These profiles are provided so that Photography Forum Members may know each other better. If you would like to add your Profile please fill out this form. Don't forget to submit a photo of yourself, as well as, one of your favorite images.

• Tom Crews
• Tom Donahoe
• Linda Elsdon
• Lisa Franklin
• Jim Mammon
• Mike McKnelly
• Grant Reiling
• Jerry Samelson
• Stephen Smith
• Michael Warwick

Tom Crews

Concord, California
xptom@sbcglobal.net

Format: Digital - RAW

Camera: Canon G12

Lenses: None

Filters: None

Flash: Built in camera flash

Tripod: Giotto GB2130

I have been a photographer for over 30 years.

My areas of photographic interest:

Landscape
Events
Family & Friends
People
Underwater
Travel

My favorite places to photograph: Town of Locke

My favorite destinations: Thailand

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop CS5 (Proficiency - Skilled}

I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).

Occupation: Semi retired, avid amateur photographer, instructor

My web site: www.http://xphomestation.com

My favorite techniques: Exposure Lock, Center Focus

My photographic philosophy: "Get it right in the camera."

This is my favorite photograph: The Place of Refuge on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Tom Donahoe

Walnut Creek

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Canon 20D

Lens: Canon 17-35mm f2.8, Canon 70-300mm IS, Canon 100-400mm IS, Canon 60mm Macro f2.8

Filters: polarizer

Flash: Canon Speedlite 580EX

Tripod: Manfrotto 190MF3

I have been a photographer for 50 years.

My areas of photographic interest:

Events
People
Animals
Night
Travel
Macro

My favorite places to photograph: European Cities at Night, Wildlife locations, Coasts, harbors, around water

My favorite destinations: Antarctica, Africa, Southwest, Europe

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop CS2 (Proficientcy - Proficient)

Occupation: Civic and nonprofit volunteer

My web site is http://www.tomdonahoephotography.com/

My favorite techniques: Shoot from the right place on the XYZ axis:

X - move left or right
Y - get low or high
Z - be the right distance from the subject

My photographic philosophy: "Get close, keep it clean and not cluttered, include a visually interesting foreground."

Linda Elsdon

Danville

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Canon Rebel xsi

Lens: 18-55 mm, 75-300 mm, Macro EF-S 60mm

Filters: UV

Flash: Built In

I have been a photographer for 2 years in Decembers 2011.

My areas of photographic interest: Landscape, Family, People, Animals, Macro, Flowers

My favorite places to photograph: Local sights in California, especially coastal scenes.

My favorite destinations: Northeast England

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop Elements (Proficientcy - Novice)

Occupation: Consultant

My favorite techniques: Get in close and simplify My photographic philosophy: There's so much to learn and I'm willing to try!

This is one of my favorite photos: a red Poppy taken with my macro lens.

Lisa Franklin

Walnut Creek

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Canon Rebel Xsi

Lens: 18-55mm f4-f5.6, 55-250mm f4-f5.6, 100mm macro f2.8

Filters: polarizer

Flash: Built In

Tripod: Manfrotto

I have been a photographer off and on since high school but have been serious about it the past few years.

My areas of photographic interest:

Landscape, People, Architecture, Animals, Night, Travel, Macro, Still, Flowers,

My favorite places to photograph: Anywhere I can take my camera.

My favorite destinations: Alaska, Italy, Pt. Reyes

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop Elements 8.0 (Proficientcy - Skilled)

Occupation: Career Counselor

My web site ishttp://www.blackcatwriting.com/

My favorite techniques: Stop and allow things to reveal themselves to you. Just when you think you've seen everything in front of you, you'll discover something new.

My photographic philosophy: "Shoot first, ask questions later."

This is one of my favorite photos.

Jim Mammon

American Canyon, California

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Nikon D200, D80

Lens: Nikon 18-200mm VR, Nikon 70-300 VR, Sigma 50-500mm, Sigma 10-20mm

Filters: UV

Flash: Nikon SB 600, SB 400, and on camera flash

Tripod: Benro

I've enjoyed photogaphy for over 40 years.

My areas of photographic interest:

Landscape
Events
Family
Animals
Travel
Macro
Flowers

My favorite places to photograph: San Diego County and Yosemite

My favorite destinations: Planning a trip to China in 2008

Program I use to edit my pictures: Nikon Capture NX. (Proficiency - Skilled)

Occupation: Retired. I love photography and shooting muzzleloading rifles and old west single shot black powder cartridge rifles.

My favorite techniques: I am beginning to use my tripod and monopod as a part of my standard equipment.

My photographic philosophy: "Above all, have fun."

This is my favorite photograph of my youngest grandson.

Mike McKnelly and Marlene

Antioch, California

Format: Digital-JPEG

Camera: Nikon D90

Lens: Nikon 18-200 VR Zoom, Nikon 18-105 VR Zoom

Filters: Hoya and B&W UV

Flash: Nikon SB-600 & SB-900

Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB with 804RC2 Pan Tilt Head

I have been a photographer for 45 Years.

My areas of photographic interest:

Portrait
Landscape
Family
Travel

My favorite destination is Alaska

Program I use to edit my pictures: Lightroom 2 & PSP Photo X2 (Proficiency: Proficient)

Occupation: Retired

My web site: www.mcknellydesigns.com

One of my favorite photographs is of the Mendenhall Glacier.

