About _Allen_  

Note:
Lately I've noticed a lot of people adding me as a contact or adding my images as "faves" when they do not have any shared images or do not have any images at all, and/or do not have any other (or few other) contacts. I find this kinda strange and when it happens I will block you. Nothing personal, but I'm here for the community aspect of flickr, people that do not share their images (or don't have any images) are not participating in the flickr community.
Also if your photostream is nothing but porn and you add me as a contact I'll block you too ... Nothing against you personally or porn, it's just my personal opinion that's not what flickr is about, there are plenty of porn sites out there if that's what you are looking for. I also have commenting set to contacts only, that way I can avoid rude comments from kids that sign up for free accounts because "it's fun" to make rude comments on people's photos ... if you'd like to be added as a contact so you can comment please just send me a message telling me that you'd like to be added.

Photography has always been a hobby and passion for me since childhood. I can remember as a teenager borrowing my grandmother's 35mm SLR and driving out the Mojave Desert to get photos of the first landing of the Space Shuttle. I did not end up anywhere near close enough to get good shuttle pictures so I turned the camera on the crowd and started taking people pix. To this day I still enjoy taking candid photos of people. A few years after the Mojave trip I purchased a Canon A1 35mm SLR and I was hooked. I got on the digital bandwagon early, my first digital camera was a Sony Mavica (FD-71 I think), a very low resolution camera that stored photos on a 3.5 inch floppy disk .. Wow! that was Hi-Tech. Since then I've owned many point and shoot digitals and eventually moved up to my first Digital SLR, an Olympus E-20. Then in 2002 I came full circle and went back to Canon... I bought the EOS 10D. Since then I replaced the 10D with a 20D and also bought a 30D, eventually sold the 20D and now I have two 40D's and the EOS 1D Mark III.

Here is my current equipment list: :
- Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Canon EOS 40D digital SLR
- Canon 600mm f/4L Super Telephoto Lens
- Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens
- Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens
- Canon 24mm-70mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens
- Canon 100mm-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM zoom telephoto lens with Image Stabilization
- Canon TC-80N3 remote controller/timer
- Canon Speedlite 550EX II E-TTL Flash on an off-camera mount
- Canon Speedlite 580EX E-TTL Flash on an off-camera mount
- Stationary studio lights and softboxes
- Various filters, Reflectors, Etc
- All image editing is done on a Quad Processor MacPro and a CoreDuo (Intel) MacBookPro using Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop CS3. I also have a 20" Intel iMac in my podcast studio.

My main photography obsessions are planes and trains, I'm not a typical plane/train spotter in that I do not keep a log of what I see, record serial numbers, worry about where they are going or where they came from ... I'm more worried about getting a good photo. I enjoy photographing outdoor scenes and capturing people doing everyday things, participating in sports and just generally living their lives. I also use photography as a means of documenting and preserving the memories of my travels.

My other interests and hobbies include radio controlled model aircraft, model making of any kind, traveling the world and of course computers (apples).

The photos I post to flickr are not necessarily my best or my favorites ... some are, but others are just snapshots. While I have some pretty high-end photo equipment I'm not scared to post pictures I've snapped with my point-and-shoot or even the crappy camera in my iPhone. I don't think every photo needs to be a masterpiece, I just enjoy taking and sharing photos.

I came to Flickr for the community aspect of the site, I love meeting new people and seeing their photos. I like to comment on their work and I like to get comments on my work so please feel free to leave comments on my photos if you like.

Please note that all images on my Flickr site are registered copyrighted by me. Please do not take my images for commercial use. If you have a need for one of my images please contact me.

I am over 21 years old.

Thanks.

My Digital Photography Blogs and Podcasts