Hello. I love photography! I started when I was about 12, when I realized that my cousin had left a full darkroom setup in my basement. I also became obsessed with astronomy when I was about the same age, and that fed into the photography a bit, as well. I took pictures, mostly of nature, with whatever cameras I could get my hands on (and were given to me) in everything from those little 110 cartridges when I was a child, to my father's Nikon F2 which he let me use. Later I used medium and large format (Mamiya and a Speed Graphic), still processing and printing in my bathroom darkroom, but got to busy and distracted to keep it up once I reached high school.

I discovered flickr only recently, and I am astounded by the quality of photos that I see here. From the amazing focus-stacked macro insects, to the spectacularly smooth deep space astrophotography (both of which rival research-grade equipment of the time I was in high school) to the portraits and landscapes and freely-formed and dramatically manipulated digital works of art, I find it really inspiring to look at the work of people on here. In particular, some of the work that you all do with wildlife and landscapes really has inspired me to travel more, and see more of the world, which I think is one of the many great things photos can do for someone.