Getting to know you
Andy Cosgrove
I think it would be fun to get to know everyone a little better by hearing a little about yourself and your photography. Feel free to answer any or all of these questions:
1) Where do you live?
2) What's your "day job?"
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
Add anything else that you deem interesting.
Andy
I'm a computer programmer and live in West St. Paul. I began learning
photography in high school (about 12 years ago) but, like many others,
began seriously pursuing it once digital became high enough quality at
an affordable price; about 4 years ago for me.
Until recently, I mainly shot outdoors...nature, buildings, street,
etc. My latest urge has been to learn some creative studio photography.
Mainly children, since I now have 2 of my own to practice on. I
recently purchased a studio light (Alien Bee B400) and have been
attempting studio work in my very small house, which is a great
challenge.
I have yet to make any money on my work, but recently shot a wedding
for the price of a lens I needed for it (yes, a family favor). I
wouldn't mind the occaissional wedding gig, but I now have great
respect for those that do it for a living! I don't think it would be my
thing.
I find myself getting nature "photographer's block," where I can't seem
to figure out a place to go shoot a fresh coating of snow at sunrise or
the Hunter's Moon. So feel free to pipe up with any of your own
favorite spots!
I've maintained a photoblog for the last year-and-a-half at
www.visualgratification.com, where I post my most recent achievements.
--
Andy
Minnesota Wild
wife and I live on the East Side of St. Paul.
I too began learning photography in High School - but it wasn't until
taking a job at the college newspaper and yearbook that I became
interested in more than a "point-and-shoot" type shot.
My first foray into creative photography centered around this
photojournalism. I shot numerous sporting events, local and campus
happenings, and I had access to essentially unlimited film and a
darkroom. Of course, after graduation the resources dried up.
I went through a dry spell until the Digital Rebel was introduced by
Canon. After finding a relatively cheap one on Ebay...I was back in
business. My family and friends will testify that it was "all downhill
from there".
The digital advantage was essentially back to having unlimited "film"
and "developing" access. I was able to experiment with light and
shadow, exposure, etc -- all without having to wait for results, and
being able to go right back out and try again. I was in heaven.
My favorite subjects have always been nature and landscapes (subjects
in great supply in Minnesota) -- I also have 2 young children who have
been photo subjects ever since their arrival. I face the same blocks as
Andy mentioned -- which results in me dragging my camera with me
EVERYWHERE in search of new subject matter.
As far as getting paid for my work -- at this point, it's on the back
burner. I unfortunately don't have the time to devote to my photography
that I'd like to have at this point in my life.
My foray's into the online photo world have been small and hesitating.
I do however appreciate the chance to "talk shop" with others in
similar situations to myself. Andy was instrumental in assisting me
with the "primative" setup of my photoblog -
http://www.ranterbanter.com/PhotoBlog2
Aaron.*
2) What's your "day job?"
Help Desk Lackey
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Abstract, Graffiti, Signs
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
Maybe One of these days, when I get off my ass and actually get some
prints made for some shows.
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Road Salt, Igloos, Inuit, normal Minnesota stuff... right?
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
A.*
mnstoryteller
I live in Saint Paul not too far from the Mississippi.
I'm a freelance writer. Mostly books.
I'm not a natural photographer. I'm more of a word person, so I have to
work at photography more than I do my writing. Still, I love
photography, and now that I'm in digital photography I'm in love with
its unlimited potential.
A recent project was to shoot a "show" featuring the Cafesjian Carousel
for the National Carousel Association. I suppose there are about 20
images of the carousel on this site that celebrates the classic old
hand-carved carousels.
I occasionally make money with my images; mostly I spend money on it.
Thank god I no longer pay for film and developing.
I am active on a web forum, the dpreview "Olympus talk forum." It is a
group of people interested in Olympus digital (non-dslr) cameras, and
it is surely the most friendly and supportive digital photography
forums on the net now. People post photos there a lot and share tips.
Great group.
davev
My name is dave. I got an email from Andy letting me know about this
group.
So I thought I'd come and take a look around.
A little about me.
I'm a 47 year old construction worker that has a wife and no kids. I
started playing with digital camera
in 1996, when I bought a Epson Photo PC. I'm going to guess that I've
taken about 20,000 pictures with
the different cameras that I've owned.
Epson Photo PC, Fuji MX-700, Sony FD-88, Oly 510, Sony 717, Sony P10,
Canon S1 IS, Canon D Reb 300, Canon XT.
