It has been pointed out that not introducing oneself is a breach of
list etiquette. It's time for me to correct _my_ breach of this point
of etiquette. After lurking on this list and posting only a few times
over the last year or so, I guess late is better than never. My
apologies ... (and apologies for the length of this autointroduction!)
My name is Steve Dropkin. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota, and have
lived here and nearby for almost 18 years. I have learned more about
the chemistry of snow than I ever thought possible. Before that, I
spent three years in Ag-Schnozz' neck of the woods (Iowa), graduated
from Iowa State University with a degree in journalism (no, I wasn't
the photographer). Before that, I lived on Long Island, New York, in
a suburb of New York City.
I'm a late Baby Boomer chronologically and pure Gen X in spirit. I'm
no longer married; I have no children or pets. I work at a large
multinational manufacturing company whose simple name (hint!) would
be recognized by everyone on the list, leading a computer system
development and support staff. I use a Macintosh, drive a
diesel-engined car (pretty rare in the U.S.), and am looking forward
to getting my model railroad out of storage once I'm in a house with
some room to spare.
I'm relatively new to "serious" photography. I've always liked taking
pictures with simple cameras, but I always shied away from
"photography," remembering my grandfather (a Yashicolic?) gathering
us kids for pictures and then fiddling "forever" with his manual SLR.
_That_ didn't seem like fun to me.
My introduction to the OM world came by accident (if you believe in
such things). I was scouting thrift stores for a turntable on which
to play "LPs" when I came across an SLR that seemed to be in good
shape, except that the back door wouldn't stay closed. I didn't know
anything about SLRs, but I'd heard of Olympus, so I figured it was
worth risking $10 and I bought it. One CLA (and replaced door) later,
I had a clean OM-1MD with a 50/1.8 lens and a hard leather case. A
couple of lenses (a 24/2.8 and a 135/3.5) and accessories, and that's
my kit. I love taking pictures with this camera. It's a joy to
operate and I appreciate that I have to _think_ instead of just
pressing the shutter. The only thing I don't like is that the
equipment leaves few excuses for bad pictures -- it _has _ to be me!
But now I understand what my grandfather enjoyed about photography. I
wish he still were around to see this.
I'm working on a second body (waiting for an OM-PC to come back from
Camtech) and am still cruising thrift stores for "finds" (haven't
found anything like the OM-1). I've picked up a 35SP that is one of
my "street" cameras; I have a Nik*n LSA35F for grab shots. I'm still
learning about taking pictures (though I've learned a _ton_ just from
reading this list) and wish I could make more time to take pictures
and teach myself.
I'm in the process of redoing my Web page, and, when it's done, I'll
put some pictures up there for review and discussion. I probably
will remain an infrequent contributor -- too many demands for
"OMoney" right now and not enough experience to do much
troubleshooting. But I'll get there!
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