Introduce yourself to the NPN community!

Hey everyone. My name is Richard Wong. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been shooting for nearly 20 years now and began when I was in college. For ten years I focused primarily on stock photography but it’s hardly worth the time financially these days so in recent years I have gone back to my original passion; landscape and nature photography. My website is: https://www.rwongphoto.com. I’ve been married for four years and have a two-year old son. Finding time to shoot photography with a young family is challenging so I cherish whatever time I can get out in the field these days.

I was an active member on NPN about ten years ago. I’ve met and hung out with a number of photographers through NPN over the years including the esteemed, Michael Gordon and Colleen Miniuk Sperry.

Anyway, I found out about the new NPN via a Facebook post recently and am excited to see what David has planned. Looking great already!

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Hi! I’m Bob Falcone, a NPN member for many, many years. I’m thrilled to see NPN get a new lease on life. At the “old” NPN, I was a moderator on the RMNP forum, and also managed the NPN/RMNP Facebook page.
I’ve been a photographer for many, many years and NPN and the fine people on it helped me to become a better photographer than if I had not had it’s great influences.
I am an avid (some would say “rabid”) outdoors enthusiast and hiker, and have lived in Colorado Springs for more than 27 years. I’m known locally as “Hiking Bob” and I write a weekly on-line column for the Colorado Springs Independent and also host and produce a podcast about outdoors recreation. I also contribute articles to other publications and am the “go to” person on outdoor recreation for local TV stations.
I’m the chair of the El Paso County Parks Advisory Board, a member of the Colorado Springs Parks Department TOPS Working Committee, which recommends to the city council on how to use the TOPS sales tax that is dedicated to purchasing open spaces in and around Colorado Springs. I’m a certified trail crew leader, where I build, and train others to build, sustainable trails. I’m also the author of a book on hiking in the Pikes Peak region, and all this and more is on my website, including a link to my Zenfolio site.
I’m active on most social media sites:Two pages Facebook, and , Twitter, and Instagram.

I’m excited to see what David and Jennifer have in store for NPN, and look forward to learning and contributing here.

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Hi everyone! I’m Jim Oker. I’m psyched to have learned about this forum - I think the focus is great, and appears likely to be quite valuable to me. I hope I can return the favor.

I’ve recently been digging in on landscapes, waterscapes, abstracts, and outdoor candids.

I quit salaried life a few years ago and have been spending a lot more time making photographs since then. It’s been a blast, and I think part of the fun is that the learning curve is infinitely long.

I live near Seattle, so I spend a lot of time shooting in Washington and Oregon in both the mountains and at the coast, as well as making forays to CA, UT, MT, ID, and AZ, with plans for more #vanlife in the near, medium and distant future. Hit me up if you want to join up for shooting sometime!

I began making photographs back as a kid in the sixties, with the family Kodak Brownie camera, a basic B&W darkroom my dad had set up in the master bathroom of our little house, and now and then a polaroid. I’ve kept at it since, with deeper dives here and there through the years. I worked for a few years in a pre-press color darkroom, which gave me great experience doing demanding color darkroom work (doing “duplication and assembly” as the step before separations, photocomposition using optical techniques and film, and some related work). I also helped build some very early photo editing software (as part of a computer-based slide/presentation package) back in the early eighties, when primitive digital imaging was coming out of the university laboratories. I helped create software for a bit over thirty years - building interactive multimedia, an early graphics presentation system (think two generations before PowerPoint), video editing software, and working to help productize work from a major corporate research lab. A fun run, but I’m ready for this change.

I am grateful that my past work has been a launchpad that has let me turn my main time focus to seeing where I can go with photography.

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Hi folks,

This feels almost like “deja vu all over again.” I was a member of NPN early on, but drifted away as work dragged me and my wife away from nature photography. It’s great to come back and see a few familiar names after all this time, and especially Jim Erhart! Well done Jim, and I’ve always felt guilty for drifting away.

More on the drift, though. My wife and I ran a successful photo business for almost 30 years, but as local markets evolved we were pulled away from nature photography into industrial, scientific, ad, event and family photography. The ultimate sin is that all that happened while living in Alaska!

A few years back we sold the business and used the proceeds to buy a nice winter home on the water in Florida. We took a much needed break from photography, but now find ourselves drifting back into it. In truth we’d forgotten how to shoot for the pure fun and enjoyment of it, and more’s the pity. We just needed a total break from photography.

I can’t say how far my drift back into photography will extend, but if photo friends in Florida and Alaska have their say, we’ll become regular faces around here.

