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So how you feeling about having your head on the block?
What kind of questions are you expecting?
Hi Chris,
You have been a member here for quite a while now and very helpful in the forum's (thanks for helping me choose my really great giotto over a year back).
However you are very selective about publishing photo's in your gallery and you say your too busy in you profile, is this still the case?
Cheers,
Stuart
Quote: So how you feeling about having your head on the block?
What kind of questions are you expecting?
Hi Ade. I'm feeling fine about this. EPZ goes a little quiet this time of year so I'm not expecting too many questions, but I don't mind. Anyone can ask whatever they want.
As for kinds of questions, it would be nice if people asked me more personal questions i.e. about me as a person and what makes me "me", as well as any general photography types of question. I really am open to anything, and I'll try and answer as fully as possible.
It's all a bit of fun really. Thanks for getting the ball rolling!
Quote: However you are very selective about publishing photo's in your gallery and you say your too busy in you profile, is this still the case?
Hi Stuart. Sadly it does appear to still be the case! I guess it's just part of life. I work 9-5 Monday to Friday, and drop in to EPZ through the day when I can, but come the evening I'm home with my wife and don't find much time to get online. There's always something to do, even cooking a meal and just winding down for the evening, next thing I know it's time for bed and another day is over!
I've got thousands of RAWs from walks, holidays, and just general stuff around the house or garden etc, but they sit there unprocessed! I've got half decent processing skills so there's no excuse really, apart from the lack of time! So many day to day tasks that get in the way... Hope that makes sense?
OK - just a couple of quick questions Chris................
CD of the moment ?? ( what's in the drawer NOW !!! )
CD of all time ??
best live gig ??
fav band ??
fav guitarist ??
Rock On my friend !!!!!!!!!!
Bloody hell Geoff, where do I start?? I'm gonna have to give these some thought. I've been to some fantastic gigs over the last 15 years or so, and loads of great festivals in the Uk and Europe, so it's hard to pin down one single best gig etc...
CD of the moment: Self-titled debut album from "Mutiny Within". Heavy and technical, two of my favourite qualities in Metal music! Geoff, you must check these out!
CD of all time: Jeez, this is hard. My instant thought would be "Awake" by Dream Theater. I can listen to that CD today and fall in love with it all over again. Technical yet simple in places, soft yet heavy, a brilliant mixture of everything in one album and still sounds fresh as the day it was released ('92 I think). Erotomania, Voices and Silent Man is an amazing trio of songs...
Failing that, I could go with one of many classics, such as Number Of The Beast, Fear Of The Dark, or Master Of Puppets...??
Best live gig: As I said in the opener, really hard to decide. For a single, live gig I would have to say Dream Theater again. Back in 2000/1 they played the Metropolis album in its entirety, with added extras thrown in, then another hour and a half of classic DT songs. Value for money! And the warmup band was none other than Spock's Beard, if I remember right? More Prog Rock genius... It was an amazing night.
If the question was "festival" instead of individual gig...? I've been to Sweden Rock, Wacken, Earthshaker, Graspop, HellFest, Bloodstock (all of them from the first!) and Hard Rock Hell, and quite a few biker rallies and festivals too. Impossible to pick one...
Favourite band: Dream Theater, but I think you'd guessed that by now! Did you expect my previous answers to be so biased/predictable? I know there's so much great music out there just in the Rock/Metal world, but they really do tick all my boxes.
Favourite guitarist: OK, even I'm getting sick of my own answers now but it would have to be John Petrucci... Actually, to offer alternatives, I would throw in Alexi Laiho of Children Of Bodom. He's technical and heavy, melodic as hell, and too good looking (so my wife tells me... lots!). As another alternative, I've always loved Symphony X so Michael Romeo is another guitar hero of mine. Brilliantly fast and melodic. Same goes for Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius...
Anyone wondering who these people are and how they sounds, search them out on YouTube or something. There's some brilliant videos of Alexi Laiho duetting with another guitarist playing classical music on guitar. Stunning stuff! Here it is: Classical Guitar Duet I haven't got speakers here but I think this is the one...
What do you think is the best thing about the World at the moment, do you think photographers can help promote this?
What about photography, how did that all happen for you then?...
Quote: What about photography, how did that all happen for you then?...
Hi Andy, I'll start with yours as Stuart's will take a bit more thought! From my very early teens when I was still taking holidays around Scotland with my parents, I used to "borrow" my dad's simple little Ricoh film camera. I'd probably use an extra roll or two throughout a week's holiday than he ever would!
After that, when I started getting away more on my own or with friends, I took the camera with me and snapped away. Never anything too serious at that point. Back in around 2002/3 I bought a Casio QV-R4 digital camera for about £350!!! It was state of the art back then, and even a 256MB memory card probably cost about £70! I used that camera everywhere, from holidays to gigs, to around the house... Still got it now, but it's a bit bulky for what it is, and the quality is absolutely crap compared to current compacts, let alone the DSLR.
In August 2007 I decided to plump for my first DSLR, a Canon 400D. I'm still happy with it though I'm aware of all the advances since then. Money is a bit tight so I won't be upgrading anything until it breaks!
I'm still learning as I go along so the knowledge is there, but the time and effort isn't always there! I get some decent shots though I don't post too frequently on here.
So that's about it. I love taking photographs, but don't take the hobby too seriously. Yeah, I'd love a 5D II or 7D and super lenses but I don't really need them for my level of experience or use. I'm realistic in what I can achieve with what I can afford! And maybe sadly, I haven't had that historical interest from film days, and to be honest I couldn't name you more than about 5 famous 'togs if I tried! I consider photography one of my main hobbies, but with limitations!!
Hope that answers my photographic history!
Quote: What do you think is the best thing about the World at the moment, do you think photographers can help promote this?
Stuart, that's a toughy! Being perfectly honest, I can think of more "worst" things than "best" things. I try not to watch the news as it's usually all doom and gloom. I remember my parents talking about how hard things were for them and how tight money was when I was growing up. Now I'm in that situation where I pay the mortgage, the bills, the extortionate fuel costs on a car and a house... Insurance policies coming out of my ears... Christmas in a few weeks... My company going into administration for the second time in 16 months... Not too sure if I will have a job in the new year, so it's a little difficult to find the best things about the world (my world) right now.
Strangely, and if you knew me well in the real world you might have a better understanding of what I'm about to say, but sometimes the really simple things make me happy in life. Maybe I'm digressing from the question slightly, but there's some days when I'm out with my wife, walking my dog, the sun's shining, I haven't a care in the world, and I just feel so happy and privileged to be alive in this time. I'm fortunate to live out of town in a relatively quiet village with fields and woodlands nearby. This all helps me to think the world is a decent place. I know it can be, yet I know there's a lot of really bad things out there.
What can photographer's do to promote the best thing about the world? I don't know if my waffling on had anything to do about the question now! I love seeing some of the great photos on here of places I've been to, especially Scotland, Cumbria, and my native Derbyshire and the Peak District. Keep posting glorious pictures of places like that, and you can promote happy times for me at least! 
Did that answer the question? Probably not. It's a big world out there, and I'm not sure photographers or anyone else can do enough to promote the good things that happen...
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