Welcome everyone to the DU photography group.

[Longgrain]

Since this group was my little pet project, let me be the first to welcome everyone (I'm guessing I'm also the first to join.)

Thanks to all who helped make this group a reality:hi: .

I hope to get the ball rolling soon, though I probably won't have time to post pictures myself for a few days.

Got to go spread the word now...

Have fun, and once again thanks! :thumbsup:

Longgrain

[Philostopher]

1. Okay -- I'll post in here, just to get the ball rolling.

I'm a long-time amateur shutterbug. I started out as most people my age likely did -- with 110 and 120 Kodak cameras. Trying to get decent pictures out of them almost frustrated me to the point I didn't keep trying.

But my nearest-aged first cousin, who lived next door, bought an early-80s Canon SLR camera when I was in junior high, and got very interested in photography. He was the closest member of the family to me, at the time, we hung around together sometimes and I picked up a lot just being around him and hearing him talk. My folks wouldn't buy me a decent camera -- it's an expensive hobby for a teenager, or at least looks like one from outside it, so they didn't want to get into it.

I didn't, in all honesty, get into 'photography for photography's sake' until about 1995, when I was separated from my first husband and took a year-end bonus from my job to buy a used Nikon FG SLR at a camera shop. One of my cousin's friends from high school and I used to do things together sometimes, and he encouraged me to start hobby photography. He thought I had a halfway decent eye for it.

Once I learned how to 'play' with the camera, I was hooked.

A few years ago, my mother bought my second hubby and me a digital camera for Christmas. We replaced it this summer with a more current model -- they're both Olympus Camedia models -- and we play around with that one, too.

I'll go in and root around in my digital and scanned photos at some point, here, and upload some to Photobucket -- most of what I've got in there right now are shots of the menagerie, but those mostly aren't 'show off' shots as far as technique goes.

Anyway -- thanks for getting the group, and I hope to find time to participate some!

[Longgrain]

3. I'm relatively new to the digital age...

Still playing around with up loading pictures to the net. Part of the reason I started this group was to get some advice and experience doing things like that.

I'm all digital now, I'm using an Olympus c-5ooo, and so far I've found it pretty easy to use.

For years, I was using a sturdy old Pentax K1000, had it since I was in college. Took it everywhere with me for ten years before it finally broke, forcing me to go all digital.

If I could afford it, and had the time, I'd love to get back into the dark room though.

[Philostopher]

5. We've got a C-5060.

I liked the Olympus interface.

I took a darkroom class a few years ago, and was able to do pretty well with it, but I don't have room here to set one up at this point. Got all the equipment piled up in a corner of the laundry room, but we could never figure out a way to set things up so it would work well.

One of these days ... I guess.

[Pert_UK]

2. Nice work...

I'm in....Spent last year in China and travelling around Australia so will try to stick a few nice images I grabbed with a cheap digital while moving around the place.

Here's my favourite of the whole trip, a view from a hillside Naxi village in Yunnan province:



I took my SLR with me too, but it's going to be a bit harder to post pics from that! I'm still a real beginner but am enjoying learning how to get proper images, rather than holiday snaps.

[Longgrain]

4. Nice...

I like the goldfish in the foreground, and the mountains in the background, giving it a kind of an "under and over" theme.

I'm still getting started with digital too. Took about five hundred pictures over the summer, most around New England. I'll have to try and get some up soon.

[Longgrain]

7. Opps I can't see your image anymore.

I did see it, and was good.

[Pert_UK]

28. Thanks....my image host is a bit lightweight. I'll try to sort it out.

Thanks for the kind comments.

P.

[NashVegas]

6. ¡hola!

an amateur here, armed with an old Fujica ST801.

I like to do portraits:



concert photos:



and various sundries:

[Philostopher]

8. Here's one of my favorites of our dog, Max:

I take lots of pictures of the animals, but mostly just because we like to have pictures of them for our own entertainment -- this one came out really well as a photograph, besides being a nice shot of Max.

[funky_bug]

21. That is an excellent portrait of Max

You even got some catch light! Nicely done!

[Longgrain]

9. Looking great so far.

The ball is a-rolling.

