Hi! I'm fairly new to the forum ... a little bit about me first ...
After a long hiatus, I've rediscovered a passion for photography - primarily landscape, nature and underwater.
As a youngster - ages 12-24 - I shot a lot of B&W film and some Kodachrome ... most of it lost to the ages. I was an avid shooter and looked mainly to Lee Friedlander, Edward Weston, Walker Evans and of course Ansel Adams for early inspiration. Like so many before me, life and work and marriage and children eventually pushed photography into the shadows of my life ...
But I'm back ... after dipping my toe into digital with a series of Nikon Coolpixs and then a Canon G7 and G9, I finally took the plunge and bought a Nikon D700 last year.
Here's the kit:
Nikon D700
50mm AF-D 1.4
70-200mm AF-S VR
17-35mm AF-S
24-120 AF-S VR
1.7x TCII
Canon 500D Diopter (77mm)
Canon 250D Diopter (52mm)
Nikon Circular Polarizers (77 and 52mm)
Gitzo 2541 sticks, Giotto Ballhead, RRS Clamps and L-Bracket
I use Lightroom 2.3 plus Photoshop CS4 and well as Photomatix, Silver Efex Pro and Color Efx. I'm at the stage where I feel the "Camera to Print" tutorial would be extremely helpful and will likely purchase and review that video this spring ... and I'm considering pursuing some individualized instruction for both shooting as post/printing technique.
I often shoot multiple exposures and use layering, exposure blending and HDR tone-mapping to produce images that are closer to what my eye can see than what the sensor can record.
My philosophy of nature photography is simple - while I love to see great images of famous landscapes, I am looking for a more personal relationship with my subjects and like to shoot in places I know well and consider "home" ... or at least "my turf" ... for me, that means the Northeastern forests, foothills and mountains. That said, I do enjoy new vistas and landscapes ... but often feel "out of place" and somewhat of an interloper or 'poseur' when shooting somewhere "new".
Phew ... enough about me and onto the images ... in keeping with my preference to shoot "my" landscapes, I've been shooting a lot in the foothills of the Berkshires in Northwestern CT wjere I rent a small house.
I'll post a few representative images and hope to get some constructrive criticism ...
Thanks!