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Ed Yourdon's photostream
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My DNA
My "day job" is in the IT profession, where I work as a consultant, author, speaker, and expert witness; if you'd like to know more about that part of my life, please visit my website at www.yourdon.com or my blog at www.yourdonreport.com
As for photography: if you'd like to see the 1,100+ photos that were published in various blogs, magazines, newspapers, etc. during the 2008-2009 period, I've collected them all in this Flickr set; the 2,692 photos that I published in 2010 are in this Flickr set . I've also been collecting the photos that have been published thus far in 2011, which you can find in this Flickr set. During the last few years, these photos have been published in such places as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Time/CNN, New York Observer, New York magazine, Wired News, and Huffington Post.
How did all this get started? Well, after being frustrated by cheap point-and-shoot cameras in the mid-1960s, I bought my first 35mm SLR camera in 1969, during a period when I lived alone in New York City's Greenwich Village. It was a relatively inexpensive Yashica something-or-other, with a standard 50mm lens and a Tamron 135mm telephoto. A year or two later, I bit the bullet and invested in a Nikon F, and have remained a Nikon fan ever since then. I photographed the street scenes around the Village, as well as the people in Central Park, and then the anti-war Vietnam protesters who marched through the streets of New York City. I was already beginning to do a fair amount of traveling in my work, and I took my camera with me to California for my first visit to Big Sur in the late spring of 1969 ...
Being a gadget/technology freak, I started playing with digital cameras as soon as they first appeared, in the mid 1990s -- but didn't really rely on them as my "main" camera until roughly 2004. A few years ago, I got my first DSLR -- a Nikon D50 -- and gradually moved up the line to a D70, D80, D300, D700, and now a D5100 with video capability. I've got a handful of lenses, but the one I use most often is a VR 18-200mm zoom on the D5100 and a VR 70-300mm on the D700, followed by a fixed-length 50mm f/1.4 lens for low-light situations. And I've got a Canon G12 and Canon SD95 that I use as a medium-quality and compact "pocket camera," to ensure that I have a camera with me no matter where I go. (And the situation has improved noticeably in the past year, with the much-improved camera on Apple's iPhone 4GS)
My Flickr archives contain some 11,000 "restricted" photos (i.e., for friends & family) going back a full century, all the way back to 1910; but the "public" photos (of which there are now more than 22,000) start in 1969. There are over 900 album/sets, and I've tried to organize them chronologically, by topic, and with appropriate tags, titles, and annotations to make it easier to find interesting individual photos if you don't have time to go through them all (duh!).
I occasionally photograph flowers and things of that sort, but I'm terrible at macro photography, and I lack the skill, patience, and whatever else it takes to get really good results in that area. So most of what I shoot is either people (in a "street photography" sense, not formal portraits) and landscapes. This is separate from the gazillion family photos of drooling babies and birthday parties, which preoccupied me for much of the 1970s through the 1990s.
I've started taking photography classes and workshops during the past year, so I have a slightly more "informed" understanding of what I'm doing, and what "works" in my photos; but I'm still very much an amateur. I take some pictures simply because I like the colors, shapes, texture, or other artistic aspect; and I take other pictures because I think they tell (or at least suggest) a story. But I often find that I need to write a story explaining the context in which the picture was taken ... so maybe I should have been a photojournalist.
One of the best things about digital photography, in my humble opinion, is that I no longer have any inhibition about shooting anything and everything that might be interesting, as well as dozens of shots of the same scene, especially if it involves people in motion. As everyone knows, a digital image can be erased with the click of a button, and there's no cost involved. That's instinctively and intuitively obvious to everyone today, but it's still an enormous jolt of freedom for someone who spent his first 30 years photographing in the expensive world of film.
The other wonderful thing about digital photography is the ability to crop, edit, tweak, and adjust the images. I have a rudimentary knowledge of Photoshop, and I should probably spend the time and energy to learn how to use it much more effectively; but for me, 90% of the improvement that I can make in my photos comes simply from cropping out the elements unrelated to my main subject. I know there's a lot of emotional debate about cropping, and all I can say is that after 30 years of living without a darkroom and without any personal capability to crop my images, I find the digital world of computerized post-production an enormous breath of fresh air...
I try to spend some time each day looking at other photographers' work here on Flickr, and I'm very grateful for the feedback and comments that people make about my own pictures. I could ramble on about various other aspects of what I like and dislike about cameras, Photoshop, and photography ... but I think that probably gives you as much information as you really need...
