I'll start. My name is Vishal and I was born in Nangal, Punjab in India.
I moved to the U.S. at the age of 2 and have lived in Milwaukee, WI,
Rockford, IL, Los Lunas, NM, Gainesville, FL, and now I live and work
in Las Vegas, NV as a medical physicist.

I did my bachelor's degree in computer science from University of New Mexico
in Albuquerque, NM. I did my master's degree in medical physics from
University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

I like photography and I'm a self-taught photographer with a Nikon D5000.
My other hobbies include road trips and reading books, especially sci-fi.

I enjoy the desert with the sand and heat.
I've gone back to India 3 times so far.
If you meet me in real life, I'm very quiet and introspective.

My name is David Foster. I live in the United States. I work in the Health Physics side of environmental compliance.

My interests are historical research, the environment, politics, and photography.

I'm Ken Osborn, aka Misterken, and am still an amateur photographer but trying to earn enough to afford my camera upgrades and misc equipment.

I taught HS chem/physics/math/photography for 5 years and community college ecology for 2. I am recently retired as a lab rat of 33 years heavily steeped in the statistical side of data issues and regulatory concerns.

I have exhibited some of my work at local cafes and restaurants and most recently was one of four photographers in an exhibit on the legacy of Richmond's (CA) historic Japanese-American nurseries at the Richmond Art Center galleries.

The camera is my third eye on which I depend to tell me what is happening in the world.

My name is Will Kuberski, born and raised in New Jersey. I'm a musician, artist, and carpenter/construction worker. Together, all of those titles equal: unemployed.

In the past year I've become serious about photography. I have Canon Rebel t1i and a 7D.

Hi everyone!

Thanks for having me :-)

I'm Samantha, an ordinary mum from Sheffield in the UK.

Photography is my hobby and obsession and I never leave the house without my camera. I don't have a super fancy Dslr, just a Fuji Finepix S1600 bridge camera. It fits in my bag and serves me just fine!

I've had some of my pictures in a couple of local exhibitons so far and fingers crossed this will happen again.

I am a lover of Urbexing and love documenting Sheffields fast disappearing industrial heritage. I am also interested in politics and local affairs.

I think this is a great group and thanks for inviting me!

I'm Steven Atha. I'm a resident of Birmingham, Alabama. I've been making photographs for about 40 years now, seriously for about 15 of those years. I'm trained as a lawyer, but haven't practiced for about 5 years now. I'm a stay-at-home dad, raising two boys and taking care of my trial lawyer wife.

I'm a gourmet cook, enjoy politics, backpacking, mountain biking, and documentary photography. While I don't make a living making images, I do make enough during a year to support my habit and have some interesting experiences along the way.

I'm currently working on a book of my images that will combine the Obama Inauguration and the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

Good to hear from all of you.
Thanks for sharing a bit about yourselves.

Hi peoples.

I'm Phil Hawker. I live in London, and abide in Madeira where I fulfill my passion for big game fishing.

I started out (41 years ago) as a trainee photojournalist on a local rag, but later took a degree and became an Art & Drama teacher, and then took a professional diploma in Social Work, when I specialised in working with disaffected kids, children at risk, families in crisis, and young offenders, and undertook individual counselling & groupwork projects. My most recent work was as a community development manager, until ill-health rendered me unfit 7 years ago. I spend my remission with a camera, and/or a fishing rod, and an attitude.

I'm divorced, and have a daughter aged 27 who's currently doing a Masters degree in Art, and works in sculpture.

I'm a proud Humanist, Socialist, and angry old git.

Thanks David for inviting me to post my photos here.

Best wishes to all.

Hi, I'm Dominique Sherter - I'm really honored to have my picture among so many beautiful and impressive shots!

I currently live in wonderful Hyde Park, Chicago with a very good friend, Mike Rhum, who appears in some of my shots - see the one with his beautiful hand-made swords! I was born in L.A. raised in Paris, Martinique and DeeKalb IL! I've done any number of jobs - photography has been a hobby for some 3 years.

I came back to the States this July from 2 years in Mexico City, teaching ESL, and having the great opportunity to use my training in Public Health to kick-start (and continue, thanks to wonderful collaborators) a nutritional program teaching parents of kids being treated for cancer how to feed their children well and cheaply. I'm particularly honored and pleased to have been invited to this group - I went out of my way, while in Mexico, to avoid pictures of people experiencing emotional misery. This pic. was taken during my last week in the country, after a last meeting with my former student and project-collaborator. This woman clearly had a lot of guts and spirit - she is obviously very poor, as are so many in this city, but she is radiant, hard-working, and hopeful. Again, an honor!

Glad to have you here, Phil and Dominique.

Dekalb, IL - isn't that where NIU is? I remember my mom
getting a degree from there. That's also the hometown
of Cindy Crawford!

Good to hear your story, Dominique.

My name is Frits Plantinga and I was born in 1942 on the Dutch Waddensea island of Texel, during the German occupation of our country ( 1940-1945).

My parents were convinced social-democrats, and I'm too.

I have had a long career at a Dutch teacher training college during 17 years and after that I have become an educational expert in teaching and learning in higher education and curriculum development. From 1994 till my retirement last year ( 2009) I have been working on many projects in higher education / teacher training / curriculum development / Problem Based Learning, mainly in Eastern Europe / Middle East / Africa and Asia. I even have been living in Lebanon ( 2000) and Qatar ( 2004).

