Phoblographer, The Man

Hi! Welcome to my Blog! I have been on WordPress for about a year now, but the other day I thought up a brilliant name for my photo blog, but it turned out that “Phoblographer” was already taken, (dammit to the person who thought that up first) and i was a bit disappointed that someone thought up a brilliant name like that before I did. But I wasn’t willing to let go of it, because it was an original thought from my own head, so Phoblographer76 became my new blogging address.

Its a name that fits me well- two of my favorite things are photography and blogging. I have always been fond of cameras, and my family, friends and peers have always supported my love of photography. I have also been a fan of creative writing for as long as I’ve been able to write, almost to a fault

In High School I started taking a photography course, and by the time I was a sophomore, my photography class had consumed my life- leaving me barely passing in most of my other courses. Nothing else really mattered to me. I didn’t even show up to most of my other classes and if the teachers weren’t supportive of my photography, I didn’t care what they had to say about it.

I also took a creative writing class in High School. I passed with a C- mostly because the teacher had some kind of beef with me from incidents in the past. When she would give us a writing assignment, I would twist it around and do it my way- “Creatively” and most times I would receive negative grades for that.

Several of my teachers passed me even though I showed up in their classes only when it was convenient for me. In 1993 I became very ill and missed several months of school. Upon returning, I received little help from my teachers to pass my finals. I wound up quitting school and getting my G.E.D. in 1995.

My first real camera was given to me by my Uncle. He gave it to me for my birthday. It was an old Minolta, and it came complete with a 9x zoom lens and a wide angle lens. I took that camera with me everywhere, but with it being old and well used, the camera didn’t last very long. One year for my birthday my dad took me to a pawn shop and bought me a nice new Minolta. That camera traveled with me everywhere, up until some unfortunate incidents in Denver. I wound up leaving everything I owned there- came back to New Mexico with nothing but the clothes on my back. this is like a camera my uncle gave me this is like a camera my dad bought me

Without my camera by my side I took up Poetry. Not your nice beautiful poetry about trees and flowers and love and friendship- more so about people I didn’t know, people I made up, crazy stories and twisted reality. I stayed on Albuquerque’s poetry scene for about 4 years, pretty much until my dad passed away in 2004. I never stopped writing poems tho- I just got sick of reciting them to a bunch of people who wanted to hear about trees and flowers and love and friendship- and almost all of them wanted to win a spot in the National Poetry Slam. I didn’t care about that- I was in it for the joy of getting on stage and telling these people my stories. I write my poetry in rhyme- I’ve been compared to Shel Silverstein, and referred to as “Dr. Seuss on weed”, a title I hold proudly.

In 2005 I bought my first digital camera. This opened up a whole new world for me- there’s 9million things you can do with digital photography. I try not to alter my photos but sometimes lighting conditions and camera/operator errors occur, and can be easily fixed thru digital photography. I have also taken up creating animated .gif’s and even short films. Since I bought that first digital camera, I have purchased 6 more digital cameras, each with their own unique features. 3 of them are camera phones, and one of those camera phones has quickly become my best friend. an aiptek dv5900, my first digital camera an aiptek dv6800, my second digital camera a samsung flipshot, my favorite camera

I am proud to share my work with you, and I enjoy criticism, both good and bad. If you see something in one of my blogs that you hate, I want to know about it. If you see something on my blog that you love, i definitely want to hear about it.

Thank you for reading my story, and happy blogging!Slim.Shaney