I'm a Libra. It makes me more of a realist than a creative mind. My art tends to come out that way as well, though I sometimes attempt to be abstract and random. I find more beauty in the elements of nature and stark reality than I do in fancy expressions of emotions...though there's a place for those as well.

My photographic collection is usually raw and unedited, but some of it has been refined a bit to reflect what my mind captured and the camera failed to. My excuse for the other raw/unedited versions? Laziness. Plain and simple.

The older photos were taken way back when humans dragged their knuckles, used 35mm film, and had to take that film into a place called an "express photoprocessing center" to get it developed and printed. It was a tedious and expensive process made obsolete by the perfection of the digital SLR camera. I've used Pentax since I was 13, and still do. K-1000, K-1000 SE, A-3000, and now my lovely K10D.

As anyone can tell from browsing my older stuff, I started off just doing it as a hobby and didn't really take it seriously. But after having been out of the loop for so long--and having met some wonderful people who share my shutterbug ways--I dusted off the old SLRs and began exercising that hobby into a passion. Now that I have the freedom to experiment more (thanks to the abovementioned advancements in technology), the passion is growing and my posted photos are becoming more and more serious.

I still love to snap just for fun. I still post some of the silliness every now and then. But my focus (pun not intended) is becoming finer as my skills mature. Maybe one day I can view (again, pun not intended) myself as something of an expert, but for now I'll call myself an advanced novice...or maybe an experienced amateur. Definitely NOT just a hobbyist anymore!