Hows that for a list?
I have joined the Minnesota Nature Photography Club recently.
I "hang out" at Dpreview and Dgin to get a lot of photography info.
That's about it.
Now to the other stuff.
1) Where do you live?
St Paul.
2) What's your "day job?"
Construction worker (Pipefitter by trade)
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
I've been shooting alot of nature/wildlife pics. (if you call a sparrow
wildlife)
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
Don't make any money, but I don't really want to. Then my hobby becomes
a job.
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Anything but people. I'm awful at people shots.
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
I have a pbase site with about 1100 pics.
The galleries Digital Rebel has most of the better shots. The IR
galleries that I used a Sony 717 on are kind of fun also.
http://www.pbase.com/davev
And the gallery with a lot of my better shots
http://www.pbase.com/davev/favorites
isitt...@juno.com
I'm Chad Thompson living in Shoreview. I'm married and have a baby boy
on the way in March. You may have seen my work in the newspaper if
you've looked for appliances. I do all the print design at Warners'
Stellian Appliances you'll see the monthly newspaper ad in the sunday
ads. (next one December 11) Photography was then next option in line if
graphic design didn't work.I took one photography class in highschool
and loved the fact that I could control the camera. I was always
looking for a camera that I could totally control 'til I held a D100.
When the D70 came out I did a LOT of research on the camera and finally
made the purchase a year ago.
I'll be shooting highschool hockey and basketball for North St. Paul
High School with my old baseball coach who has a photography business.
I took one wedding with him but didn't have a good speedlight so my
pictures sucked! I'm more into taking pictures of nature but I'm really
mixed when it comes to subjects. If I make money doing photography I'm
happy but right now I'm doing it for experience and if I make money on
the side I'll buy a pro lens.
Here's my site www.howwedoin.smugmug.com
The SJU reunion is just a post for someone to show their friends their
pictures.
Brian Reichow
I'm 32, and a Macintosh systems integrator and consultant. I've had my
own business for five years, but have been in the industry for 13
years. I live in Plymouth, MN, but grew up in Roseville and went to
high school at Henry Sibley after our family moved to Mendota Heights
in 1987. I'm a graduate of the U of M journalism school
(marketing/advertising). I have a 7-year-old daughter, Ariel.
I didn't do any photography of note until getting into digital
photography with a Sony digicam borrowed from a friend in 2000 and my
own Canon PowerShot G1 in January 2001.
My current kit consists of a Canon EOS 20D, Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 II
USM, Canon 70-200 2.8L IS USM, B+W 58mm MRC circular polarizer, and a
Canon Speedlite 420EX. I use Microdrives (4GB + 1GB).
My photography interests generally mirror my other interests: roller
coasters, amusement parks, rock concerts, my daughter, travel, and
fireworks. I've dabbled more and more in other subjects over time,
though. I'm eclectic. For the most part, it's a very different style of
photography than any of the photoblogs linked by the members here.
I haven't made any money from my photos, but they've been used all over
the Internet, been published in roller coaster calendars (twice), CD
liner notes, and on the web site of the Buffalo, NY newspaper
accompanying a concert blurb. By rights, I should be able to turn my
hobby into something self-sustaining - at the *very* least. My problem
is merely marketing.
My entire body of work is hosted on my own site:
casabrian.com has been online for nearly ten years, and has quietly
become the largest online repository of roller coaster and amusement
park photography in the world. So far, 55 amusement parks and about 250
roller coasters are documented in (sometimes insane) detail. When
permitted, I do shoot photos on-ride.
My concert photography includes massive amounts of Trans-Siberian
Orchestra, the principals of which I've had a personal relationship
with dating back to 1993. It's that relationship that has allowed me
continued, unfettered photo access even at TSO's Xcel Energy Center and
Target Center shows the last five years. (The Strib photographer and
house photographer were booted after three songs. Heh.)
There's also some fantastic full-concert shoots of Queensryche,
Stryper, Savatage, and others.
I've had more than 325,000 unique visitors to the site in the last
six-plus years. My bandwidth usage now exceeds 30GB/month, and keeps
creeping up.
The one thing I haven't done is create a "greatest hits"
gallery/photoblog, which is usually how us photo geeks judge each other
at-a-glance. For now, you'll just have to dig into the approx. 20,000
photos that are online.
