Lee Jay Fingersh
New member
A short life-story in-part pertaining to photography.
My first love was airplanes. I got an award in preschool for being able to name whatever flew over. Later (like 6 years old) I got into energy and have spent my professional life working as a wind energy researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). I'm an electrical engineer that's also into aerodynamics and mechanical systems.
When I was little, I earned money by mowing lawns, house-sitting, washing cars etc. My first large purchase with my savings was when I was 9 years old - a Canon AE-1 and 50/1.8. Over the years my birthday money and the money I earned went toward a Vivitar 28/2.8 and some el-cheapo 70-210 plus a flash, bag, remote release and accessories.
In college I met my future wife who purchsed a Rebel S kit just after I met her. We used that camera for years. I upgraded the lenses a step to the 24-85 and 75-300. If truth be known, I always hated film. I never had the right film speed in when I wanted it, I hated the waiting for developing, I hated the fact that even ISO 400 film stunk big time and I hated not being able to work on the images after capture.
As part of my work at NREL we bought a Kodak DC50. I liked it but it took lousy pictures. I upgraded to a DC120 and a DC210 but didn't get my first "real" digital camera until the Nikon CP950 which I bought with a bunch of accessories to extend the capabilities of that camera.
I was hired at NREL right out of college to be the test engineer for the largest, most complex wind turbine aerodynamics test ever. It took 7 years of my life and culminated in a big wind tunnel test in the largest wind tunnel in the world (by far) - the NASA Ames 80x120. Here's a shot of the test team and of my turbine taken by the CP950 (I'm the one kneeling on the right and, yes, this is in the test section):
The birth of my son convinced me to buy a real digital camera for home - a 10D, 17-40L, 28-135IS, 75-300IS, 50/1.8 and 550EX. That system absolutely rekindled my love of photography. Everything I hated about film was fixed by that system. Unfortunately a few new problems came up that have led me to upgrade to my current system that includes a 20D and 5D and some great lenses. The only thing about that system that's lacking is the lack of a lens that doesn't exist - I'd love an 85/1.4L IS.
I enjoy photography from both a science and a creative perspective. When I'm not doing tests, I shoot mostly candids of people at events, portraits in a natural environment, and I still have my love of aircraft - full-scale and R/C models like this one:
I hope to continue to improve my skills, both technical and creative, in part by watching and contributing to this forum.
Lee Jay
My first love was airplanes. I got an award in preschool for being able to name whatever flew over. Later (like 6 years old) I got into energy and have spent my professional life working as a wind energy researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). I'm an electrical engineer that's also into aerodynamics and mechanical systems.
When I was little, I earned money by mowing lawns, house-sitting, washing cars etc. My first large purchase with my savings was when I was 9 years old - a Canon AE-1 and 50/1.8. Over the years my birthday money and the money I earned went toward a Vivitar 28/2.8 and some el-cheapo 70-210 plus a flash, bag, remote release and accessories.
In college I met my future wife who purchsed a Rebel S kit just after I met her. We used that camera for years. I upgraded the lenses a step to the 24-85 and 75-300. If truth be known, I always hated film. I never had the right film speed in when I wanted it, I hated the waiting for developing, I hated the fact that even ISO 400 film stunk big time and I hated not being able to work on the images after capture.
As part of my work at NREL we bought a Kodak DC50. I liked it but it took lousy pictures. I upgraded to a DC120 and a DC210 but didn't get my first "real" digital camera until the Nikon CP950 which I bought with a bunch of accessories to extend the capabilities of that camera.
I was hired at NREL right out of college to be the test engineer for the largest, most complex wind turbine aerodynamics test ever. It took 7 years of my life and culminated in a big wind tunnel test in the largest wind tunnel in the world (by far) - the NASA Ames 80x120. Here's a shot of the test team and of my turbine taken by the CP950 (I'm the one kneeling on the right and, yes, this is in the test section):
The birth of my son convinced me to buy a real digital camera for home - a 10D, 17-40L, 28-135IS, 75-300IS, 50/1.8 and 550EX. That system absolutely rekindled my love of photography. Everything I hated about film was fixed by that system. Unfortunately a few new problems came up that have led me to upgrade to my current system that includes a 20D and 5D and some great lenses. The only thing about that system that's lacking is the lack of a lens that doesn't exist - I'd love an 85/1.4L IS.
I enjoy photography from both a science and a creative perspective. When I'm not doing tests, I shoot mostly candids of people at events, portraits in a natural environment, and I still have my love of aircraft - full-scale and R/C models like this one:
I hope to continue to improve my skills, both technical and creative, in part by watching and contributing to this forum.
Lee Jay