Hello, My Name is...

...Israel, the man, not really the country.  So I'm finally dipping my toes into this blog business and would like to make a quick introduction about me.

I work in marketing for a national real estate firm, been in this industry for over 7 years now.  My experience in marketing dates back two decades and have really enjoyed it.  I like the creative aspects of the job but I'm also a nerd when it comes to crunching numbers, analytics and all.  Budgets, not so much but someone's gotta do it. They say that you're either left or right brained, so I guess I'm ambidextrous brained?

This blog is really going to be less about marketing, I may talk about it every now and then if I have an opinion on things but for the most part, I'd like to blog about my real passion: photography.  Today, I finally launched my photography website: http://www.ShutterandSmile.com and figured I'd start a photography blog to complement it.

I've always been fascinated with photography, albeit with point and shoot cameras.  Ironically, I worked for National Geographic for close to 10 years and rubbed elbows with the world's most notable photographers but didn't really get into photography seriously until recently.

Several years ago, a friend of mine sold me his used Nikon N50 film SLR and I immediately fell in love with it.  In fact, I loved it too much that I was late into the digital game.  I was clinging to film until it became obvious that it's a dying medium.  Now I know how the people who published Encyclopedia Brittanica felt.

When my kids started playing sports around 2008, I decided I should get a digital SLR... film is way too expensive to develop for sports photography.  My first DSLR purchase is a Nikon D40X and got scammed by an online retailer who sent me cheap, manual lenses with it.  I promptly returned it, went to Ritz and purchased the less expensive Nikon D40. It has less megapixels but otherwise identical to the D40X.  If you're still hung up on megapixels, here is an excellent article from noted Nikon expert Ken Rockwell: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

I ended up not using the 18-55mm lens that came with the D40, instead I immediately replaced it with an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II lens.  It was the best decision I ever made.  I love that all-in-one lens and I still have it today.  I highly recommend it, no more changing of lens from medium to telephoto and it's great for everyday use.

I used the D40 for about a year at which time, I was really starting to get serious with photography.  I upgraded to a Nikon D90 in 2009, which turned out to be a big travel year for the family: we traveled to London, Paris and Manila (Philippines) on three separate vacation trips.  I absolutely love the D90 and still uses it today.  I must've shot thousands of photos with it already.

Year 2010 is when I really got serious with photography.  We finished our basement last year and I allotted a section of it for a photo studio, which is now fully equipped with Ellinchrome lighting system. I also got a second body -- a full-frame Nikon D3, more on that at a later blog -- and several Nikkor lenses: 14-24mm f/2.8 wide angle, 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto, 50 mm f/1.8 prime and of course a full-frame 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 all-in-one lens.

I love my gear but I'm also evolving as a photographer.  I'm more in tuned with different aspects of the shot: available and manufactured light, composition, purpose of the shot, poses, and even the workflow in post-production.  I'm fortunate to be able to use my photography skills as part of my full-time marketing job, and because I travel a lot (over 50,000 miles in 2010), I was able to shoot a lot more landscapes and landmarks all over the country.

Welcome to my blog.  I appreciate you joining me in this adventure, I hope you'll find the topics here interesting.  Please do visit my photo website: http://www.ShutterandSmile.com -- that site has less talking and more visuals.

 Lastly, smile... life is good.