A note on contacts

 

Hundreds of people have marked me as a contact. Although I am honored that so many think well enough of me and my work to do so, please understand that I only have enough time to keep up with a few people on Flickr on a regular basis. Please do not take offense if I do not mark you as a contact in return. I wish I had a lot more time to spend browsing on Flickr, but between my job and my personal life outside of Flickr I simply can not devote that amount of time.

 

A note on invite only groups

I have nothing against invite only groups, in fact I founded one of the largest ones on Flickr. Because there are these days dozens and dozens of invite only groups that are all just about the same I have decided to bow out of all but a few select groups. It is impossible to keep up with so many groups that are all so similar with so many idiosyncrasies to remember (post 1 comment 2 in one group, post 1 comment 3 in another group etc)

 

Here is a list of invite groups where I participate:

 

A Big Fave

My Winners

Impressed by your Beauty

Nature's Finest

Color Photo Award

Black and White Photo Award

Sepia and Toned Photo awards

Spectacular Landscapes

Spectacular Nature

Spectacular Animals

The Best: BRAVO

Quality -- Best of the best

 

While I appreciate all of the invites I have received, and mean no disrespect to the other invite only groups on Flickr I have a limited amount of time to spend on Flickr and can not keep up with 10 dozen different groups with so many differing rules.

 

My Flickr apps

 

I like to tinker around with scripts and programming and have managed to cobble together 2 helpful applications using the API for Flickr, Invite Pool Sweepr, which is a program for administrators of invite only groups, and Find Your Contacts in Explore which, as the name suggests, is a script to help you find your contacts in Explore.

 

A little about me:

 

When I was 7 years old I got a camera and a black and white art photography calendar for my birthday. I think it was Ansel Adams, but I don't remember. The camera and the calendar are long gone now as are all my negatives and prints I made with that camera, but I've been hooked on photography since.

 

I have an eye condition known as Keratoconus. Keratoconus is a disease that affects the cornea. (the clear part that goes over the iris) Keratoconus, or KC for short, is a thinning disorder of the cornea that causes distortion and reduced vision. I am one of the fortunate few KC sufferers who has only developed the condition in one eye, my right one. Out of my left eye with regular glasses my vision is quite good. The only treatment for KC is wearing hard contacts which are unbearably uncomfortable for me, so I have elected instead to deal with poor depth perception and almost no usable vision in my right eye. There are surgical options available ranging up to and including cornea transplant, but those have great risk and expense involved and there is no guarantee that any of them will help. This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about my photography, I want to preserve the experience of precious sights that I have seen so others can appreciate them as well.

 

Favorite photo subjects: Nature, Flowers, Sunsets, Silhouettes

 

I am the creator of the A Big Fave group here on Flickr:

 

Have you seen a photo that just made you go "WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! A single fave isn't good enough for this!"?

Now you can give A Big Fave

 

2 simple steps:

1. Post your invited image

2. Fave or comment 2 from the pool

 

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I have also created:

 

Eastern North America Nature

My Top 10 Nature (Post your 10 personal favorites)

 

I co-admin

Shenandoah National Park

Virginia

Global Village 2

 

Equipment:

 

My first digital camera was a Kodak CX4200 2MP camera. That was a fantastic camera, it was durable - I dropped it more times than I care to admit - focused fast, had great tonal range, and was great for something to start out with. Alas, I gave it to a friend when I got my new cam, and really wish I had kept it because honestly, for some work it did better than any other camera I've ever seen. (See my photos taken with this camera)

 

I then moved on to a Kodak z760 which is a fantastic 6MP point & shoot with great manual mode. I love it and plan to keep it as a backup and as a small camera for tight spaces or places I don't really want to lug an expensive D-SLR. Alas, I have outgrown it also. (See my photos taken with this camera)

 

Right now I have a new Nikon D80 which is my first dSLR. I've always admired the clarity of the D70s and D50 from shots I've seen on Flickr, and I'm just amazed with the D80. (See my photos taken with this camera)

 

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand."

- Ansel Adams

 

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

-Anonymous

 

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"

-Eleanor Roosevelt

 

create your own visited states map

or check out these Google Hacks.

 

Thank you to all my friends on Flickr for your support and encouragement. These last few months since I've found Flickr have been so fun and exciting.

 

Thanks also to my friends outside Flickr for putting up with my eccentricities, for waiting with me for the light to be just right, for listening to me grumble and complain when either the light, the camera or the wind wouldn't cooperate, and for being happy for me when I get it right.

 

Thanks especially to Mark for being the love of my life and for supporting me in my art.

 

P.S. Oh yeah, I'm gay. Guess I forgot to mention that.