Grant Reiling

Walnut Creek

Format: Digital-JPEG

Camera: Nikon D-40, Nikon Coolpix L1

Lens: AF-S Nikkor 55-200,18-55

Filters: Polarizer

Flash: In-camera flash

Tripod: Bogen Manfrotto

I have been a photographer for : a decade or so...

My areas of photographic interest:

Landscape
Events
Family
Architecture
Animals
Night
Travel

My favorite places to photograph : all the forgotten ones we often overlook.

My favorite destinations: Germany, Canada, New England Northern Minnesota.

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop CS3 (Proficiency: Novice)

Occupation: Retired Architect

My favorite techniques: patience, persistence and inquisitiveness.

My photographic philosophy: The camera is a window into my soul, the photos transcripts of desire.

This is one of my favorite photos.

Jerry Samelson

Dublin

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Nikon D300

Lens: 18-70mm-basic; 70-300mm tele zoom; 80-400mm zoom

Filters: For the appropriate conditions: split gradient neutral density 0.9 factor; circular polarizing filter

Flash: Nikon SB800 Speed-Light

Tripod: Manfrotto

I have been a photographer for 30+ years; strictly amateur

My areas of photographic interest:

Portrait
Landscape
Events
Family
People
Animals
Sports
Night
Underwater
Travel
Flowers

My favorite places to photograph : anyplace there is abundant wild-life; sporting events; cultural events involving people and customs of different cultures; botannical gardens; ocean, mountains, desert, wildlife refuges.

My favorite destinations: all over western North America; Hawaii and Micronesia; Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Indonesia, S.E. Asia; India, Tibet, Nepal, Southern Africa; Antartica; Caribbean islands and Central America on Atlantic coast because I am a scuba diver. That covers it!

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop CS-5 & Lightroom 3.2 (Proficiency: Improvement)

I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).

Occupation: Optometrist

My favorite techniques: I try to adhere to the basic core guidelines of good exposure & composition; use rule of thirds; always shoot in raw; use tripod & mono-pod when my shutter speeds are less than 1/30sec or when I want the clearest image possible; use expo disc primarily indoors & when lighting complex for the truest colors; using polarizing filter for any water/snow shots; using neutral density filters to add more contrast to scenes/sky etc; using fill flash for people, small wildlife; trying to experiment with shooting low, shoot different angles; making sure my camera is level & that I am not getting any unwanted "things/people" in my photo; always check my equipment & settings on camera making sure everything works before I go on the shoot; bring spare everything, especially fully charged batteries!

Finally, have fun with every shoot with no expectations!

In processing the image: effective cropping; use of Gaussian Blur to remove "background clutter" & create special effects; use things like stone clamp tool, perspective correction, etc. to correct deficiencies in the original image.

My photographic philosophy: I enjoy my photography the most when I can capture & create an image that evokes any strong emotion from me (hence from anyone viewing my image); hopefully that emotion will make myself feel in awe or make me think a little more about the complex world we live

This is one of my favorite photos.

Stephen Smith

Concord

Format: Digital-RAW

Camera: Nikon D3000

Lens: Nikon 18-55mm, Nikon 55-200mm, Nikon 70-300mm

Flash: Camera flash only

I have been a photographer for less than a year 2010.

My areas of photographic interest: Landscape, Architecture, Animals, Travel, Flowers

My favorite places to photograph : This year my wife and I have made it our goal to hike every trail on Mt. Diablo and document each hike with it's unique offerings. We also try to explore a different area at least once a month, mostly in the Bay Area, to capture new and different environments.

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop and Picasa for quick edits - Proficiency: Novice

NAPP: No

Occupation: Corporate Finance

My photographic philosophy: While I am really am a novice, I try to always capture the essence of the environment that I am in. An obvious goal for sure, but one that I know will continually challenge me to bring back the emotion of the moment to share with others through a single view of what I experienced.

This is one of my favorite photos: Raven Fanning.

Michael Warwick

Walnut Creek
email: naturalvisions@sbcglobal.net

Format: Digital-JPEG, Digital-RAW , Film-Slide

Camera: Nikon D90, Mamiya RZ67

Lens: Nikon 18-55, 55-200
Mamiya 50mm, 75mm, 140mm, 200mm, 300mm

Filters: Warming and split nuetral density filters

Tripod: Bogen and Slik

I have been a photographer for 25 years.

My areas of photographic interest: Landscape, People, Architecture, Night, Travel, Macro, Still, Flowers. I often use some Photoshop tools to transform a photo into a painting and then print them on canvas

I keep finding different and unusual images in many different places and these images often lend themselves to great photo "paintings".

My favorite destinations: California (Yosemite is always a favorite), Arizona, Utah Colorado, New England in Fall, Europe.

Program I use to edit my pictures: Photoshop - Proficiency: Skilled

NAPP: No

My web site: www.naturalvisions.com

My favorite techniques: Photoshop Poster Edges is a great tool to experiment with. Gradients make for some very nice backgrounds.

My photographic philosophy: I am always learning, exploring and experimenting with new techniques and perspectives.

This is one of my favorite photos: Yellow Blue Irissm