I like travelling and subjects as history, politics, intercultural management, cultural differences. I do voluntary work on refugees / asyllumseekers in my country and sometimes host them if they are "dumped" out of some Dutch detention camp.

Photography has become a great hobby since I bought my first digital "point and shoot" camera in 2004.

Since 2009 I'm retired and like to travel as much as my financial budget for it allows it. Many times I have got invitations from former students and colleagues of mine to visit them.

In Flickr I have built up some collection of 20.000 pics, showing my main travelling and photographic interests, still working with a simple digital "point and shoot" Canon camera.

Thanks for joining Frits. I've enjoyed your photos and disscussions for several years now. We look forward to seeing your work in our photo pool.

David

Hi, my name is... Patrick. I was born in 1973, live in Heidelberg / Germany and I'm photographing reportage, stage and what i call "moments".

Hi, My name is Kyle Brasier, I was born in 1982 in Michigan. I have been living in Utah for the past 9 years.

I started shooting back in 2005 as a hobby while i was in the United States Air Force, I decided to make it a career in 2007 when i changed jobs to be a military photographer.

I am currently deployed to Afghanistan with an Army unit. I have the honor to serve my country and hopely do something to impact the lives of the local pouplation with my gift.

I have been granted to the opertunity to travel the globe and see things that i never would have dreamed and meet people who are no differant than you or I. The one thing that we all have in common is HONOR! I hope to capture that though my lens.

I used to be very private of my work and not to show it to anyone or post it online and I realized that it was not doing anyone any good.I look foward to any commets on photos (good i hope) i just want people to see my work now. Thanks

Hi Patrick and Kyle. Welcome to the group.
You both have some excellent fotos.

David, thanks for the invite. After scanning the threads and a few pages of pictures, I feel like this section is populated by adults.

I am a native, 2nd generation Arizona resident. I have only lived near Washington D. C. for 2 months when a teenager. Look forward to seeing a worldwide perspective here.

I am a TEA Party member, which should qualify for the "protest" part of this blog. I registered as a Democrat the first time, but Jimmy Carter convinced me to switch to Republican. I am fairly active in local politics, enough so that the past 5 mayors of Prescott know me by first name. I would define myself as a Conservative Nationalist standing up for traditional values, but don't like big corporations and government. Warning: I am NOT Politically Correct!

I have been self-employed for most of my life in the construction (nowadays it's conSUCKtion) sector, the economy has ruined my future. I believe if everyone had to write a check to the IRS each year, instead of having withholding, there would be more involvement in politics from the public.

I have always had an interest in photography, at one time tried video NLE. A well taken photo says a 1000 words (in all languages).

Kurt,

Thanks for joining the group! Quite a photostream you have there, do you have any photo’s that fit the “culture” description of the group as well as the tea Party?

Take Care

David

My name is Thom Sheridan and I'm from Cleveland. I've lived here for 48 of my 51 years (I've also lived in Phoenix and Pueblo, Colorado). I'm an event photographer for many local publications and corporations. My best account is Cleveland Magazine.
I am married and have a 23 year old son. I also have a great Beagle mutt!
Thanks for starting this new group, as I was getting pretty disgusted with all the trolls in the last group. It will be nice to be able to debate with people that are willing to be transparent and open.

P.S. Kyle Brasier- Thank you for your service for our country. You are braver than I am! You are all true heroes.
Kurt- You are a rarity, as there aren't a whole lot of second generation people from Arizona!

We are students and supporters peacefully occupying the Jeremy Bentham room at UCL (University College London.)

You can read our full demands on: ucloccupation.wordpress.com/demands/

You can keep up with everything we're doing at: ucloccupation.wordpress.com/
and follow us on Twitter:
twitter.com/UCLOccupation

You can even come and say hello if you see something you like on here - either in person (ucloccupation.wordpress.com/find-us/) or leave us something in solidarity: ucloccupation.wordpress.com/support-us/


And in answer to the rest of the questions - we're from all over the place, hobbies and interests at the moment are keeping up our presence on social media and banner making :) Just come to our stream and leave us some solidarity!

Greetings from Ireland, thanks for the invite.

My Name is Trev , I was born, live and work in Dublin. I work for an Energy and Utility Management company as a Systems Manager and dabble in photography in my spare time

Im happy to add to the group, there will be plenty more opportunities to contribute as we are going through some huge economic and social upheaval here in Ireland right now and there is a growing protest movement gathering momentum.

Its pretty sad what heppening here right now, and I guess like anywhere else in the world when the crap hits the fan its the poor, weak and vulnerable that suffer most.

I'm not a very political person, but given the situation we find ourselves in Im pretty motivated to speak up and protest against what I perceive to be nothing short of economic treason inflicted upon our people by a government that had no mandate to heap an insurmountable debt that will last for generations.

So that's all for now , Erin go Bragh.
T

Welcome, Thom, UCL students & supporters, and Trev.
Trev, I hope to hear from you about the situation in Ireland.

Thanks, VeEe MaN - big day today in London, looking forward to everybody's pix!

ucloccupation - what's happening in London?

