RSSII

53 years young and finally getting semi-serious about my photography after 30+ years of on-again, off-again. I've definitely graduated from 'past-time' to 'passion'. Still working 12 hour days so I don't get a lot of time to enjoy it, but I haven't felt this jazzed about something since I first picked up a guitar 37 years ago. My interests fluctuate wildly from Mountains to Machinery, from Wildlife to HDR. The one constant is my love for 'In your face' photos -- filling the frame with the subject drives me. GET CLOSER!!! :) I especially like the way zooming in accentuates, defines and expands a subject, pulling you into the photo and making you feel like you were there when it was taken. I am also coming to love the way post-processing can not only emphasize and crystalize the vision of the photographer, but through tools like HDR and certain types of filters can actually allow you to to discover entirely new compositions by redefining or re-visioning the image in ways you didn't see during the original capture. I think post-processing has been a part of photography from day one (what else is a dark room for?) and I think it will always be a crucial part regardless of how good cameras and lenses get (That said, I would love a $500 f/1.4 17-600mm L-quality lens that is tack-sharp at every f-stop through the entire zoom range, that does not add any negative qualities to the photo, that has vibration dampening that allows 8-stops of compensation when handheld at 600mm, and that weighs only 2lbs...would someone hurry up and invent one of those please?) For me, photography, like music, is primarily about emotion. I am not a photojournalist or a documenter of reality, although if I like the way a picture looks straight out of the camera that's great. What I am after in my images is the sucking in of breath when you first look at them; the 'Oh My...' reaction that leaves you emotionally charged in some way. Thus I have no issue with using every tool at my disposal to create that 'Oh My...' image.