Van Liles' photostream  

I was born and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where I still live.

I first developed an interest in photography at about age 10, from my father, Charles Liles. It was then that I saved my weekly allowance (25¢) until I could purchase my first camera, a Kodak "Brownie Starflex". I attended meetings of the Greenville Camera Club with my dad, and won my first contest there at about age 12.

While attending the University of South Carolina, I decided that photography was what I wanted to do in my life. So, I moved to Atlanta, Ga., where I went to work for one of the best commercial photographers east of the Mississippi, Dwight Howard. After 4 years with Dwight, I moved back to Greenville and opened my own commercial studio. For the next twenty years, I specialized in Advertising, Architectural and Wedding photography.

My photography has evolved now into Nature and Wildlife, and occasionally some Wedding photography. In my free time, I really enjoy hiking through the woods, hunting with my camera.

I have now gone digital. I have found that digital images have a pop and color that I was never able to achieve with film. I still occasionally shoot film, and then scan it into digital format. I use Nikon equipment exclusively, including the fastest and sharpest lenses that Nikon makes.

[Please note that all of my images are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. No image may be used without my written permission. If you wish to use any of them for any reason, please send me an email first. Thank you.]

My Equipment:

Nikon D-300
Nikon D-100
Nikon N-90s

AF Nikkor 20 mm 1:2.8 D,
PC-Nikkor (Manual) 1:2.8 35mm
AF Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 D,
AF Nikkor 35-70mm 1:2.8 D,
AF Nikkor 80-200mm 1:2.8 D,
Sigma (Manual) 1:5.6 400mm
Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4X EX

SB-800 Flash,
SB- 26 Flash.
Phottix remote shutter release

Bogen Tripod, various ball heads,
customized Stroboframe flash handle

My Software:
Photoshop CS2,Nikon CaptureNX, Dreamweaver MX, NikonView, Nikon PictureProject, PaintShop Pro