Well...where shall we start: protests against fees & cuts on tuesday got more than a little rowdy due to incidences of kettling and possible police brutality (www.flickr.com/photos/ucloccupation/5223337158/,) a lot of other universities have gone into occupation, however we are now facing threat of eviction (got served with a possession order this afternoon) and go to court tomorrow at two o'clock in the afternoon GMT. (As a shameless plug, if you support freedom of speech, student action, anti-cuts activity or all of the above, please help us fight our legal battle: ucloccupation.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/help-ucl-occupatio...

so, busy busy...
If anyone wants a photo opportunity: Central London County Court, 2pm, Fri Dec 3. We will have protestors outside and other media, but still a good opportunity for shots for freelancers.,

maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=central+london+county+court&...

ucloccupation - just to clarify, what is "kettling"?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettling

It is the tactic used by police to contain protestors; there are currently questions over its legality in the UK after it has been linked to police violence on the student protests of the past few weeks.

Wow, ucloccupation - kettling is a sick thing.
But the government should realize that when they
resort to such bizarre & twisted tactics, the public
will eventually move towards more guerilla actions
because they're left w/ little choice.

It's a device that punishes, and is designed to deter legitimate public protest. It's bound to provoke a hostile response, which it does with intent. It's something far removed from the principles behind the civil right to demonstrate, and freedom of speech. It speaks volumes about the distainful nature of politics in the UK over the last 40 years, and since the advent of the new order constructed under Thatcherism, and our transatlantic ally.

I'm a very angry old man who watched the slow and painful dismantling of people like Tony Benn, and the Bevan inheritants. That was when 'Labour' stood for something socially...and now we only have a choice between right, and far right politics. They jokingly call it a 'democracy'.

There's an active dichotomy of interests between corporate development, and public/human rights. That is most tragically epitomised in the Iraq war, goes on every day in vetos at UN level, and in our domestic economies in which the poor bear the greatest burden of cost when the economy in decline. Increasing the personal cost of education is a fundamental example of how the poor are squeezed out of the competition for shrinking resources. It's madness, unbelievably short-sighted, and it's spiralling us deeper into the decline of a 40 year history of 'boom & bust'. Limit opportunity, and you limit prospect.

FIGHT the FIGHT guys and gals!!!

Hi
Thanks for the invitation to join this fantastic group. I am part of Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (www.sacc.org.uk). We are a grassroots campaign started up in 2003 and I find photographing our activities on demo.s and outdoor events great fun!
Cheers
Julia

Glad to have you here in this group, Julia.

I'm Kim from California
I'm a Cali native!
I teach preschool
I make photos for people on weekends to supplement my income and for fun
I'm a mom and here's my website, my blog, and Facebook page:

www.orbitgal.com

kcmstories.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/pages/Kim-C-Martin-Photography/120476001...

My name is Michael. Born in Montreal, currently live in Ottawa, but have also lived in Edinburgh, Oxford, and Cambridge while growing up (my father was a research physician who spent some time working in the UK).

I have two undergraduate degrees, business and computer science, and work as an IT Consultant - I am currently the database architect for a project to modernize the systems used in running Canada's federal elections.

Prior to striking out on my own, I used to work for a few companies which provided billing and operational support systems to the telecom markets, and with them I spent considerable time working with clients in Scotland, London, Atlanta, Washington, and the Bay area of California.

My politics are a bit all over the map, socially I lean pretty far left, but fiscally I trend more center-right. I would probably describe myself as a rational pragmatist at a time when rationality and pragmatism seem in very short supply in government. I would assume that a lot of this mix comes from the rather mixed political environment I grew up in. My familly includes members who work with the United Nations, a campaign manager for the Liberal PArty of Canada, and also two ranking officers in the Canadian Forces (one Commodore(ret) and a General who will be back in Afghanistan later this year). Needless to say, familly get togethers can have some interesting discussions.

Photography is my hobby, and Flickr has been an outlet for that for a few years. Getting to mix a bit of politics in with that is just a bonus.

Hello Kim and Michael. Welcome to the group!

Welcome new members and thank you for participating in our discussions.

I haven't seen anyone from Mexico, so I think that, at least in this thread, im the first one.
My name is Eduardo, 22 years old, living in Mexico City since allways.
I've been raised in a convinced social family, always protesting against what's wrong in our country (that is almost every subject related to plitics). I try to live well according (and being coherent) with my ethics, and that includes of course being commited to send a message and comunicate trought my photos.

Im still very very amateur, but I think that, if your pictures can move at least one person, you did your job just fine.

I love reading, movies, and videogames, and it a great honor to be here posting with all of you, interesting people from around the globe.

PS: My english can be a total mess, learned it by myself xD, so im sorry if I misspelled some words.

Hi Edd,

Welcome to the group; great photos you have there.

PS. Your English is much better than my Spanish.

David

Hi everyone

I am Rita Banerji. And I am a writer and founder of # The 50 Million Missing Campaign which is fighting femicide (female feticide, infanticide, dowry murders and honor killings) in India.

We do also have a flickr group # flickr group which Veee Man also supports.

Thank you for the invitation to your group Veee Man. Happy to join!

Rita,

Thank you for joining this group & all the best in supporting
your cause. It's sad to see the way people in India & elsewhere
treat women & girls.

I still think 1 of the best Bollywood movies is Lajja.

Vishal M.

I have not formally introduced myself, although I been around for a little while. Most of my detail is in my profile, but quickly, I am a fifties-something writer/editor/journalist with more than thirty years experience, an Australian citizen with an international background. I am apolitical, more concerned with the man (or woman) than the party.