Gear and techniques have evolved so much in our “break” that I feel like a real newbie these days, even if the gear and photo terms and commitment to healthy nature are familiar. I look forward to the examples and guidance of the talented folks at NPN to help me feel my way back into the saddle! Many thanks in advance. If I sound a little archaic now and then, that’s because I am. :wink:

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Hey Hank,

Wow! Your post is a blast from the past. It’s really good to see you here again!

I am happy to hear that all is well, and we look forward to seeing new work from you!
-p

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Thanks Preston!

Great to year from you. Frankly your name on the list was one of the
big reasons I went ahead and signed back on. I enjoyed your work and
especially appreciated your view of the world.

Hank

Hello everyone, good to be here! I’m Shashank Khanna based out of the San Francisco Bay area. I’m relatively new in the photography community and enjoy looking at many of your masterful works. My work is still evolving and I’m in constant pursuit of improving where ever I can. My creative journey began with an education in Architecture and later, User Experience design back in India with some dabbling in heritage conservation too. Now I live in the Bay Area practicing UX design while still exploring the photographic possibilities around me, travel when I can and immerse myself in the zone. At times, you may find me in the crowd often pointing my camera in the opposite direction or silently escaping nearby for a peaceful moment to enjoy simplistic scenes. I’m looking forward to knowing many of you more and enjoy all that is posted here.

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Hello everyone!

My name is Alex Noriega. I’m a landscape/nature photographer currently based in the Pacific Northwest–though in the past few years, I’ve found myself primarily photographing the desert landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. I’ve been photographing for eight or nine years now, and I’m lucky enough to have made my living entirely from nature photography for the past several years.

I believe I originally joined NPN in 2010 or 2011, and frequented the site until around 2013. I’m happy that my good friends David and Jennifer have given this community the opportunity to thrive once again, and I look forward to being a regular contributor. I think the nature photography community needs a place like NPN, where thoughtful sharing and discussion can take place, in contrast to the relentless copying, “trophy hunting”, “stamp collecting”, and the chasing of “epic” icons for hollow praise on social media.

If you’d like to see the kinds of images I strive to create, check out the favorites gallery on my website: www.alexnoriega.com

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Welcome Shashank. I live in the Bay Area too.

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Agree and welcome back, Alex.

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A post was split to a new topic: New Zealand Group

Thanks, Richard. Thts great. I got to see your website and loved the sublime work you create. I’m in awe of your foggy shots.

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Thanks for the kind words, Shashank. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for eight years over two different stints. Great region for photography.

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Hello everyone,

first of all I’m so happy to see a good and professional community on the web, I hope this can be extended to Europe area in future :slight_smile:

I would like to thanks @TJ_Thorne to guide me into this reality with his IG story.

I hope my English is good enough :slight_smile:

I’m Andrea, a landscape and nature photographer, based in Florence, Italy, the city where I was born and where I actually live.
Few years ago I felt in love with outdoor photography and landscape photos.
In my shots I always try to get inspired by the dramatic elements of wild and by nature.
I love shot natural subject trying to create wild and emotive images.
My goal is concentrated to recreate epic and dramatic scenery natural light, dark atmosphere, colors grading and every technique to bring my personal fingerprint on my works.
In latest works I tried to evolve my photography, putting my self and my intimate personal view inside them.

Here’s my website: https://www.andreacelliphotography.com
I’m active in social media: instagram, facebook

Best regards
AC-

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Hello! My name is Brent and I like to go outside.

I grew up loving nature and camping a lot with the Boy Scouts. I also loved tinkering with computer software and hardware. Eventually I found a beautiful confluence of these two worlds when I started taking digital photographs of nature in 2012. I still feel pretty new to this game after reading about how long you’ve all been at it! There’s always so much to learn.

I am from the wonderful town of Madison, Wisconsin. There aren’t a ton of photographers I really connect with here, so I am looking forward to interacting with y’all. Wisconsin has a lot of great and overlooked natural beauty, so I do my best to share it with the world, but at the same time I am continually drawn to the western part of the country. My wife and I take a lot of cross-country trips together and have dreams of visiting all 60 U.S. National Parks someday. I’ve been to 30, so far!

I am on the photoshop train, but I usually try to make my photos look pretty natural. I don’t drop in fake skies or anything like that, but I will clone out distracting elements, blend exposures taken at the same time and place, shift colors, dodge/burn, add a bit of orton dreaminess, and do slight warps and stretches as I see fit. I also love to read and talk about these techniques and their ethics with others.

