alan jackman's photostream  

My interest in photography started in a very small way in high school. I didn't become smitten until many years later when I moved to Baltimore and discovered the Phos Graphein Camera Club. It was a good way to learn photography. The members were so helpful and it was lots of fun, particularly the photo shoots and the All Maryland Photo Contest. I particularly remember Charles Collier from those years, from whom I learned it's not the camera, but the photographer. I supplemented what I learned from the camera club by reading every photography book I could get my hands on from the Enoch Pratt Free Library. This helped ground me in the fundamentals of photography, which are still very much applicable today.

Eventually, I left Baltimore to go to school. Over the next ten years, I continued to practice photography and was fortunate that I held several jobs that allowed me to travel extensively.

For the next twenty years or so, I lost my interest in photography and put my camera down to pursue other interests until my brother got my sister a point and shoot digital camera. I had never used a digital camera before and I decided to put it through its paces for my little sister. Within a half hour, I was hopelessly hooked. I have been working in digital since about 2004.

Photographers who I have admired over the years include Francis Wolff (jazz), Pete Turner (album covers), Gordon Parks (photojournalism), Annie Liebowitz (portraits), Neil Leifer (sports), Robert O.Torrence (jazz), and Ansel Adams (scenics and nature).

People who I have influenced and of whose work I am deeply proud include my brother Phil, my cousin Kurt Lewis, Alyce Jackson, and Latchman Persuad.

Finally, I'd liked to give special thanks to David Goldberg, who I call the Ansel Adams of John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, who cheerfully gave of his time, experience, and knowledge to help bring me up to snuff in the new world of digital photography.