Some of you might have noticed a change in my status - David has asked me to assist in moderating the group and I have accepted.

I have been a journalist since the seventies, at first in politics - Television in Parliament House in Canberra, then in the eighties moving to print media. I primarily edit nowadays, with niche areas in IT, Fitness & Health, and Lifestyle.

I have no intention of "rocking the boat", I believe in freedom of expression, not censorship. I also believe in a realistic and amicable approach to that expression, even when expressing opposing views to another poster. This also applies to myself, I will now have to set a good example and tone down my occasional tendency toward sarcasm. So while I would not censor a post regarding subject matter or the writer's point of view, I might edit to remove superfluous content that is offensive, abusive or annoying material directed at another member of the group. While discussion and exchange of ideas is encouraged, most people enjoy that, petty squabbling and repetitive demands is not. If anyone asks another person a question and they choose not respond - let it go.

I believe that a group such as this can build itself into a genuine political force given the right incentive, control, and enthusiasm. Many private blogs have a lot of political say, and this could potentially equal them if the quality of comment and discussion is kept high, and the internal dissent kept low.

Welcome Rita,

I’ve heard quite a bit about femicide in China, but I didn’t know it was that extensive in India.

Thanks for joining the group.

David

***************************************************************************

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for bringing your experience journalism experience to the group and volunteering to help out. And covering the nightshift from Australia or am I covering the nightshift?

David

- Live in: Tucson, Arizona U$A

- Born: Chicago Illinois, grew up in Evanston, IL (Suburb of Chicago)

- What we do (for work): Buy and sell vacant land I own and obtained through delinquent tax-lien sales . . . business is really BAD now!

Currently I've been fixing up a house I obtained through tax liens and paying-off the heirs, who let the taxes go. Spent six-months of my life fixing it! Hope to put pics of the finished work on flickr soon and rent it out.

- Our hobbies and interests: Hiking, car-camping, music, LSD, a cable TV show I do on current events, gloom & doom, conspiracy theories and eliminating money (see some of my videos in my photo-stream).

- Anything else we want to share: I had a sex-change operation in Thailand a few years ago. I'd like to get out of Babylon, which is an unsustainable city-state of commerce and confusion.

More info: Google 666isMONEY.

Hi
thank you for requesting my photo of The Bike Parking Tax Protest be added to this group, im really pleased.
I do shoot for a local magazine but its only voluntary I dont get paid lol. I have had shots in the mag every month for a year now and this month made the front cover!
Id like to do a lot more phot/journo work but not as a full time tog as im getting on a bit.
The Sunday Times approached me to use one of my pics but when i asked if they would pay me for it they decided to send one of their own togs to take a new shot so almost got in a national publication!

btw Im 54 and I live in Grove Park, South London UK

Hi Raquel,

Welcome to the group, never heard about the LSD before, you’ll have to share that story with us someday. Perhaps a topic on drug use in America someday?

Take Care

David

***********************************************************************

Hi Dawn,

Welcome to the group and congratulations on the publications. Thanks for sharing the protest photos with us and dropping off a comment here.

Hope you stick around, were not as bad as we come across in the discussions.

Take Care

David

Welcome to this group, Dawn.

You have some excellent fotos in your stream.
That Bike Parking Tax - did it become law?
What is it, specifically?

Vishal

Thanks Vishal, and tks to the group for inviting me to add more of the pics I took today.
To be honest I didnt go to London today to take pics of this protest. I was there for The Chinese New Year but heard all the bikes hooting and dashed off to grab some pics of this. I did know of this problem bike riders are having but again to be honest as i don't ride a bike i havnt really looked into it but I will lol!
Heres some more info on this protest
[notobikeparkingtax.com/]

Just to let everyone know, I will use this site as the basis for
independence days for different countries, but I will cross check them.

Hello, all. Thanks to David for inviting my photo from the "March for Women's Lives" (25 April 2004).

I’m Lia Holloway. Was raised in small-town Mississippi, USA, but because my mother was a "war bride" raised in New York City, I developed an early interest in travel and other cultures from visiting my NYC cousins. Joined the US Air Force after college in the early 1970’s. Then 20 years later, after being stationed from Alaska to West Germany, ended up living in Washington, DC. Still travel as frequently as possible to visit (and photo) my large family, who are scattered from California to Connecticut. For the past 17 years I've been pursuing a 2nd career as a legislative analyst and volunteering on weekends as a Smithsonian Institution visitor information specialist.

I use anything handy (from cell phone to DSLR) to try to capture “the moment” and try to learn as much as I can from all the great images on Flickr.

Lia,

Welcome to the group. If you don't mind, we'd like to
hear from you about your experience as a legislative
analyst & what that entails in another thread.

Vishal

Be glad to. Would it be useful to start with "how an idea becomes a law" or are there specific ideas or draft bills you think the group would be most interested in discussing?

Lia,

Let's start w/ how an idea becomes a law & then
we can go from there.

Vishal

I'm Dom Evans, living in York, UK. I'm on a gap year and am earning money in a camera shop. Over the next year I'll be trying to sell my skills as a photographer to anyone who'll take them.

I love developing film and maintaining old cameras... I'm mentally from the old school... Then taking them out and shooting people with them. Whilst I enjoy documentary and portraiture I haven't done enough for my liking yet...