I be checking in later. Keep it up guys.

[Clark4Prez]

10. Thanks for starting this group

I have been into photography for about 4 years. I think I followed a backward path from many.

Although I owned a few point and shoots, other than a few holiday snaps, I didn't do much until I got a Sony Mavaca for work. It was this camera that I learned to love photography. From there I got a Canon Rebel kit.

After that I made a big jump to Hasselblad. I now have two bodies and five lenses. The only aspect that I have been disappointed in is that I have not been able to transfer my pictures to the web as well as I'd like. My next project is to learn to master Photoshop.

My wife and I enjoy the hobby together and we even shot two weddings.
I have put up a few pictures of our recent trip to Italy at my freebee website http://home.earthlink.net/~mervolina/. You can see some of my wife's pictures at her site www.robinervolina.com

Thanks for pushing for the new group, I am looking forward to it.

[Longgrain]

11. Here's one of mine just to see how this works.

This is western Mass (Florida to be specific) Mohawk trail region. On edit, I think I may have to resize these a little, so they show up in the whole screen. I'm still new at this.

[Clark4Prez]

13. Nice Shot.

I like it, the only downside to scenics is that you can't control the haze. Have you tried using a haze filter, it will knock it down a bit.

[Philostopher]

23. A circular polarizing filter will sometimes help you control that, too.

I wouldn't go anywhere without one -- we've even got one for the digital camera, now. You can cut down on the haze -- or, at least, the reflection of the light off the haze -- without completely removing it.

[funky_bug]

15. Outstanding greens!

I love the color saturation with this pic. I agree with Clark4Prez... try a haze filter and see if you like the results. Unfortunately, haze is impossible to fix with Photoshop.

[Longgrain]

16. Thanks for the advise...

I've noticed that a lot in my pictures.

Sometimes a little haze can be dramatic though.

[NashVegas]

29. Look Familiar?

same view, or nearly. no close-up for foreground.

[Longgrain]

33. Route 2?

Yep, I'm familiar with the area. Is this the place?



Everyone gets out of their cars here to snap the view.

I'm guessing everyone from here to Albany has got the same picture.

(Incidentally, that gray-blue vehicle sticking out at the very back is mine...I'm a sucker for these tourists traps!)

[NashVegas]

34. Aye

My favorite road to drive on, from Troy to Boston. Especially once you hit Williamstown due East.

And just for the fun of it, here's a composite image with your pic superimposed over the one I took. The angles are slightly different (check out the break in the tree line in the distance, near the top) but otherwise they line up nicely.

[Longgrain]

35. Fascinating.

In contrast, mine was taken in the summer, hence the abundant plant life in the foreground and the fullness of the trees.

I'm guessing your's was taken in the early spring, wince the trees were just yet blooming.

Awesome work BTW.

Also, I do note the haze, but I can see clearly now...;-)

[NashVegas]

36. LOL

Yeah, the folder mine is in is labeled 5-13-02, so it was probably taken just before that. Cold up there!

And thanks.

[auntAgonist]

12. thanks so much for starting this group AND for letting me

know about it. I've got an Olympus Camedia C50 Zoom and I love it. I'm not great at taking photos, my husband says it's me not the camera :)

here's a picture of two of my cats.

[funky_bug]

17. Nothing a little photoshop can't fix

I think you got a great shot of your cats! The resolution was very nice, and as I zoomed the shot in photoshop, it lost no detail. Also, it's not easy to get a cat shot without the possessed green-eye, and you did it nicely. I played with your pic a bit... cut out the distractions from the background and blurred everything out a bit.

[auntAgonist]

19. hey thanks funky bug!!

I just hadn't gotten around to doing that :)
I have a black cat and I cannot get a picture of him without a streak of GREEN light flashing across the picture :( It's really annoying. I'm going to work on it LOL

thanks again.

auntAgonist.

[funky_bug]

22. Green-eye = red-eye

It's the same thing... if you have a red-eye reduction setting on your camera, try that. It should do the trick nicely.

[auntAgonist]

24. I'll have to set that . .

When I take his picture I get a LONGGGGGGGG streak of green flashing from his eyes, it's almost eerie. But, I'll try the red-eye reduction. Thanks!

