About Penelope's Loom / Pei Ketron  

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My Life
I was born in Taiwan, but lived most of my life on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Life as one of only a handful of Asians living on the reservation was an experience that I appreciate more in retrospect. There were many things I disliked about living in such a rural, underprivileged area, but I am able to look back fondly on much of what I experienced and be thankful for the unique upbringing I had.

College took me to Claremont, California, where I attended Pomona College and earned a degree in Psychology. My focus in Psychology became Aging and Cognition, mostly because of a certain professor I studied under, worked for, and admired.

Eventually, my attention was diverted after working at summer camps serving populations with special needs (blindness and Autism, both exclusively and simultaneously).

Fresh out of college, I started a teaching job at the New England Center for Children, a private residential school for children with Autism, and began a masters program in Special Education at Simmons College in Boston.

Two years later, with a year at NECC and a year of public inclusion preschool under my belt, I graduated with an M.S. Ed. with certification in Severe Special Needs and decided that Massachusetts was too cold for me.

I moved back to California and currently teach a special day class for elementary school students with Autism at a public elementary school in the East Bay. It's my sixth year as a credentialed teacher with my own classroom and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

In addition, I recently completed a second masters program to receive an Educational Specialist degree in Special Education Assistive Technology and have been busy pursuing photography projects on the side. I also keep myself busy with whatever wedding, portrait, and event photography I can squeeze into my evenings and weekends. I also take advantage of every single travel opportunity I am presented with so that I can experience and photograph as many different places and cultures as possible.



My Photography
Both of my parents are artists (painters, specifically), but my drawing skills never progressed beyond a 1st grade level, so we had all resigned ourselves to the fact that I would never become an artist.

It wasn't until I studied abroad in Prague that I realized that I had a decent eye for photography and that being around my parents and their art helped to hone that instinct in me. Family friends, impressed with my photos, loaned me their Canon AL-1 and I decided to devote some of my time and energy to the art.

My last semester in college, I enrolled in a black and white film photography class, which is where practically all of my technical knowledge stems from. Everything else I learned through experimenting and from my photographic peers.

I am a member of the Professional Photographers of America and Wedding & Portrait Photographers International. I am also an Area Coordinator and volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.

(Taken from my website's About page)



Cameras:
Nikon D700
Nikon D300
Nikon D200
Nikon D70
Nikon CoolPix P5000
Canon G3
Lomo SuperSampler 3.0
Lomo Fisheye
Canon AL-1
Seagull DF-1ETM
Fujifilm Discovery 290S

Lenses
Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8
Nikkor 17-55mm 2.8
Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8
Nikkor 14-24mm 2.8
Nikkor 105mm 2.8 MicroVR
Nikkor 18-200mm VR
Nikkor 18-70mm
Sigma 70-300mm
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4
Nikkor 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 10mm - 20mm f/4-5.6
Original Lensbaby
Canon Wide Converter WC-DC58
Rokinon Auto Zoom 28-80mm

Other Equipment
Nikon Speedlight SB-800
Nikon Speedlight SB-600
Pocket Wizard Transmitters
Classic Lightsphere Diffuser
LumiQuest Pocket Bouncer
LumiQuest Ultra Bouncer
Hoya R72 Infrared Filter
Hoya Circular Polarizing Filter
Hoya Neutral Density 4 Filter
SLIK Pro330DX-B Tripod
Manfrotto Monopod
Manfrotto Horizontal Grip Action Ball Head
Manfrotto Compact Ballhead
SmartDisk 40GB FlashTrax
Epson P-5000 80GB Storage Drive
Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner
Eye-One Display 2
Adobe Photoshop CS2 w/Adobe Bridge
Adobe Lightroom