Other interests include laughing at political, religious (and non-religious) and nationalist extremists and trying to preserve what little sanity I have...

Dom

Thanks Dominic, Mr. Jeffery, and John.

Hi, I'm Veronica Castillo from Lima, Peru bur currently living in Barcelona, Spain. I study a masters degree in Energy Efficiency, hope I make a change.

I like taking and processing photos, going on trips, walking my dog, watching movies, cooking and baking.

Welcome to the group, Veronica & Joshua.

Hi all,
My name is Russell. Anthropology graduate, now studying an MA in conflict security and development. I have a passion for political and hard news photography and have photographed in The West Bank, Gaza and last year after completing a hostile environment training course i was embedded with NATO.

I really enjoy this site and all the different angles people bring to it through their images. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Russell. You have some great shots there, would love to hear about being embedded with NATO. Welcome to the group.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for adding me

My name is Avery Cropp. I'm a recent graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato with a double major in Journalism and Spanish. I'm hoping to get my big professional journalism break soon.

Though I love photography, writing is a passion of mine. I'm fascinated by the world and people in it and all of the photos in this group are fantastic! I'm looking forward to looking through them in the future.

If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that everyone has a story and the fact that a powerful photo can tell a story just as well as words is something that keeps me intrigued as a take my photographs.

Hi Avery,

Congratulations on the degree! I wish you best in your career and with your passion you will be a success in journalism.

Thanks for sharing with us and joining the group.


Hi John,

We owe you so much, especially for the galleries you created that are now linked to our home page. Amnesty International is a worthy cause that’s making a difference in this world. I hope you stay with us for long time.

My name is Danielle, Im an ex photographic student of a specialist little college in Melbourne Australia (where I live). That was many years ago now though, I was only 20 years old when I did that. Thats like over 10 years ago.

Im a nurse now and after leaving photography for a number of years, I started again over a year or so ago. Photojournalism which was never a strong point of mine or even a major interest is now one of my primary interests (along with general commercial and or fashion and also fine art). I know that old saying that a photo can speak 1000 words, and for some reason or another there's less gripping photos in our media than there used to be, photos hold emotion, text is just text a lot of the time if you think how I do. Many stories dont even get told and I think thats sad in a way. I think news and or documentary photography/journalism is very important to our society. And in some cases can put a voice on the voiceless people of our society. I also deem this important.

Hey everyone, my name's Josh.

I'm living just outside of Taipei, Taiwan - and have been here for the last seven years using east Asia as a base for my travels!

I'm originally from beautiful Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada. I've also spent a couple of years in China before arriving at my current hideout. I'm working here in Taiwan as an English teacher and freelance photographer.

In my spare time when I'm not shooting, I'm usually traveling, scuba diving, kayaking, playing hockey or practicing Tae Kwon Doe. My interests are very much political, I graduated with degrees in International Development and East Asian Studies.

A lot of my personal work which you can find on flickr is of Taiwanese culture and especially the harmony of religious life in this country.

I love how active this group is on flickr! Most groups I've been asked to join are pretty boring! Cheers to David!

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for joining the group and sharing. Love your work and positive outlook for photojournalism; glad to see more of it.


Hi Josh,

Thanks; I see the cherry trees are blooming in Taiwan; great photographs. Hope to see more of the Taiwan excellent cultural photos in the group.

I'm Mel and I live in Honolulu Hawaii.

I shoot photos mainly for myself, but do also take them for Smart Business Hawaii's website and monthly newsletter + for the onlline newspaper, HawaiiReporter.com. Some of my photos have also been published in other media.

Hello everyone! :D

Im Genny, 20 y.o university student ,I live in Jakarta, Indonesia
I was born in Jakarta in 1991
Photography is my hobby, I shoot mainly street photography and journalism
well, i hope someday i can work as a photojournalist or something related to photography

Hi Mel,

Great site, I’ve been to Hawaii several times and you have truly captured the islands.

Aloha

********************************************************************

Hi Genny,

I impressed with your protest photography. Our next door neighbor is from Indonesia.

Keep up the good work

David

oh hello david
thank you for your compliment
really? thats great!
regards for your neighbor
and for you too

Hi all, my name is Ron.

I was born and bread in Liverpool and that is where I live still today. After leaving school I went into college to learn French polishing and furniture production which I loved at the time and continued to do for seven years after which I decided I'd like a break and went into truck driving which after nine or more years I'm still doing today. So I can't say I have too many complaints, in fact I do enjoy it. I have worked for a contractor at the Jaguar Landrover Halewood plant for five and a half years and I visit the midlands regularly collecting parts from automotive component manufactures and I have recently had a promotion to lead driver.

My main hobby until recently was music, guitar predominantly which I Have had to park up after becoming a father to a now 16 month old son of who I'm proud as punch! I haven't stopped playing guitar at home just as an active hobby. I have a song on itunes called Always on our minds, which is a tribute to the Hillsborough disaster and its victims written by a friend and myself. As far as photography goes I have always had an interest and have now taken it up as my main hobby and find it fits in perfectly well around my family and work life. I haven't yet what style of photography suits me best but enjoy catching people with a story to tell.

Also I'd like to say thanks for the invite to what looks to be a great and interesting group, I'll look forward to visiting and contributing.