I look forward to chatting with you guys...and continuing to develop my
craft.
regards,
Brian
Andy
Andy
like the IR stuff. Too bad my camera can't do that.
The ice palace sequence was pretty neat, too. Makes you think who would
be crazy enough to build a massive building out of ice only to tear it
down several weeks later! We're crazy.
Andy
second, a boy, just over two weeks ago.
Andy
If I ever decide to convert to Mac, I'll have to consult you. In fact,
I'm curious of the advantages over a PC when it comes to digital
photography. I think I'll start a new thread on that and see what you
and the others have to say.
Andy
this group.
Justin Holmes
group going, I'll forward this to all of them.
>
> 1) Where do you live?
> 2) What's your "day job?"
a research project at the Carlson school on social service providers.
In the spring I'll be teaching Public Opinion and Voting Behavior
> 3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Currently landscapes/cityscapes/water. I'm a little limited by gear
right now, but am hoping to get a longer zoom for christmas so that I
can do some wildlife. I'd also like to try my hand at some macro. I'm
certainly interested in doing more of other types too. I'm just a
beginner now, so a little push here and there to help me improve would
be cool.
> 4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
Well, I did sell 2 8x10s at my church "art show" for a whopping 20
bucks, so I'm a pro now, right? I don't really have aspirations of
making money at it, although I have pondered someday maybe dabbling in
a little wedding photography to feed the gear monkey.
> 5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Downtown skyline, Minnehaha falls, our dreadful cats.
> 6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
>
http://www.pbase.com/poliscijustin
Justin Holmes
appendix to my other message
I'm pretty late in the game coming to photgraphy. I rehabbed my mom's
old canonet when I was in college (well paid someone 30 bucks to clean
the sand out of it) but only shot maybe 3 rolls. About 3 years ago, I
had the opportunity to go to a conference in Berlin, then extended the
trip for about 2 weeks, and bought a canon elph aps camera for
snapshots. Started getting into photography but was pretty put off by
the cost of developing 14 rolls of film for 2 rolls worth of decent
pics when I got back. Got an olympus stylus 400 after that (and in
anticipation of a conference trip to sweden), which really got my into
photography. I got frustrated pretty quickly with the cameras
performance under anything other than bright outdoor light, and its
lack of manual controls. Got a Nikon D70 this February and have done
about 4500 shots since then. I get out when I can, but not often
enough. Gear wise, I have the D70, the 18-70 kit lens, a 50mm 1.8
(which I love), and a pinhole adapted body cap (which is cool if
impractical). Otherwise, all I have is a solid manfrotto tripod (which
might be the most important piece of gear I have). Looking to add a
70-300 in the near future and potentially a 12-24 or 10-20, as well as
an external flash. I think the longer zoom and flash will open up some
opportunities for me.
Steve
fourm. I live in Bemidji and own a retail clothing store here. I have
energized my interest in photography since starting with digital a
couple years ago....I hadn't done much in years. I am strictly a
hobbiest.....like to shoot landscapes and wildlife, but do shoot a
little of everything. I moved up to a DSLR last spring (canon d350)
and have been busy adding lenses, but had a lot of fun with a canon G5
before that....and still use it quite a bit. I do no photography for
money. I really mostly enjoy shooting in the west....Colorado,
Montana, Utah, etc., (
http://www.pbase.com/spatterson/northern_exposure and
http://www.pbase.com/spatterson/a_trip_west )but also shoot a lot of
pictures at Bemidji State Park (
http://www.pbase.com/spatterson/lake_bemidji_state_park ) and on Lake
Bemidji. I am married with a couple wonderful daughters...one living
out west and one at college. I hope to learn from the people here..as
I have a lot to learn. I post my better images online with pbase:
http://www.pbase.com/spatterson/root
I have a question about this forum...can you post images, like on
dpreview, or just links to hosted images on a site like pbase?
Andy
amongst us :)
As for images...you can attach images under 1MB to the messages, but it
has to be emailed to the group rather than posted online. The address
for this group is mnp...@googlegroups.com.
Here's the official FAQ:
You can post photos or files to your group by emailing them as
attachments to your group's email address. When doing so, please keep
the following in mind:
- the size limit for attachments is 1MB
- you can only post attachments to a Google Group (not to a Usenet
newsgroup)
- you can only post attachments via email (not through the Google
Groups interface)
Once your message is in your group's archive, it will stay there as
long as your group exists or until you remove it. Also, we don't offer
a specific file storage system, so you'll need to find the message with
the image in order to view it.
