About dugspr — Home for Good / Douglas Sprott  

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I'm a retired English teacher who has taught in more than 20 countries over the past 47 years (mostly with the military, several relief agencies and during my time with Bell Northern Research and Northern Electric/Northern Telecom). I had to retire in 2001 because of medical problems but I'm now busier than when I worked full time. Last year (2006), I taught quite informally for three months in Vienna, Austria for basically my daily food expenses just to keep busy.(Approx €9.50 a day — my students [all Japanese opera singers studying at the Arts University] took me to lunch every day) I live in Ottawa, Canada. I started taking photos with an old Brownie 220 box camera in 1955. Up until 1999, I had taken more than 450,000 photos (I was subsidized by the military, various groups and organizations for most of this or I would never had been able to afford it), mostly slides with my trusty 1966 model Ashai Pentax 2.8 SLR. In 1999 I quit taking photos for a few years after I lost almost all my slides (over 445,000) in a fire and because of my health. Last Christmas I gave myself a present of a Canon Rebel 350 with two lenses. I have started to take a new set of what I hope will become countless photos of Ottawa in April 2007. I am returning to Vienna in August this year and plan to take a lot more photos. All of my photos are public and I welcome any and all comments. As I learn more about the camera I will experiment with post processing techniques and just having fun. In the long run I hope to document the old neighbourhoods of Ottawa which are changing so quickly that my brothers' grandchildren will never get to see in person what I will be able to document.

I have upgraded to a Canon EOS400 and a Canon Power Shot G9. I gave my EOS350 to my nephew.

In February 2009, I have upgraded my Point and Shoot to the Canon Power Shot G10. I continue to carry the G9 in my pocket almost everywhere I go.

I have completed my three-year contract in Wien and I will be visiting Japan (Osaka area) in May, 2009 and stay for three months. I will rendezvous with several of my students from Wien who have returned to Japan at the completion of their studies and hope to take 10,000 photos over 92 days.

I'm in Osaka. The first of many photos will be posted tomorrow, once I'm unpacked and have caught up on my sleep after a 30-hour trip. Old men need sleep, food and sleep — in no particular order.