Cheers Ron :-)

Just for the record, I'm an author and film writer, with 24 published books from major publishers, three produced screenplays and several scripts "doctored." I also (among other things) used to write for Sports Illustrated (7 years as an outside contrbutor) and was for 15 years a police reporter and stringer for a Scandanavian news service in New York. I also taught novel writing at UCLA and Cal State Northridge. Like most professional authors, I've also done a lot of weird stuff over the years: I taught high school in California (Econ, English, history), managed the main floor of Georg Jensen in New York, worked for RFK in 1968, did ROTC, sold candles in Beverly Hills, played ice hockey in Switzerland, delivered newspapers in Phildelphia and New York, wrote a non-fiction book with the NYPD, wrote a team history of the old New York (now SF) Giants baseball club. For the last 6 years, i've also worked in a public health clinic in Honduras for 7 to 10 days per year, most recently as a translator from Spanish to English. Currently, among other things, I'm adapting a series of French language graphic novels (or comics, if you wish) into an English language novel and translating another series into English. Most of this stuff appears somewhere in my Flickr pix. Feel free to browse through.

Hi Ron,

Quite a resume and a musician from Liverpool…a city that’s produced one the best if not the best in the group in business. Good shots of the giant puppets. I’ve seen the giant puppets in Europe, but never in the US; would love to see them in the Macy’s Parade.

Thanks for helping with the group.


David

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Noel,

Also quite a resume and thanks for all the contributions to group and I hope to see more of your witty prose. Good luck with the charity work, the world needs more men like you who are willing to sacrifice their time for others.

Thanks for helping with the group.

David

I only included the good stuff. ;-)

LOL. Give us the bad stuff, too please.

Hi David, it does read a little like a resume, think I got a little carried away there lol Cheers

Ron,

Seriously I liked the post; the more experience we gain in life the better we become.

Well, I'll start by saying who I am.

My name is Joshua Gillis, I am from Millbrook, Ontario, Canada (Beautiful small town).

I was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada (Very interesting city to go around just be careful due to the gang activity). But I was raised in Millbrook, till 2001 when I moved to North Carolina for 10 years. I moved back up here in 2010, so nine years in all honesty but very close to to 10.

For work, I do photography. I got hurt at my job last year pretty bad and haven't been able to return to regular work so I've turned my passion into my job, and I consider it one of the best decisions of my life. If I hadn't have done this, I wouldn't have gotten out to see all the beautiful sights I've seen around my area, nor would I have gotten to go to all the protests that I have covered. I love my job, and I love how it I meet new people the experience I get and the diversity still amazes me everyday.

One of my biggest hobbies is gaming, I game to relax...though call of duty tends to push my blood pressure up pretty high...my other hobbies are hiking, camping, and etc...

The only other thing I can think of sharing is part of my story. I have PTSD, I have seen quite a bit this has helped me open my eyes to seeing more than your average human would see. I help others before myself always and never give up on anyone. As they say in the US military "No man gets left behind".

Greetings colleagues!

My name is James Fassinger and I am a photojournalist based in Detroit, MI. Although I am new to Flickr, I've been shooting news photos professionally since back in 1989 when I had my first internship at the Bay City Times in Mid-Michigan.

After 1992, I spent most of my career living and working in Central Europe (based in Prague) where I worked on staff at the English-language paper Prognosis and then, after it closed its doors, freelanced for news organizations in the region. Also did quite a lot of street photography throughout Europe during that time, with exhibitions from that work here in the US.

In 2008 my family and I moved back from the Czech Republic to the Detroit area where I was raised. I've been doing assignment work here in the Midwest and working on projects like: "The Imagine Photo Club," which gives children on dialysis (waiting for kidney transplants) cameras to document their lives at home and "American Dissent," a collection of images from across America documenting the rise of protest and civil disobedience in the country.

I'm looking forward to participating in the group and looking at everyone's work!

James

Hi all!

My name is Jamie Doggett. I live in Auckland, New Zealand, but I'm originally from London, England. I am an amateur photographer, aiming to go pro in the future.

I sell wine for money, and enjoy drinking it in my own time. I love taking photos, and am exploring the different styles and ways of doing it, looking to find my niche.

I'm interested in science, nature, the environment, society and changing the world for the better. I hope I can somehow use my photography to further any of the above, or to just capture beautiful images and enrich people lives, including my own.

I'm enjoying being a part of this group - I've already entered some shots in a couple of the contests, and I'm very impressed with the quality of the images I'm seeing!

Cheers!

Jamie

Hi,

I'm back (again!)....my name is Tony Fischer and I live in Portland, Oregon and Paterson, New Jersey (split time). I have a B.A. in Sociology and Master's Degrees in Counseling and Ed. Administration. I am a retired teacher who has also worked extensively in the Criminal Justice system. I'm a Navy Vet. I've been a political activist and a leader in various associations. Two daughters and one beautiful Granddaughter. I am liberal and pro-President Obama. I am so happy to be part of this group.

Greetings, I'm Jane Rickard, Photog, artist and nurse. Born and raised in Western NY, got my BS for Rochester Institute of Tecnology and Nursing degree from Erie County Community College. I'm into Dun Emmer Guild Style embroidery, have worked and lived in Dublin, yes I'm Irish. I've looked at live through a lens for 30 years but only really turned pro about 7 years ago when I got into sports photography. Shooting 1500 images a week will do that to you. I've left pro sports and now work with my husband and partner at our hyper-local while working as a school nurse for Chicago Public Schools. Who needs sleep? Presently, reality is that I work for Rahm to keep the family in health care and look after parents and kids who need me at night I'm a journalist. Did I also mention I'm a metal worker? I make jewlery Celtic in inspiration contemporary in design. Politically raised by a Lt. Col who taught me to love the constitution and "to always be true to myself" I am of course, pretty darn well...