JoanMN
My name is Joan Soles, I live near Pine City, MN (between Duluth and
St. Paul).
I have 2 kids and 5 grandkids, the oldest is 15 (already!). I've never
had any photography classes.
In 2000, I decided I was tired of the cheap point-and-shoots and only
salvaging 1 photo in 10 (and I do mean cheap cameras!). I had a grand
baby on the way, so decided it was time to go digital.
I started out with a Sony FD90, and I was in love!
My current cameras are a Canon Digital Rebel (300), and a Sony DSC-H1.
I love both of them.
My job...we are self-employed, we have two businesses.
I have made a little $ from my photography (people seeing a pic they
like and asking me if they can buy one from me), blue ribbons at the
county far (first prize is $3.00!! :>)), one of my photos was just
chosen to be on the cover of the Kanabec County Senior Resource Center,
they did pay me $300.00 for that. I won second place at
Stevesdigicams.com twice, got a couple of nice prizes.
I love taking pictures of my grandkids, landscapes (especially sunrises
and sunsets), flowers, and a lot of birds.
We live on a river and get to see gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, and we
have bird feeders all around the house. We get to see otters, muskrats,
eagles, all sorts of waterfowl, and a gazillion birds.
I have a bunch of pictures here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/joansoles
Steve
shots....looks like my part of the world (Bemidji). If you ever get up
here we have a lot of wild wolves....but not so easy to find to
photograph LOL. The wolf center would be much better with a camera.
JoanMN
LOVE it. I'm not much of a hiker, so they'll probably have to do! My
nephew and his wife live up there, she is from Bemidji. Her last name
was LaValley, do you know them?
JoanMN
Andy
some company!
Welcome to the board.
JoanMN
her?
Steve
Roger Lavelley. Is that her husband?
Steve
with my ten year old puppy. She loves her "walks" in the park.
Andy
knows any other MN photographers that would enjoy this board, send them
our way.
JoanMN
dad's name. I do know her brother used to own a bar there, but I think
he sold it.
rruttger
fellow photobug told me about this group. Like Steve, I am a life-long
Bemidji resident. My day job is running a resort: Ruttger's Birchmont
Lodge, www.ruttger.com.
I have always liked photography. My first "real" camera was a Nikon F
which I bought used in the early '70s. I lost that camera and all my
lenses in a house burglary. My next camera was an Olympus OM2 which I
loved for it's small size. I had that camera about 25 years and just
sold the camera and lenses On E-Bay last year. I bought my first
digital camera in 1997. It was a whopping 640x480 pixels! The images
were as bad as the view on my TV set, but I loved digital photography.
A slew of digital point and shoot cameras followed, each a megapixel or
so better than the last. Early point and shoot cameras had one major
flaw, SHUTTER LAG. The final straw for me was the day I tried to take
pictures of my kids skating on the lake. I clicked the shot (I thought)
held the camera down to view the review, and the camera snapped a
perfect shot of my boot. That was it, i'd had enough, I was done with
point and shoot cameras. The price of DSLRs was within reach now and I
sprung for a Canon 10D and never looked back. A series of lenses
followed and when the 20D was announced, I waited day after day until
finally Ritz Camera showed reservations for it on their site. I got in
line and must have been one of the first persons in the US to have one.
14 months later I still love that camera. My other camera is the tiny
Canon S500 which takes great shots, as long as nobody moves!
I can't say I like one style of photography over another. sports
photography is challenging. Wildlife, for me birds mostly, is great
fun. Portrait photography is my toughest challenge. The easiest for me
is landscape. I love a great landscape. I just need to get out there
and shoot more of them.
I have made a little money from photography. I offer to take family
shots of resort guests. Sometimes I even charge more for the finished
photos than the ink and paper cost me! Other than that, almost all of
the 60 or 80 shots in the resort web-site were taken by me.
You can view some of my better photos at www.pbase.com/rruttger.
joroho
Andy after he saw a post of mine at dpreview.
1) Where do you live?
East side of St. Paul
2) What's your "day job?"
Financial analyst (for the "evil" Northwest Airlines)
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Anything. I'm still learning.
4) Do you make money with your photography?
ha!
