Frame Maker's photostream  

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Member, Berkeley Camera Club

Administrator, Berkeley Camera Club Flickr group

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
- Henry David Thoreau

Usage Guidelines
N.B. I'm happy and flattered if you want to use any of my images. But please ask permission via FlickrMail. I like to know how my images are being used, and I ask that you link to my image or credit me. If you want to use an image for non-commercial purposes, the image is free. If the image is used for money-making purposes, I expect payment. Hi-res, print-quality images are available on request, price negotiable.

Experience
I'm an "advanced beginner." Over the years I've taken my share of snapshots, usually on trips, but I didn't begin to take photography seriously until the summer of 2009, when I was planning a three-week trip to India. At that time, I bought my first digital camera, a good point-and-shoot (Panasonic Lumix TZ5), started reading photography how-to books, and joined Flickr. I've been trying various kinds of photography since then but seem to lean toward landscapes and street photography. Recently, I've also been trying some night photography.

Gear
I now use a Canon Rebel XSi with three lenses:
o Canon EF-S 17-85mm 1:4-5.6 IS USM zoom
o Canon EF 70-200mm 1:4-5.6 IS USM zoom
o Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 prime
I often use a light Slik Sprint Pro II tripod (2 lbs) but sometimes a heavier hand-me-down Velbon V-3 (over 4 lbs). For post-processing, I started with Corel Paint Shop Pro but moved on to Lightroom and Photoshop CS5 in the Spring of 2011. I still use the Lumix point-and-shoot for backpacking and snowshoeing. For my trip to India, I kept my luggage down to 22 lbs. My photo gear for that trip is here.

Book Recommendations
I'm something of a bookworm, so here goes:
o The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman
o The Photographer's Mind by Michael Freeman
o Within the Frame by David duChemin
o Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
o Creative Black and White by Harold Davis
o Night Photography by Lance Keimig
o Lightroom 3 by Nat Coalson
o Bystander: A History of Street Photography by Joel Meyerowitz and Colin Westerbeck
o Street Photography by Clive Scott (insightful, although you must be willing to struggle through labyrinthine, postmodern, Barthesian prose)
o On Photography by Susan Sontag (provocative critical theory, a good place to start , but don't stop there!)
o Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland (how to keep doing art and stay sane)

About Photography
I can't list the photographers I like -- the list gets too long. Fortunately, the Berkeley public library has a good collection of monographs and I work only a couple of blocks from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (which has a good bookstore) and 49 Geary (a building full of art and photography galleries). And then there's all the marvelous photographers on Flickr. I've begun developing my ideas about photography, but they are still at a formative stage. I've added some thoughts to some photos in this set: More to come....

Contact Information
If you want to contact me, please use FlickrMail.