Hello, Tony. Nice tosee you back here. (You'll be sorry. ;-0 )

Jane. Welcome. Nice to meet you. (I've been to The Fair City twice, btw, and greatly enjoyed it. Are you familiar with McDaid's?

Falcon Gillis,

Despite our political differences…I wish you well in your photography.


James,
Love Detroit, I was born just to the south in Toledo. Great to have a global photojournalist in the group…great shots!

Jamie,

Thanks for joining the photo contests. It was Veeman's idea of posting the winning photos and the photo of the year on the home page…letting the members choose the best photos and not the admins/mods.

Tony,

Welcome back, great to see you posting again.

Jane,

Welcome to the group. Where are you from in Western, NY; I worked in Olean /Alegheany, NY in the mid 90’s.

Noel,

Good luck on the pending book review for Hostage in Havana!

Thanks Jason,

I agree; it is one of the more pleasant threads.

Noel,

I just finished reading your book “Hostage in Havana”. Excellent work and even though it’s fiction it is a non-fiction account of what’s going on in Cuba. And I agree with your predictions from the novel on what’s in store next for Cuba.

Noel,
No I don't know Mc Dade's, usually its Captain O'Neil's for us, we know Brendan from our ceili days. (I played, husband danced.) Or do you mean the Daddy Brothers? I went to high school with John Daddy.

David,
I lived on Grand Island a mile upstream from the Falls, had to leave as Bflo never got out of the rust belt. Olean? I can tell one thing about you David, you know snow, how to drive in it, and when to stay home. You have my respect.

McDaid's is a literary haunt in Temple Bar, Dublin. Joyce usedf to hang out there, as did Brendan Behan and, I think, Dylan Thomas. Last time my wife and I were there, in a beery moment toward closing time, they allowe us behind the bar to draw some brew....



Of course, liquid refreshment is part of any trip to Ireland......The following from our honeymoon trip of 2003:

Sorry Noel, My fam is from Howth, land of Yeats. Believe it or not I think I can count one hand the drinks I've had outside of family haunts or sessions.

Last time I was in Howth it was quite a shock the places where I would go to sessions and pass time with the usual suspects are gone to condos. I stood in the street and wanted to cry, A little hole in the wall, the Lighthouse where Rickards had been drinking for generations was gone. It was nothing special but had great crack and sessions on Sunday afternoons with amazing musicians. One a retired fisherman named Bull who died 10 years ago, now he had a voice and a half. Noel I kept listening for his voice on the wind but it was gone like the Lighthouse. Anyway my husband is from Monaghan and we spend much of our time in the north with his family.

Did you know that Brendan Behan was a paper hanger and painter by trade? My cousin Seamus was his Irish tutor and that is how he paid for his lessons.

The North? Been there.

Does this look familiar? Hint: County Antrim.

Hi guys. My name is Clive and I currently live in Cambridge UK. For the last 15 or so years i've dabbled in graphic design, web design and just recently changed career direction again becoming a trainee in digital marketing.

Finding myself at a loose end this weekend I decided to pick up a friends camera and go out and take a few shots of a local demonstration. New to photography there was little planning and a lot of point and shoot but the buzz I gained from the experience was incredible. Once just content to sit and watch the world go by i'm now keen to record all that goes on around me.

Just joined Flickr and this group today. There are some simply amazing, inspiring and thought provoking images here. A lot of great talent. Here's hoping some of it rubs off in my direction. Any reviews, hints, tips and constructive criticism gratefully received. Particularly interested to hear views on what kit would be recommended for a newbie and the different ways people approach the art of photo journalism.

Cheers.

Hi Clive,

Very good work for a first time shoot with a camera, especially with protest photography.

Cheers for the feedback David. Much appreciated. Keeping my eyes peeled for new opportunities. Exciting times ahead I think.

Being asked to add my photo from Easter celebration in Girona, I became aware of this group. I added my photo and decided to become a member. I am Norwegian, female, quite grown-up (born 1954). I am happy when I manage to capture real events from real life. Being able to live in the French part of Catalonia parts of the year,the Catalan traditions are some of my motives.
When travelling I also try to reflect everyday people and the culture of today.
I'm looking forward to being a member of this group, to learn from you all, and to share some of my photos that are relevant to you :-)

I am Nosajjao, I'm from Michigan (a troll fond of wolverines for those of you who understand). My interest with photography started with my mother, and with very basic, cheap 35mm plastic cameras. She was always taking pictures of things, and for some reason I wanted to take pictures too. My first digital camera was some $30 hunk of junk toy I got at a Meijer's when I was 16 or 17. It was 1 megapixel or less, extremely terrible quality, but I still remember it. Been trying to scrounge for some of the old cameras we used to have. My cousin finally helped me jump into real photography, when she taught me the basics, the science, the craft of composition and metering. I bought a Nikon FE for $100 used, and it came with an old 70-210mm and a manual 50mm. I started from there and after a couple years of working out the kinks of learning, i'm more or less halfway decent. I still have a lot to learn, but between the travel I do and the imagination I have, hopefully my greatest shots are still to come. Besides traditional photography in both digital and film, I also practice time-lapse, long exposures, HDR, macro (focus stacked), and pixel edited creative shots. My desire to do all things at once is what makes me equally mediocre at all things instead of great at just one.

