I noticed we didn't have a thread to just BS without a specific topic in mind so figured I would make one.
General Chat Thread
- Thread starter Cimmerian
- Start date
I love winter, but am excited for spring... especially since I picked up a new Nikon Z600PF from Santa this year and I can finally put it to use:
I noticed before you said you were a photographer and was curious to see examples of your work! That's amazing.
Brown Dog 4x4 (the one who makes the motor mount lifts) is apparently either MIA or has gone out of business.
I've been into photography ever since I got my first Kodak 110 and box of "rolls" at the age of 8 (I literally thought it was magic, and it kind of is still
). I did lots of wildlife/outdoor stuff, with a good bit of architecture mixed in, plus just general "this looks cool" stuff. I worked odd summer jobs and got my first DSLR when I was 13 and have been addicted ever since. I don't have any examples of my early work, as they were unfortunately damaged when the tote full of my negatives/photos and camera gear fell into the basement when it flooded (it was on a platform that basically collapsed into the basement due to moisture warping the boards). After college, I did some paid work back when we lived in AZ, but with a young marriage, two young kids, getting my M.S. degree, and having life stuff get in the way, I kept it limited so as to keep my (our!) sanity.After moving back to PA in 2021, I - somewhat reluctantly - have built quite a busy little side business. I say "reluctantly" because I originally only intended to do casual stuff of my daughter and her soccer team. But, after posting a few examples, I was asked to share more and was then asked if I'd take them formally. I turned down a few teams and coaches multiple times, but after a upteenth time of saying "no", I said screw it and told them "yes". I now take 100,000+ photos a year and have a partner who does all my graphic design and "media" stuff (I focus mainly on photos and scheduling).
A few years ago, we were covering multiple schools and teams, plus a lot of school related events (e.g., graduation, class night, etc.) but it simply got too hectic to keep up with everything (plus now I help coach football at the HS, and I helped coach peewee a few years back, as did my partner), so now it's just one school and any team that wants to hire us (plus some of their events stuff like graduation night, homecoming, etc).
We do a bunch T&I stuff (team and individual) for individual teams, plus I do a number of "sportraits" and senior photo sessions:
But our bread and butter is sports action. We cover at least one game, per team, per year, and give all those photos to the yearbook club so that they have nice photos for the yearbook (we do this free of charge as our way of giving back to the community). On top of that, a number of teams pay us to cover their season, either the full season (like football where we travel with them to every game), or just a certain number of games.
I also run the school's "sports" Facebook/IG pages (though we have some student helpers): https://www.facebook.com/LakelandChiefsSports/, and we also donate a lot of time and equipment to the school's Yearbook club.
Oddly, I don't really do a lot of dedicated nature/wildlife stuff, I just happen to live at a lake and have lots nearby, so I'm usually always bringing a camera with me, even when I'm fishing.
One thing I would love to do more is to make some dedicated "photography vacations", where I can bring as much gear as I want and have nothing on the agenda but photo stuff. A trip to Yellowstone or one back to Iceland come to mind for this. My kids are still young(ish), 18 and 15, so at the moment we enjoy taking them to fun and interesting places (which means that camera-wise, I try to pack very light!), but at some point it's going to be just me and the Mrs. for the most part, which means that some "photo oriented" trips are more likely to happen, ideally in a decked out Sprinter 2500
There are some regional "trips" I'd like to take. For example, at the end of the summer in Cape May, NJ, there's usually a "raptor-fest" where much of the beaches are closed off and only small groups can photograph the eagles and other BOP. These never seem to work out for me as they're usually right smack in the middle of sports-camp or other things going on.
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