Christopher Elliott
New member
This morning I was checking my Web server stats and found a link from prodigital.proboards98.com to my photoblog (http://www.postcards.elliott.org). Prodigital is the "secret" photography forum (see http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?page=3&t=982)
That's how I found my way here.
Once I had a look around, I figured I should maybe say hello and introduce myself. My story is a little unusual.
I've always been interested in photography, but my journey here has been anything but direct. I dabbled in photography in high school, took a photo class in college and then dropped it for almost two decades. In 2002, we had our first child. Since our family was spread out all over the world, we figured the best way to let them see their relatives would be to post pictures of them in a photoblog.
The photoblog went from hobby to obsession within months. I started with a point-and-shoot Leica Digilux 4.3. That was my gateway drug. From there, I moved to a Canon 10D. Last week I broke down and bought a Canon 1D Mark III. I'm using a 50 mm 1.2 lens and 24-70 mm 2.8 lens.
Hard core, I know.
There's a backstory here. I'm a professional travel writer, and the equipment is also used on assignments. But it was the photoblog that got me into it, at least at this level.
So why am I joining this forum and sharing all this information? I figure if anyone understands how I've gotten here, it would be you. I hope that's true.
As for the Prodigital people ... the paranoid part of me thinks they might have been making fun of my equipment "overkill" -- they probably saw the Exif data on my Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottdotorg/) and had a good laugh. The optimist in me says they saw my shots and said, "Hey, not bad for an amateur."
I'm hopeful that they liked what they saw.
That's how I found my way here.
Once I had a look around, I figured I should maybe say hello and introduce myself. My story is a little unusual.
I've always been interested in photography, but my journey here has been anything but direct. I dabbled in photography in high school, took a photo class in college and then dropped it for almost two decades. In 2002, we had our first child. Since our family was spread out all over the world, we figured the best way to let them see their relatives would be to post pictures of them in a photoblog.
The photoblog went from hobby to obsession within months. I started with a point-and-shoot Leica Digilux 4.3. That was my gateway drug. From there, I moved to a Canon 10D. Last week I broke down and bought a Canon 1D Mark III. I'm using a 50 mm 1.2 lens and 24-70 mm 2.8 lens.
Hard core, I know.
There's a backstory here. I'm a professional travel writer, and the equipment is also used on assignments. But it was the photoblog that got me into it, at least at this level.
So why am I joining this forum and sharing all this information? I figure if anyone understands how I've gotten here, it would be you. I hope that's true.
As for the Prodigital people ... the paranoid part of me thinks they might have been making fun of my equipment "overkill" -- they probably saw the Exif data on my Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliottdotorg/) and had a good laugh. The optimist in me says they saw my shots and said, "Hey, not bad for an amateur."
I'm hopeful that they liked what they saw.
