A bit of info about my photography interest
Aug 23, 2004

My current interest in photography started several years ago with two goals - catching action shots of my other interest (mountain biking) and shooting pics of whatever sport my two daughters were involved with at the time (primarily recreational soccer). This started with a Canon EOS Rebel and a couple of basic lenses. Then, in early 2002, a friend loaned me a Canon EOS D30 body. The D30 was the first generation of affordable (term used loosely here ...) Canon digital SLR’s. My Rebel’s lenses fit it, and I got my first taste of digital photography and shooting freedom (freedom from film, processing, and printing costs). By June of that year, I had my own digital SLR, a Canon EOS D60 (6.3 megapixel, 2cd generation Canon digital SLR).

My older daughter started high school at Bowie in the Fall of 2002 and joined the Bowie Colorguard (part of the Marching Band).  This opened up several new photo opportunities and at the same time, I was dabbling on the fringes of commercial photography by helping shoot mountain bike races for the friend who had originally loaned me his D30 (He had recently started his own photography business).  I started with shots of the band’s half-time performance at football games and was soon shooting the game action, spectators, and cheerleaders.  As football season came to an end, we moved into indoor band and Winterguard.

As I learned more about photography and the challenges that certain situations present, I started moving toward higher end equipment.  This started with the purchase of a few lenses.  Much of what I was shooting involved ambient-light (no flash) and motion/activity of some sort.  Indoor band presented the challenge of even lower lighting levels. None of the activities were flash-friendly. This means “fast” lenses - lenses with max aperture’s in the range of F2.8. And, these aren’t cheap ....

Equipment upgrade, repair, and replacement costs, and to a lesser degree, web site costs, eventually drove me to seriously considering trying to generate revenue from my picture (repair and replacement costs alone ran over $1000 last year). Up until last Fall (2003), I was giving my photos away for free, and even today, they’re still free for school-related use such as yearbooks, in-school photo galleries, etc.  So, that’s where I’m at today - selling prints online and always hoping to upgrade to the just-announced next-generation or to the next performance level of equipment.

Photography is basically a hobby, and the commercial aspect is a small sideline. I work for Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor as an IC designer.  Thus, my time is limited and availability varies, depending on how busy things are on the work and home front.  This has been quite a bit of fun - the pursuit of the one, ultimate sports action shot! I hope ya’ll enjoy the pics and I’ll keep on chasing them as long as I can :-)

best regards,
john silvey