Photos of Ed Yourdon (56)
Ed Yourdon's favorite photos from other Flickr members (665)
Contacts (1,783)
Groups (50)
- New York City Street Photography 17,305 photos, 1,281 members
- NYC Marathon 2011 781 photos, 71 members
- Flickr 11|11|11 2,332 photos, 3,706 members
- Sunset light 38,404 photos, 7,825 members
- Portland Oregon 17,572 photos, 859 members
- Canon G12: From Snapshots to Great Shots 5,071 photos, 444 members
- artland 345,570 photos, 25,947 members
- Caffeinated Conversations 592 photos, 325 members
- Portraits between rails * and industrial portraits 4,695 photos, 1,645 members
- Bangladeshi Food 192 photos, 57 members
- Women in cold winter weather hood up 1,141 photos, 482 members
- Happy Warrior Playground Courts 5 photos, 2 members
- Bored Couples 43 photos, 20 members
- !!The Photo Hut!! (P1/A1) Contest: Your Choice (Open) 31,332 photos, 1,052 members
- Top 20 Vivid Winners 749 photos, 319 members
- ₪ HDR & PS Post-Processing ₪ (Add 1 ~ Award 4) 88,476 photos, 6,450 members
- Club Med NL 51 photos, 17 members
- Madrid, New Mexico 650 photos, 78 members
- Fishing in Paris 156 photos, 36 members
- Parked in the Driveway 779 photos, 58 members
- Free newspaper / magazine 52 photos, 5 members
- For the love of blue 71 photos, 13 members
- 101 Incredible places 705 photos, 150 members
- ***THE BEAUTIFUL ♥ GROUP!*** 24,490 photos, 817 members
- Smiles/Sorrisi/Sonrisas [35° Contest: Smiles in the snow OPEN!] 93,236 photos, 17,226 members
- Parks or Greenery from around the World! 1,277 photos, 123 members
- Just Street Photography 738,294 photos, 29,854 members
- PopTech 2009 5,196 photos, 19 members
- Clouds,Lightning&Storms( Post 1,Award 2 -SWEEPER ACTIVE) 6,174 photos, 1,672 members
- Coastal World and Water Views (CWWVG), Over 44,000 Photos:-) 42,825 photos, 1,830 members
- Northern California Photography 93,562 photos, 3,884 members
- Exquisite LIGHTSCAPES (Post1 Inv1) 12,764 photos, 1,492 members
- There Be A Storm A Brewin! 35,447 photos, 4,218 members
- Cafes, Coffee Houses, Burger Joints, Food Carts. 37,008 photos, 2,217 members
- Flickr United (Award 3) 321,142 photos, 15,751 members
- Nocturnal Photos of the World... Post 1 Award 2!!! 6,773 photos, 1,430 members
- Friends of the High Line 13,787 photos, 1,639 members
- ***People, costumes & customs no limits {Admin invite only} 16,600 photos, 1,136 members
- Maps that are wrong 11 photos, 26 members
- Black Background Collection 412 photos, 123 members
- Committee of Artists 24,027 photos, 2,835 members
- Bryant Park NYC 2,684 photos, 751 members
- Dead Pubs Society 5,456 photos, 338 members
- Masterpieces of Portrait Art 4,199 photos, 1,333 members
- Street Life - EAST 4,668 photos, 841 members
- ♪¸.•*Instant Classics ♪ Admin invitation 2,280 photos, 628 members
- RECITΔL 11,218 photos, 2,051 members
- Ten Friends 29,006 photos, 6,245 members
- *Female Sneaker Fiends* 123 photos, 148 members
- The Daily Post 144,137 photos, 3,888 members
Testimonials (5)
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wizardjks [busy partying b back soon] says:
"Want a trip to intriguing places?
Need awesome details?
Cozy places, intriguing street life and all places of interest?
Ed Yourdon's photos are all that and much more.....
like a first hand travelogue
Thanks for the amazing photos Ed!~"30th November, 2010
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tjs1963 (Terri) says:
"I don't remember how I discovered this photostream, but I am so glad I did. North Alabama, here in the deep south, seems like a universe away from NY, but when I wander through Ed's photostream, I can almost feel the coldness of winter and hear the noise of the traffic on his streetcorner."
25th February, 2010
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Naomi68 says:
"The images Ed chooses suggest a real interest in the people and places that surround him; not just looking but seeing. This gives a natural feel to his shots - nothing is staged but the images still tell a story."
10th February, 2009
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Jude's Jewels says:
"Something I greatly appreciated about Ed Yourdon's photos is they all can be viewed at original size. It does little if one takes great photos but only allow viewing small. There's a wealth of many years experience behind all his photos & I was surprised to see how far back many date to!
Ed, although being a widely acclaimed author & expert in the computer field (not that every programmer has heard of him *wink wink*) is still a humble & very funny person. I've enjoyed our 'conversations' & have found Ed always ready to respond back to comments with further info or to answer questions - a courtesy not all will do. A nice sharp mind with a sharp sense of humour - a great combination!!"7th February, 2009
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Aniket S says:
"Ed's photos are a lively account of the outdoors he's into. The descriptions add to it. I find Ed's photos interesting."
6th February, 2009
- Name:
- Ed Yourdon
- Joined:
- April 2006
- Hometown:
- Pensacola, Florida
- Currently:
- New York City, USA
- I am:
- Male and Taken
- Occupation:
- computer consultant, author
- Website:
- Ed Yourdon's blog























