I've been hanging out here for a couple of weeks, and I've posted a few times. It must be time say hello.
Photography has been important to me all my life. My father was a magazine writer and photographer, so I grew up in front of a camera (he often needed pictures of children), and by age 13 (1965) I was shooting pictures for his books and articles, using his Rolleiflex and Mamiya twin lens reflex cameras. I used his Pentax/Asahi Spotmatic 35mm as well as a dozen other cameras.
My association with Nikon began in 1971 when I bought a Nikon FTn body along with Nikkor 24, 55 Micro, and 135mm lenses. I took that setup to photojournalism school in Missouri. While there, I bought another body -- a straight F with no light meter. Through the following years I've written for and been editor of a number of national magazines. Being editor of Alaska Magazine was one of the most fun gigs because of the great photography we used there.
I've been fickle with cameras. Switched to the Olympus OM system. Dunked that whole kit into a river (2 bodies, four lenses). Ruined. Leica RF and SLR (4 bodies and lenses from 21mm to 400), Pentax SLR - 35mm - digital - 67 - 645, Fuji X (dunked that whole system into an ice chest full of water), back to Nikon. Have owned more than 100 cameras and no telling how many lenses.
I no longer write or shoot for magazines, having moved out of print 10 years ago (except for a regular gig writing for a Washington, DC, newspaper). I now produce television shows, using the Nikon lenses on the Sony video cameras. Great combinations.
My New Year's resolution this year is to shoot more pictures and get more serious about my photography. Toward that end, I recently bought a D810 body and four Zeiss lenses (15, 21, 55 Otus, 100 Macro).
Reading Thom Hogan, Lloyd Chambers, and pouring over the great information on Nikongear.net are keeping me up late each night, but I'm learning a lot.
Thanks for having this site.
