Actually, I'm from the Yankee part of Louisiana--the northwest. There's more cowboys and rednecks around here than there are alligators.
I've lurked awhile and enjoyed what I've read so I joined in on a couple of discussions. I may as well formally introduce myself.
I've been serious about photography for a little over 30 years. A friend of mine borrowed a Pentax Spotmatic and let me use it one afternoon and I immediately took a fever that has never completely subsided. There have been periods of remission but there has never been any doubt this is a terminal illness. Within a few months, I had bought a couple of used Nikons and I had set up a darkroom in my apartment bathroom. Four or five years later, I was working for a daily newspaper as a general assignment photographer. After a little over 15 years of this, I had pretty much burned out. I quit my photography job, took a job as a civil servant and had my longest period of remission of the photography disease.
But the fever came back a few years ago, traumas began to the credit card, food was moved from the freezer to make room for film and the rear bathroom of our home became a part time darkroom. My wife was thrilled. Our dog was victimized. The world was changing.
After tinkering with virtuality and digiography, I settled back into the type of photography I enjoyed 30 years ago. I love shooting and printing black and white pictures. Don't look for any posted pictures by me. I really dislike the process involved and don't have any idea how to go about it.
Subjectwise, I like just about everything. I sometimes take a documentary approach to places/people and try to make pictures as un-touristy and non-scenic as possible. I also love to find and photograph details as opposed to grand landscapes. But I'm fickle and I reserve the right to change my emphasis at any time.
I shoot with Leica rangefinders and Canon EOS SLRs in 35mm and a Mamiya C330 TLR and a Pentax 645 SLR in medium format. Favorite photographers are so numerous it's scary. Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Emmet Gowin, Garry Winogrand, Bill Brandt, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Ralph Gibson, Jeanloup Sieff, Eliot Porter, Robert Adams, Phillip Hyde, Imogene Cunningham--they all come readily to mind but I'm forgetting dozens of others. I'm pretty willing to have an open mind to any photographer's work no matter what they might be presenting.
That's about it. I hope to continue to absorb the great information presented here and maybe offer some small contributions from time-to-time.
I've lurked awhile and enjoyed what I've read so I joined in on a couple of discussions. I may as well formally introduce myself.
I've been serious about photography for a little over 30 years. A friend of mine borrowed a Pentax Spotmatic and let me use it one afternoon and I immediately took a fever that has never completely subsided. There have been periods of remission but there has never been any doubt this is a terminal illness. Within a few months, I had bought a couple of used Nikons and I had set up a darkroom in my apartment bathroom. Four or five years later, I was working for a daily newspaper as a general assignment photographer. After a little over 15 years of this, I had pretty much burned out. I quit my photography job, took a job as a civil servant and had my longest period of remission of the photography disease.
But the fever came back a few years ago, traumas began to the credit card, food was moved from the freezer to make room for film and the rear bathroom of our home became a part time darkroom. My wife was thrilled. Our dog was victimized. The world was changing.
After tinkering with virtuality and digiography, I settled back into the type of photography I enjoyed 30 years ago. I love shooting and printing black and white pictures. Don't look for any posted pictures by me. I really dislike the process involved and don't have any idea how to go about it.
Subjectwise, I like just about everything. I sometimes take a documentary approach to places/people and try to make pictures as un-touristy and non-scenic as possible. I also love to find and photograph details as opposed to grand landscapes. But I'm fickle and I reserve the right to change my emphasis at any time.
I shoot with Leica rangefinders and Canon EOS SLRs in 35mm and a Mamiya C330 TLR and a Pentax 645 SLR in medium format. Favorite photographers are so numerous it's scary. Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Emmet Gowin, Garry Winogrand, Bill Brandt, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Ralph Gibson, Jeanloup Sieff, Eliot Porter, Robert Adams, Phillip Hyde, Imogene Cunningham--they all come readily to mind but I'm forgetting dozens of others. I'm pretty willing to have an open mind to any photographer's work no matter what they might be presenting.
That's about it. I hope to continue to absorb the great information presented here and maybe offer some small contributions from time-to-time.
