has been, if I like it, I'm going to take a picture of it!

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Dan in Marin's Intro/Bio

I was born and raised in SF in the 50s and 60s. My first experience with photography was a summer school photo class at Parkside Grammar. We built a pin hole and shot and developed some local neighborhood scenes. My best friend was more heavily involved, and was able to afford first a Nikkormat , which he eventually sold to me and then a Hasselblad. We were both 14 and armed with these ventured throughout the city shooting anything that intrigued us. Unfortunately, most of this work was lost through time, but the urge to capture life on film and now digitally was instilled in me. Our technique at the time was to shoot all of our film and something good was bound to result. I am pretty much into the same technique and digital has allowed me to practice this in a less expensive way.
I have been using a Digital SLR now for about three years (Canon 5D MK I) and continue to practice and try to capture what I see, sometimes it works and obviously most of the time "ack".
I currently, work in SF and live in West Marin so I shoot a lot of landscapes and macro flowers. I am just retiring from a 35 year career in horticulture/arboriculture and hope to start a BFA or MFA program in photography. Although, I consider myself strictly an amateur, I am enthusiastic and hope to hone my skills. Hopefully, by sharing some of my shots I can learn from you all. I met Warren through his wife Gail (we work together) and look forward to posting some of my work. I truly appreciate the broad spectrum of great work posted on the forum.

Dan

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Joe's Bio:

Hi, my name is Joe Rizzuto and it's great to be here!

I'd like to thank Warren for the invite to join in with you other shooters and be a part of something bigger than just myself shooting on my own. A little about myself...i just turned 60 a few weeks ago and i am still adjusting to my 'senior' status. I picked up a camera when in my twenties and been photographing the world around me ever since. For most of that time i have been shooting black and white with rangefinder cameras but, really, I have tried many different camera and film types. A few years ago I starting using a digital rangefinder, an RD1, and have not looked back. This camera was made for me and I have embraced the digital revolution. I also moderate an internet photo forum, rangefinderforum.com and have done so since it's inception. I live in western Canada, Edmonton, Alberta but was born and lived in New York City for the first 21 years of my life. I look forward to getting to know the other members of this group and sharing some of my photos.

Joe Rizzuto

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Carl's Bio:

I am 31 years old and don’t have the exciting photography backgrounds that most people seem to have in their BIO’s or that I have met recently. Since I tend to overcomplicate answers I will spare you with the mini stories for now and stick to the most recent facts. I bought a Coolpix camera in 05 to shoot roofing photos for project and insurance inspection reports. I didn’t just shoot pictures of the roofing, I shot pictures of the roofing, the view from the roof, the guys working on the projects, the flowers, trees, coconuts, dew, every event I went to all the way to the irritated seniors and homeowners at 6:30Am…. ECT. In fact ECT, turned into 9,000 photos real quick. Which, I lost all of when my hard drive crashed in Houston TX 3 ½ years ago. Oh yea, and my camera broke the day after my hard drive crashed. Some time went by and I began shooting with my I-phone. Yes, I said my I-Phone. I’ll let you stop giggling under your breath for a moment. Most of my friends seem to have at least one photo on their wall’s that I have shot at one time or another. Which, brings me to now. I started taking pictures of products a friend wanted to sell online. The photos she had were terrible. So I offered to help. 3 days later and 20 hours into it after staging and hitting each product she had at every camera angle, pulling every object that produced light and staging each lamp and bulb in every possible manor playing with the shadows till I was verbally criticizing them for not doing as they were told……… I realized……. I really really enjoy this!! Why was I shooting with my phone? Why was I torturing myself with a dream I loved that was completely within my grasp? Well, after 6 weeks of intense reading, you tube videos and a little encouragement from Dolph that the Nikon D7000 was a good camera. I pulled the trigger. I bought the camera on November 16^th 2012. I did some shooting on Thanksgiving and am very happy with my first day of real shooting. I feel invigorated and lucky to be finally learning something I have always had a love for. I am happy to have a group to look for constructive criticism, knowledge and good old fashion fun. So much for the short Bio…….. But I suppose that too plays a part into my introduction.

Thanks again for having an in-experienced, long winded, colorful soul that was most likely knee high to a duck when you discovered Fuji was making camera’s you could throw away after using. =)

Carl Dawson

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Lena's Bio:

I live in San Francisco. I liked to take pictures when I was a teenager. At the time, I didn’t think that I would someday be a serious photographer. I took pictures for fun, and of friends to remember them. Over the years, I found that I became more and more interested in photography and that it would be an important part of my future. After I retired 3 years ago, I decided to join a photography club to learn more about technique from some highly skilled photographers, and they inspired me deeply.

I love photography because even though the world is constantly changing, a picture can capture a feeling, a moment, or a scene forever... I see it in my daily world, I love it. I prefer to take scenery and portraits. I use a Nikon D90 with two Nikkor zoom lenses: 18-200mm and 70-300mm, and also a Canon S100 P&S.

I have a photoblog on Aminus3 (www.lenasworldvision.aminus3.com), and I am also on Facebook.

I have known Warren since 2007 from our weekly Tai Chi class at Golden Gate Park.

Lena

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Keshav's Bio:

I'm a 21-year-old Economics student. I grew up in New Delhi, India and I go back at least once a year and just adore shooting in India. 

My interest in photography really started with an fascination with old cameras. My grandfather bought me an old medium-format Agfa camera when I was 9 years old - I was an early gear-head. It had bellows that folded into the camera body and I just thought it was the coolest thing. Nokia camera phones and early Nikon 5MP Coolpix cameras from the last decade, were my tools till I was 16. 

Around that time, I used a borrowed film Nikon F50 on a trip to New York and burned through about 35 roles of film over a week. That really changed the way I engaged with photography and I knew that I wanted to take it on more seriously. I'd have my film developed at CVS and Walgreens. It was the most magical experience to see pictures I'd taken 2-3 days ago and discovering things in them that I hadn't noticed while taking the photo. I'm planning on rescanning them to high-res for my Tumblr page soon. 

I used a Nikon D90 for about 4 years as my main camera before picking up the Fujifilm X100s last November - it has completely changed the way I shoot. There's a lot more going up to people to ask for permission as opposed to simply zooming in on faces or cropping during post-processing. It has also forced me to use manual controls which I found hard to do on the DSLR. Most recently I've gotten re-involved with film photography and I saved to buy an old Leica M6 and a couple lenses (one of them from our very own Warren). Warren was also kind enough to give me his wonderful FED3 which is a pleasure to shoot with.

I have my own tumblr here and encourage you to check it out and leave critique and feedback.

 

Keshav