[funky_bug]

14. I clued in my hubby, and he beat me to the punch with his post

That's my husband, Clark4Prez (who missed the name change amnesty deadline *wink* ). He's the reason I got into photography. He bought me my first 35mm camera back in 2001. It was a modest little get-up, but I learned a lot from it. In 2003 he bought me my beloved Nikon and I've been shooting it almost exclusively since then. On a whim I bought him a Diana as a Christmas gift and I was floored by the results, so I bought myself both a Diana and a Holga. I've also played around with a few toy cameras by Lomography. Recently I ventured into the digital arena, and I've been pleased with my Sony Mavaca.

As previously mentioned, many of our photographs are available on my website robinervolina.com under both photos and weddings.


Taken with my Minolta using Ilford 400


Taken with my Nikon using 3200 B&W (Ilford)

Just a few to munch on - many others available at my site, but sadly none with my toys yet... haven't had time to scan in awhile.

[Longgrain]

18. Once again...

Lots of great pictures so far.

I've got to go away a bit, but I'll check back later in the evening.

Not too shabby for a group that's only three and a half hours old.

[electricmonk]

20. Thanks for getting this group set up.

I do mostly rock and roll photography but I mix it up with some art and portraiture. Hopefully these show up here if not here's my photo gallery of bands. I'm working on setting up a portfolio site which will have a wider variety of stuff.

[Rocinante]

25. Hey Longgrain

I'm glad to see you got everything going. Guess I'd better start scanning some stuff. :-)

[Longgrain]

26. Rocinante eh?

Another, Don Quixote fan?

Thanks again to everyone. I got to go to bed soon...and work tomorrow...so maybe I'll post more in a day or two.

Still have a lot of picture's I'd love to share. And I look foreward to seeing yours.

[AgadorSparticus]

27. i love taking pictures. my first camera was a nikomat (sp?) and

it rocked. i am now using just the point and shoot digital cameras. i love the ease and pictures i am getting. in fact, last month, i just bought a canon s410 powershot with a canon printer and am tickled pink. i have given up on HP printers. the ink cartridges were killing me. now, i have the camera on a lanyard around my neck for the quick shots. i love it.

i'll post some pics of my dogs soon.

[RagingInMiami]

30. Hello everybody

I didn't take photography seriously until eight years ago when I was interviewing for my first newspaper reporter job in southern New Mexico.
Until then, I had considered myself solely a writer, even though I had always taken photos with the cheap cameras that I had owned, including one of those Kodak Instamatics that used the old flash cubes that I saw posted in another thread.
But when the editor of the newspaper pulled out an old manual SLR and said I was going to be required to take my own photos with my stories (it was a very small newspaper), I wasn't sure if I was going to be up for the challenge.
Despite my uncertainty, they hired me anyway and I went to the library and checked out all the books I could on photography, giving myself a crash course in composition and technique.
A few months later, the sports editor of the newspaper told me I had "an eye for photography", giving me the confidence and motivation to further improve my skills.
Less than a year after that interview, I got hired as a bureau correspondent for another, much larger newspaper in the same area, and they wanted me to take my own photos. That is when I splurged on a new Canon elan IIe -- my first SLR and it even had auto-focus, which is something the camera I learned on lacked.
During the next several years, I worked at newspapers in southern California and in Arizona. And even though they had fully staffed photo departments, I always managed to take photos along with my articles.
I've since left the newspaper business and I'm working as a freelance magazine writer while attempting to break into the screenwriting business. It probably won't come as a surpise to DUers that journalism left me with a lot to be desired.
But my passion for photography, along with my skill, has become much greater over the years.
I consider myself more a photojournalist, but since moving back to my hometown Miami, I've been trying to capture the beauty of the city.

[Angry Girl]

31. Greeeat... Just when I thought it was safe to come back to DU....

DU is such an addictive place for me. I end up hanging out for hours and getting precious little done. And now THIS! Aargh! :crazy:

But, seriously, this is great! I was just going to create a photo webpage for our band....