Earlier this year I just got into printing. I got an Epson P800 and have been making my own large prints at home. I’ve done a couple of galleries as well and learned a lot about that whole process.

I enjoy taking and looking at photographs of wider scenes, but in the past couple of years, telephoto, intimate, and abstract photographs have really caught my attention. I feel like the photographer’s creative heart and soul are a little more exposed in that genre, and they are often times less formulaic than the wide stuff. When I go to a photographer’s website, I usually look through their favorites, recent work, and intimate galleries first. I have a big pile of intimates myself that I’ve never posted but am working up the courage to post them soon :slight_smile:

I feel like I joined the online nature photographer’s community just a couple years too late. By the time I joined, sites like 500px and flickr were already super-established, with certain photographers and styles already very entrenched and it was difficult for newcomers to grow. Don’t get me wrong, my photos weren’t great and I don’t think I deserved a huge following or anything, but I was really hungry for honest critique and growth. Perhaps some mentoring.

Although I am on the other social media sites (begrudgingly), I would so much rather take photos just for its own sake, and have real discussion with others rather than vying for followers and likes. I had always heard about NPN from a lot of the photographers I look up to, and how it was part of the good ol’ days. I am really excited that it is back and I hope it ends up being a strong community of passionate people. Thanks so much to @David_Kingham and @Jennifer_Renwick for investing some energy into this (and also being really fantastic photographers)!

If you’d like to see some of my photos, visit my website: brentgoesoutside.com!

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Welcome Brent. Hopefully NPN will come back to life so we won’t have to think about those other social media sites where the sole purpose is revenue and fame.

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Hello everyone,

My name is Alan Kreyger. I am relatively new (2 years) to digital and landscape photography. I am life long resident of Michigan and have always enjoyed the outdoors and it’s beauty. I have visited many of our national parks and have always been drawn to the landscape photos of others. I still remember many years ago being mesmerized by the images of Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell. Two years ago I realized I needed to begin my own journey into digital landscape photography.

So far that journey has included a few local classes and workshops, as well as workshops in the Rocky Mountains and four corners regions. I feel like I am always playing “catch up” in this new found hobby but I am enjoying the journey more than I could have imagined. I have much to learn and am not a fan of social media sites, so I very much look forward to interacting with the NPN community. I want to thank @David_Kingham & @Jennifer_Renwick for bringing this site to my attention.

I enjoy shooting the lakes and wooded areas in my home state of Michigan but my heart lies in the mountains, canyons and plateaus of the western United States. Those areas are the most inspiring for me and I travel to them as frequently as I can.

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Hank, great to see you here on NPN v.2!

Hi All,
Tom Herriman here.

I want to start by saying a huge thank you to David and Jennifer for bringing this site (back) to life.
I thoroughly enjoy good, strong, critiques, so I am excited for that section of this site. Especially as I know many of you are very strong in the art and well articulated.

About me:

I am an amateur photographer.

I started making images back in 1985 when my parents gave me a Pentax K1000. I upgraded to an AE-1 a few years later but then gave up photography to pay for diapers and formula rather than film and dark room chemicals.

Skip to 2011… the bug bit me again. I had a little point and shoot when I visited Okinawa and it left me wanting more. With no more diapers to pay for and no more darkroom chemicals to buy… DSLR, here I come.

Hindsight: I wish I had maintained some degree of photography in my life and worked harder to support it. I have since learned the importance of artistic activity. It is personally nourishing and can have a positive affect on all aspects of your life.

I have always loved nature and being out in the elements but I don’t get out nearly as much as I would like.
I am moved by rain, snowflakes, bugs, fungus, trees, vistas, birds, rodents… nature! I love the sights, sounds, and smells!

Photography is an extension of my love for nature. I tend to think of it in terms of capturing and expressing what I see and feel during those moments.
I can’t say that I love one particular category of nature photography more than another because I enjoy everything from the macro level to wide sweeping vistas to wildlife, bugs and flowers.
I do have an affinity for night scapes.

Ultimately, I love seeing beautiful prints on a wall and have a huge desire to see my work in this medium.

I live on the east coast of the United States and travel frequently for work. I try to make the most of these travels and experience the places around me.
I love the PNW and the American SW! To be fair, I have not had nearly enough exposure to other parts of the world and I’m working to make that change!

I look forward being part of this community and the experiences, advice and opinions that will be shared.

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Nice to see your here Alan. I look forward to maybe seeing some of your shots from Colorado.

Ed McGuirk