I am a linguist by trade, and musician / HIFI music obsessed listener / motorcycle rider by hobby.

Most of all I'm hoping people are more willing to post helpful criticism of my shots than just glowing praise phrases. I don't want to get a big head thinking I'm hot shite you know.

Hi,
I'm Sam living in sunny Singapore. I grew up here but I spent 4 years living in Adelaide, South Australia where I did my degree in International Studies. I did a major in Politics and a minor in History. Right now, I'm back in Singapore training to be a secondary school teacher in English and Social Studies.

I started taking pictures at a young age using disposable cameras, or borrowing my friends' point-and-shoots or DSLRs. I finally managed to buy my own camera last year and have not looked back since. Beyond photography, I enjoy football (or soccer if you will), reading, politics, music and travelling.

I'm always looking to improve so feel free to critique my pictures if you think there was something I could have done differently/done better in the shot. Thanks, and I look forward to getting to know you guys.

Hi my name is Chris Collins but some know me as local paparazzi
I live on the beautiful isthmus that is Madison, Wisconsin (state capital)
I've always lived in the midwest, After living in the suburbs of Madison for many years I ventured out to the heart of downtown in 2011. During the day (when I am not taking photos) I work retail in the customer service field, not as glorious as I'd like but it pays the bills. But my fun money comes from the time to time freelance gig in various publications in the area.

My main interest and hobby is photography, on January 1st 2009 I set myself the goal to do a "365 project" and after completing successfully the first year I have continued on taking a photo everyday since. So basically when I'm not working I'm taking photos nonstop thinking photograph 24/7 1588 days straight as of today. It has been determined that my life goal is to document everyday for the rest of my life with a photo.

I enjoy sitting with the local transients and hearing their stories and capturing their photo to tell the story. I have been accepted by many and would ideally like to give back somehow to them more then the change in my pocket. Also, I would LOVE to get a start as a photo journalist somehow I just don't know where to start. I went to school for a photography for a semester but found it too boring, and since I stopped going I've made more money doing photography.

Feel free to stop by the stream and share your thoughts with critiques being greatly appreciated!! Looking forward to getting to see soem awesome work!

Hello everyone - I'm Shelley and I'm from Rockville, Maryland - about 15 miles north of Washington DC.

I haven't been on flickr long -but was honored and thrilled when David requested to post a couple of my photos from a Keystone Pipeline Demonstration in Washington DC on the group's photos.

I thought I'd join this group and see if I could meet some other people -

Thanks again!

Hi Eva,

Thanks for joining the group and participating in the photo critique thread. Living in the southern USA and seeing the “Easter in Girona” it brought on a different meaning.


Nosajjao,

I grew up in my early childhood about a mile from Michigan state line in Toledo. Thanks for helping with the group discussions. What does Nosajjao mean?


Sam,

Great to have you. Lots of members from Australia and Singapore in the group. I hope you can join the critique thread.


Chris,

Thanks for sharing with us. Were you at the protests in Madison in 2011: www.flickr.com/groups/global_photojournalism_news_protest... ?


Hi Shelley,

Thanks for covering the Keystone Pipeline Demonstration, quite a move from wedding photography to protest photography.

Hello everyone,

I was flattered that two of my photos were chosen to be included in this group. Of all the kinds of photography I do I can honestly say that forms of photojournalism are my favorites. I live in California and Michigan. I work with a Canon 7D and a Panasonic Lumix for point and shoot.

Looking forward to exploring more with this group. Thanks for inviting me.

Hi Lakelady,

Thanks for joining the group and sharing your photojournalism with us.

Hello All:

My name is Daniel Calvo Camacho and I am from Costa Rica... A little country located in Central America.

I am Industrial Engineer and I had the chance to live in the USA a couple of times. Once in Indiana (2008 - 2009) and the last time in Miami (2010).

My hobbies are, other than phtography, mountain biking, hiking, read books and traveling my country and if I can, the world too.

I appreciate the critical advise on my pictures... You will notice that I started with simple Point & Shoot cameras and since one year ago I moved to DSLR (Nikon D5100).

So, that's me... Let's keep in contact!!

Hi - I am Bill Barrow. I have been living in Canada since 2011 and previously all my life in the little island of Trinidad in the southern Caribbean.

This is a very interesting group - thanks for the invite to display. I have been into photography as a hobby for over 25 years. I'm in the IT field, but auto racing, photography and astronomy are the things that keep me out of trouble when not working.

Hello everyone.

Hi everyone,

My name is Israel and I currently live in San Diego, Ca. For the last 5 years I have worked as an animator/ Illustrator. Recently I decided to venture into photography and I love it! I am not so sure why I never did it sooner.

I hope to capture images that touch on the human condition. Whether its evoking an emotion or capturing that right moment that shows our wonderful or not so wonderful humanity. I believe that if God were a photographer, He would know how to capture everything just right so we could see the beauty in everything. I push myself to follow that.

Thanks for the invitation to this group and adding one of my photos...I think it's wonderful.