Here's a picture along DU lines I took for the Mirror Project (and you can play too! go to http://mirrorproject.com):

It was right before the elections and the country was very divided. I guess you could say this marked the beginning of my political consciousness....

[Pert_UK]

32. Okely dokely, here's my fave pic again....

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=3342894

Sorry, you have to click the link 'cause my image host doesn't like me embedding the photos.

Naxi village in Yunnan province, taken a year ago last February.

[Longgrain]

37. One last thank you to everybody.

One last reply to this initial meet-and-greet thread.

Thanks to everyone who has helped :hi: get this group going, less than two days old and already we're hot!

As somebody whose lurked around DU for years, but only recently had the courage to start posting, I felt like I knew a lot of you already, yet no one knew me. I thought I'd join a group to get to know some of you a little better, but when I looked at the list, nothing really peaked my interest. I was looking for something more in the visual arts. I found Classic Film and recently looked into Graphics but neither really suited my interests.

I was stunned there was no Photography group, after seeing so many wonderful photos throughout the boards here at DU. I'm simply an amateur/ hobbyist, but it was a subject I wanted to learn more about.
I took it upon myself to push for a group, in hopes of making a few friends and hopefully letting a few of you get to know me as well.

Well, so far its worked!

Thanks Funky_bug and Clark4prez (awesome pictures BTW), Philostopher,
auntAgonist, electricmonk, Pert_UK, crisco (thanks for the merger;-) ), rocinanate, and anyone else I may have missed :hi: ...the list just keeps growing! Already I'm learning so much.

I should also humbly tip my hat to our gracious Mods for allowing this group to happen. :yourock:

I've got to go now, but I have some free time this afternoon. I'll try to get a few of my own things scanned and posted.

Once again thanks everyone! :thumbsup:

Longgrain.

[alfredo]

38. I have been taking photos since the mid 60's

I stopped for about 15 to 20 years, and just recently I have picked up the hobby again.

Here is my page of photos

http://homepage.mac.com/alfredo_tomato/The_Greenhouse/PhotoAlbum6.html

Most of these images are mine. I will say if it isn't in the comments.

http://homepage.mac.com/alfredo_tomato/PhotoAlbum1.html

[SiouxJ]

39. Great looking group so far!

I was an art major in college and always took the odd photography course here and there. Now I photograph every single day, but it's for commercial purposes (my business website). I pretty much use a digital for everything now.

[Philostopher]

40. Nice to see you, SiouxJ

I haven't seen a power pop post in the Lounge for a while, that's where I usually saw you. One or the other of us usually found an excuse to wedge in a Todd Rundgren reference ...

[SiouxJ]

41. Thanks!

Well, I used to indulge in almost every music thread in the lounge, but now they all seem to be same ol', same ol'. Same old topics, same old gripes, same people love or hate the same artists, lol. I guess I lost interest. But if Todd ever comes up, I usually can't resist; even if I've posted the same thing a dozen times :-) . I'll try not to become redundant in the Photo Group though ;-) .

:hi:

[Touchdown]

42. I posted all over DUPG, but I never introduced myself.

I got my Minolta XG1 when I was in the Army in the 80s. Trusty manual camera, with AP. Took one semester of photography with my Journalism major, ran out of money, never finished college.

I did work for a School portrait company, contracted to the DOD's school system in Europe in 1991, gave me an opportunity to take about 26 rolls for myself over there. Then I worked for a Church directory service out of Cleveland TN. Both were basically, assembly line formula work, and with the Church Directory Service, I got so sick of it, I never wanted to pick up another camera again. Taking 600+ shots of obnoxious families, and their screaming brats a day kind of does that to you. So I'm strictly a hobbyist now, because I don't want to lose interest again. Photography, or portaiture specifically as a profession is for the birds! Pays shit too!

So, about 2000, I broke down and got a Nikon N60, with a couple of lenses on sale, and just this summer I bought myself a Nikon Coolpix 8700. It's hard to let go of the SLR, since it's not very old, and I barely got it broken in, but I really love my new Coolpix. That old Minolta is still in the closet, and still working fine. I loaned it out to a friend's son for school a couple of years ago. Thank God he took care of it. Good kid!