Introduce Yourself

[White Dragon]

My name is Cash. I have been interested in photography since I bought my first Pentax in 1984. It was an SLR with screw mount lenses. It was a Pentax Asahi SP1000 if anyone is old enough to know what that is.
I have been out of photography for a long time but always had the interest. My wife bought me a new Pentax dSLR and I have been playing around with it trying to learn again.
I have a problem that I need some help with.
I am wondering if anyone has any advice on shooting dancers in low light without a flash. My wife and her friends bellydance and we are not permitted to use a flash to take shots of the shows but I either get really dark images 1/120 f4.5 or blurred images 1.5s f4.0

I have been looking at f2.8 and f1.4 lenses but will I be limited on the depth of field so much that only the front dancer will be in focus if I have a fixed lens? Am I looking at a $1000 lens in order to get an f2.8 zoom lens and will the f2.8 still reduce my focal length so much that I will not be able to get all the dancers on stage?
I am using a Pentax K-m dSLR right now.

Can anyone help?

[abhijnanm]

Hi all. My name is Abhijnan Mukherjee and I live in Bangalore,India. By profession I am a project manager in a mechanical firm. I got interested in photography when my wife bought me a Sony DSC H7 on valentine's day 2 years back.Then I did a crash course on photography to learn the basics. And from then on have been going on clicking.

I joined this site last year,and the best part about this place is that you receive the much appreciated comments and that helps you and boosts your confidence to go out and try something new.

I really want to make more friends on this site so as I can improve my photography abilities even further.

Thank you and DPS rocks!

[Kris10anne]

Hello All! My name is Kristen. I have always wanted to learn about photography but moving all over the world and being a home school mom to 4 kids can take up most of your time. ; ) However, my DH bought me a Canon xsi and an 8 week digital photography class to go along with it. Not so sure I am liking the class..I have learned more on this site! Anyway I have taken a few shots and used the free trials for "recolored" and "lightroom" to play around with them. I am hoping to get some advice on maybe what I am doing wrong in certain situations or suggestions on how things can be done easier, etc. I guess that's what most are here for. I'm super excited about this great web site!!

[paultopia]

Hi!

I'm Paul, I'm an ex-civil rights lawyer and currently a PhD candidate in political science at Stanford. Been shooting photos forever, but not seriously -- over the last few years, have become more and more interested in the subject -- started by developing my eye for composition, then took a photography class and learned some of the technical aspects. Mostly trying to increase my technical ability to the point where I can actually sell photos and win competitions. (I just made my first submission to a magazine this week... we'll see if they actually take it.) Shoot with everything, including a Rebel XT, an old Pentax ZX-50, a mid-range point-and-shoot, and an iphone :-) . Really, really, really need to learn postprocessing stuff, photoshop, gimp, etc. -- I can do crazy stuff in a darkroom, but not so much on a computer except for basic exposure/color/contrast adjustments.

[ronnicmc210]

Hi All
My name is Rhonda and I am the proud owner of a Nikon D5000. We seem to have a love/hate relationship. I love what it can do but hate that I don't know how to make it do those things.
I am going to take a short digital camera class in May so hopefully that will help.
I have found some great websites online including this one so I am self-teaching myself. I do better when I am shown though so we will see how this works out.
Let me say though that I am truly amazed by some of the photos I have seen here. You guys are awesome. I am no match for any of you for sure.]

If I can pick up just a few pointers from you guys then I will be honored.


Thanks
ronniemc

[WyldAngel]

I am WyldAngel and live in Northern Ontario.

I am married to the love of my life. We will be celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary in November. We are owned by an 11 year old Maltese/Terrier who thinks that she is people.

I've always had an interest in photography. It kind of comes and goes. LOL!! I started off with a Canon AE1 which I still own. I was given a Fuji Finepix S5200, which I wasn't all that impressed with. I recently purchased a Sony A300 with a standard lens, that I am trying to learn to use. I am looking forwward to getting some other lens for it.

I hope that I will be able to increase my photo taking knowledge as I wander around the forum and read your newletter. I'm sure that if I run into a problem I will be dropping off questions.

I'm off for a nosey around now.

[KimmyD]

My name is Kim, or you can call me Kimmy...doesn't matter.
I have been interested in photography since 2006, I was a senior in High School.
Even though when I was a kid I always enjoyed taking pictures.
So technically I have interested at a young age.
I usually go by "Perspective Photography" just to have a professional look.
Since I don't limit myself to just one genre of photo's.

Anyways, I live in Missouri...and I am 21 years old.
I tried getting into school but didn't happen, but I will try again soon.

I came across this site while looking up "Engagement Portraits" and thought I would join.
Hoping maybe I can learn more from this site...

I use a Nikon D40!

[denskii05]

Hi my name is Den Prado from Philippines currently working in Georgetown Cayman Islands. I have passion with photography since then and after acquiring my new DSLR camera (E-520) last Dec 2009 I became hooked to it.

I'm very glad to find this site and lovin it day by day.

Cheers to everyone.

[gdinalamo]

My name is Gary. I am in the military (soon to retire hopefully). Currently I am stationed in Alaska, so much to photograph, but I have been deployed the last ten months (today I am in Iraq). I have always taken photographs moving around so much in the military. But about a year ago I came across a portrait that I literally stared at for almost an hour just studying. It was so captivating. The emotion that poured out of that photograph was amazing. It felt as if I had read his entire life's story. It sparked a passion for photography for me. So I am here trying to learn how to "see" if you will, and begin a path to someday hopefully get one picture like the portrait.

[mikeap]

Hi! My name is Mike and I just discovered this place last week. I recently purchased my first dslr camera and have been having a blast learning about it. My setup includes a Canon xsi, 50mm 1.8, and 28-135. I am still in the experimenting phase right now trying to figure out all the controls, but am alreay blown away by what the camera can do. I'm looking forward to putting some pictures up and learn more about photography.