Hello

[Mike]

Hi I'm Mike. I've been stalking around for a bit but I think it's time to introduce myself. In the 80s, in the days that I'll call PK (pre-kids), it was also PAF (pre auto focus), I was an avid amateur photographer. I traveled extensively for work and carried my trusty X700 everywhere. I have literally thousands of boxes of slides in the basement to prove it. (They are sealed up waiting for the day when scanning and memory storage hardware becomes affordable and practical.) Not only do I remember the song "Kodachorme," I know what is. However I preferred Ektachrome, other than a short affair with Fujifilm. Photography was, and is, an expensive hobby so I kind of drifted away.

Now that the kids are grown I have been able to rekindle some old hobbies. One of them is photography. When my trusty DSC-F717 camera started spazzing out on me, I decided the cost of DSLRs had gotten to the point where I wanted one. By the way, I wish I had a beer for every beer I won making bets on the clarity of pictures with my lowly 5 Mega pixel camera. Perhaps the quality of the optics is important too? But I digress. About the same time I got a Bernese Mountain Dog pup that is a great subject, he never complains about posing (though it's tough to get him to stand still).

I was set on getting a Nikon, doesn't everyone want a Nikon? But I did a lot of research and ended up with an a350. A lot of things are the same with digital, an f-stop is an f-stop, depth of field is still depth of field but many things have changed. What's this digital workflow stuff? Why did the people at Ritz Photo look at me funny when I asked them to "turn off auto correction?"

So I'm learning a lot and having a great time. This site has been a wealth of information even if I only understand half of it so far. Thanks for your help and I hope you continue to have patience with me as I learn. If I might make one suggestion it would be to add some type of Newbie discussion forum to encourage more people to ask ignorant questions and share things that appear obvious to members of the digital workflow age.

Thanks,
Mike

[Dusty]

So I'm learning a lot and having a great time. This site has been a wealth of information even if I only understand half of it so far. Thanks for your help and I hope you continue to have patience with me as I learn. If I might make one suggestion it would be to add some type of Newbie discussion forum to encourage more people to ask ignorant questions and share things that appear obvious to members of the digital workflow age.

Thanks,
Mike

Welcome, Mike! Like you I went from PAF to DSLR, and 'workflow' is still being worked out!

Don't be shy to ask dumb questions, I'm not! Most people here are nice, so they're more than willing to help. You might, however, take a look at dprewiew's DSLR dictionary of digital photography terms.

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

Hello, Mike, and welcome! You might only need a "newbie forum" for one day--just jump right in and get your feet wet, ask dumb questions, don't assume you understand something completely because the game is always changing. Digital photography has had to scramble like mad to catch up to film...in some ways it has far exceeded it, and in some ways it is still lacking.

In short, all of us are here to learn, and very soon you may discover that you have something to teach us as well, and we'd hate for that to be lost on folks who stay in the "newbie forum."

[aster]

Hello Mike,

I believe we already saw some of your nice work and got to know you through your interesting photos of Magnus and are happy to have you among us.

Enjoy your stay,

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

There's an old saying: Not knowing is not a shame. Not willing to know is.
After all only the wise knows that he knows nothing.
So welcome on board with us.