Hi Photo.net, I love to take photographs. If I didn't have to work, eat or sleep, I'd literally do it all the time. As terrible as it sounds, I've had dreams where I'd be in a bad situation & instead of finding safety, I'd be taking pictures... and I'd wake up laughing thinking "that is so me..." I guess I'd consider myself an enthusiast & as cliche as it may sound, I really do enjoy shooting most anything & everything. I have a day job and being somewhat new at photography, I don't think much about shooting for free--I've actually preferred it a few occasions because I felt I'd have more freedom in what I could shoot. Lately however, more & more people have asked me to take pictures for money so I figure that photo.net would be a great resource for a newbie such as myself. Mainly, I'd love to get constructive feedback on my work & to learn from others and their work as well. Here are some details about myself: I'm self-taught. I plan to attend workshops in the future. My style is candid/photo-journalistic. I'm highly critical of myself, although I've learned to ease up. For better or worse, I literally do like to shoot most things. For example, I went to the skate park one day to shoot people in action but nobody was there. I was just as excited to shoot a frog I had found. I dream of shooting for a magazine or other widely-circulated style/fashion publication someday. It may never happen, but I'll only be disappointed if I stopped dreaming. My website => http://mikeyrocks.net Feel free to drop a line or two! --Mikey
Hey, Mikey. I went to DC when I was 9. Loved it! I hope I can go back one day. Workshops are useful, for sure (though I'm not keen on the idea of photography as a tertiary subject on its own). A mate of mine went to a workshop about flash techniques and got a lot out of it. Better to reach for the clouds than look down at the mud! So your attitude is fine by me.
The best advice a new professional photographer here is from some of the gurus in the business forum. If you can get the money/business aspect of photography dealt with, you are halfway there. Welcome to PN!