Well I have been on dA now for 17 days. I have to say that so far it has been a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed posting my work and looking at the works of others. I just went over 1,000 views of my pictures and that has been a huge morale boost. I wish I could get a little more feedback about my photography but we can't have everything we want all the time. For those who have offered feedback; my many thanks.

It has also been of great help to look at what others have to offer. I have been inspired more than once by browsing the galleries of other members. Some of my favorite works have been found by browsing the galleries of people whose pages I end up by some random string of links or connections. While the people who are featured on a daily basis produce excellent work without a doubt, I fear that many just watch those select few, and that to few venture further to discover just how many talented people are on this site.

For a brief background on myself, I graduated from college a few more years ago than I would like to admit. Since then I have worked in the law enforcement and security fields. I have no formal training in photography. I never even took a photography class in high school.

While I was working in law enforcement a few years ago I came into contact with an officer who had a Nikon DSLR. I was fascinated by the technology behind the camera, as I have always been fascinated by technology. I had a Nikon Coolpix 880 that my parents had given me when I graduated high school that had barely been touched. I had never really seen the point in photography, but I went home and picked it up and started taking pictures.

I had to admit that it was a lot of fun, but I quickly became frustrated at being unable to get the camera to take the pictures that I was seeing through the viewfinder. The limits of a point and shoot digital made me decide that I needed to get a DSLR to get the pictures I was after.

So I took all of the money I had, and even some money that I didn’t have and bough a Canon EOS 10D and a lens to go with it. As soon as I got past the learning curve of my first SLR I was having a blast. Right about that time I met my best friend who is a phenomenal photographer (even if she wont admit it) and was humbled by her abilities. I started reading up on, and practicing tirelessly, the technical aspects of photography, my parents bought me a great book on it, and my best friend schooled me on more than one occasion.

That brings us to the present day, where even as I write this I am thinking of pictures that I can take, in order to practice and become a better photographer. The future holds a photography business run by myself and my best friend if all goes well. The day is not yet upon us, but I hope it comes quickly.