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
bridges
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
I have a series of photos I took at Mill Ruins Park a few weeks ago at:
http://www.joroho.com/millruins.htm
I'm new to this idea of digital photography. Last Christmas, I saw my
father-in-law open his new Olympus C770 and said to myself, "I gotta'
get one of those." The more I researched it, the more I realized that
I knew I'd be handcuffed with just a point-and-shoot model, hence I
started researching dSLR's. In August, I finally decided on a Pentax
DS and have absolutely loved it.
Anyway, look forward to seeing more of everybody's work.
.joroho.
JoanMN
Lovely gallery you have there!
Ben Franske
2) What's your "day job?"
I'm a graduate student at the U of M and a network engineer in the
telecommunications field amongst other things.
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Just about everything except portriats. One of the more interesting
things is that as I take photos I try to build a stock image library as
well. I also enjoy archival photography, eg. before and after
construction sites, historic landmarks, etc.
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
Yes, I do. I make enough to cover equipment which is good enough for
me.
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Nothing specific is a favorite. I like buildings, signs and subjects
with depth of field. Barns are fun too. One interesting project I'm
slowly working on is to photograph (at least) the exterior of every
building on the twin cities U of M campuses.
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc)
http://ben.franske.com/gallery/
http://t1.franske.com/cjmedia/gallery/
Matthew Kieren
Thanks for inviting me Andy. :)
1) Where do you live?
Rochester, Minnesota.
2) What's your "day job?"
Unemployed at present, but usually I'm either a Web Designer or a
Computer Technician.
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Nature / Wildlife, Macros / Closeups, People / Animals, Creative /
Artistic / Abstract
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
I've made a tiny bit here and there, but definitely nothing to brag
about yet.
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Hard to say, pretty much anything I guess.
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
http://www.matthewkieren.com or http://www.pbase.com/matthewk
I'll also add one more to the list:
7) What camera / lenses do you use?
Canon 20D. I had a "Bigma" (Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3) but I sold it
because it was just too darn heavy to use on a spur of the moment
situation, and that's usually what I find myself in. I recently
aquired a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS (non-DO, and NOT the old 75-300) to
replace the Bigma. I also had a Canon 50mm f/1.8, but that has been
replaced with the much sharper (although slower focusing) Canon 50mm
f/2.5 Compact Macro.
Andy Cosgrove
Alexander
- My day job is student, technically, but for the last year I've been
working as an intern and then assistant editor at a post-production
company for feature films and advertisements. Basically, I cut and
digitize film, then archive it after the real editors have done
whatever they needed with it.
- I'm interested in people, textures, and architecture. I'm big fans of
Bruce Gilden, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliot Erwitt (especially his
collections, "Snaps"), Todd Hido's houses at night project, Christa
Renee's fashion photography, and many others. I keep a running
collection of influences and links on the weblog portion of my site
(http://www.escape-plan.net/weblog.html)
- No, I don't make money off of my photography. I've never tried, nor
do I intend to in the near future. But, someday, maybe I'll look into
it. It's too much of a hobby for me now.
- I've been working on a project on Nicollet Mall for the last year and
I'm generally interested in downtown Minneapolis. I love shooting the
Warehouse district and the area surrounding Peavy Plaza and Loring
Park.
- I've got a journal online (http://www.escape-plan.net/) which has
been recently rebuilt from the ground floor up. Please leave comments,
I appreciate anything you can say about my work.
mmi...@mn.rr.com
1) Where do you live?
Minneapolis, MN - Loring Park Neighborhood
2) What's your "day job?"
IT support for a pharmacy benefit management company
3) What type of photography interests you the most?
Landscape/Architecture/People/City Pics -
4) Do you make money (or hope to) with your photography?
Not really - it's just for fun now and trying to learn as I go along
and improve.
5) What are some of your favorite Minnesota photo subjects?
Downtown Minneapolis, the city parks - but not limitied to those,
6) Show us some of your work. (online gallery, photoblog, etc.)
7. What camera / lenses do you use?
Nikon D70 (D200 on preorder)
12-24 Nikon DX
17-55 Nikon DX
18-70 Nikon DX
50mm Nikon
70-200 Nikon VR
Andy Cosgrove
liked it. But it seems everytime I go back it was disabled or only had
one photo on it.
I like your ideas for projects. I've been pondering a themed photo
essay or project to do. Nicollet Mall would be a fun one. I'd love to
see your results when you're done with that.
Thanks for joining us!
Andy Cosgrove
you'll be very happy with it.
Welcome, Michael. Thanks for joining us.