About the Rested Traveler  

I hate to do this, but ... it's unfortunately necessary:

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PLEASE NOTE: ALL OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS HOSTED ON flickr.com ARE © COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.

PLEASE DO NOT PUBLISH, TRANSMIT, MODIFY, OR IN ANY OTHER WAY USE ANY OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION. ANY USE OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION IS PUNISHABLE BY A SLAP IN THE FACE WITH A VERY COLD AND VERY WET FISH...AND THAT'S JUST FOR STARTERS!!!

ALSO, IF YOU MARK ANY OF MY PHOTOS AS FAVORITES AND YOUR OWN ACCOUNT HAS NO PHOTOS OR PROFILE INFORMATION OR IF YOUR PHOTOS ARE INDECENT OR OBSCENE, YOUR INTENTIONS WILL BE VIEWED BY ME AS QUESTIONABLE AT BEST AND YOU WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY BLOCKED BY ME...NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
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My apologies for the interruption. We now continue our regularly-scheduled programming.

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Short Biography of the Rested Traveler:



I'm just a fastidious, yet humble guy from a fairly modest home with a beautiful and witty wife, two amazing kids, a couple of pretty cool cats, a camera, some lenses, a tripod, and a burning desire to get out and photograph this world which leaves me rapt in awe.

I was born and reared in West Virginia and spent most of my summers with my parents camping and fishing at East Lynn Lake or Sutton Lake, or on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach, like so many West Virginians.

When I was a pre-teen (twelve going on thirteen, to be exact), my parents took me to Florida for the very first time. You can imagine how big the eyes of a twelve-year-old mountain boy can be, having seen the Kennedy Space Center, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, alligators, swampland, and miles and miles of sunny Florida beaches for the first time.

I had simply been seduced by and had fallen in love with Florida. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something there was calling me. My father had wanted to move there since his retirement in 1977. My mother was reluctant to do so. After my first visit, I instantly signed on to the idea and soon persuaded my mother as well.

Well, by the time I had reached the age of fifteen, my parents had relocated to Florida from West Virginia as retirees, and they took me with them. I was very impressionable and my brain was a sponge. With dreams of being an astronaut or working on the space program still dancing around in my fool head, I attended high school in Ocala and graduated from the University of Florida (GO GATORS!!!) with a Bachelors degree in Computer and Information Sciences. I moved to Orlando and attended graduate school at the University of Central Florida (GO KNIGHTS!!!), where I earned my Masters in Business Administration/Management Information Systems. That's my academic history in a nutshell.

Today, I live in Greenville, South Carolina and I've got a pretty decent job with a huge multinational corporation. And, like so many who slave away for someone other than themselves, there are times where I find my work rewarding and times where I loathe the very concept of it. Needless to say, there's not quite 100% fulfillment coming to me from work.

My work does set my brain ablaze from time to time, so it keeps me motivated and there's no complaint from me about that. Plus, I work with some pretty brilliant people from all around the world!

What sets my soul ablaze and motivates my spirit? Enter photography and flickr ... and you.

The photographs that I see produced by other photographers are simply amazing and there are those of you out there with a brilliant eye for composition and unparalleled mastery of the technical aspects of photography. I'm still learning and experimenting, myself, all the while striving to reach the heights that you have attained ... hopefully with your help.

If I have marked one of your photos as a favorite without leaving a comment, please do know that I've marked it as a favorite because I truly appreciate your efforts and their results and that I'm taking something away from it as a learning experience or inspiration. If I've added you as a contact, it is because I have gone through your photostream and have an overall admiration for your work. If I leave a comment, then you've created or captured something very special in my humble opinion.


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My tools are:

Camera Bodies
Canon EOS 350D
Canon EOS 40D

Lenses
Sigma 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6 DC HSM
Canon EF50mm f/1.4 USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Software
Adobe Lightroom 2.0
Adobe Photoshop CS4

Tripods/Monopods/Heads
Manfrotto 190xdb Tripod
Manfrotto-Bogen 390RC2 head

Bags
Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW

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If you like things like this...have at 'em: