Kyle Jones
Moderator
I have been actively exploring the outdoors and taking pictures since I was a kid. I was part of a backpacking-focused boy scout troop in Northern California and truly enjoyed spending time outdoors with friends. College, marriage, and work captured most of my time in early adulthood, pushing hiking and photos out of my day. I eventually purchased a Minolta SLR and a few lenses in the late 90s and started taking pictures again - mostly of family events and trips. I started to think I had a pretty good eye and when the Minolta died I replaced it with a Canon Rebel (eventually upgrading to an Elan 7) and started getting more serious. I spent a lot of time around Mount Shasta with family and began heading to Yosemite regularly to practice. I kept a notebook with me (there is no EXIF with film!) and would often use a whole roll on one scene trying different settings and filters to see how things work.
I have a mechanical engineering background and have worked in many different industries. I enjoy technology and I enjoy learning. Photography, and especially landscape photography, fulfills a lot of what I enjoy: artistic creation, hiking, camera and lens technology, wildlife, computer software, travel, etc. I have gravitated toward night photography as I enjoy the challenges and flexibility of managing the light in a dark environment to create images that are beyond what our eyes can pick up. I still play with gear, trying different camera systems (currently running both a Canon R5II and a Panasonic S1RII, and seeing what they can product.
I currently split time between homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Flathead Valley in Montana. Yosemite and Glacier are my "local" national parks and I spend a lot of time in each. I also take at least one photography-based trip with a friend each year and have bee fortunate enough to see some amazing places.
I have my own website here, which includes plenty of pictures, trip reports, and some discussions of gear. I have been part of FocalWorld since the beginning and have been fortunate enough to meet up with Jim (who's energy I could never match) a couple of times in the field.
I have a mechanical engineering background and have worked in many different industries. I enjoy technology and I enjoy learning. Photography, and especially landscape photography, fulfills a lot of what I enjoy: artistic creation, hiking, camera and lens technology, wildlife, computer software, travel, etc. I have gravitated toward night photography as I enjoy the challenges and flexibility of managing the light in a dark environment to create images that are beyond what our eyes can pick up. I still play with gear, trying different camera systems (currently running both a Canon R5II and a Panasonic S1RII, and seeing what they can product.
I currently split time between homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Flathead Valley in Montana. Yosemite and Glacier are my "local" national parks and I spend a lot of time in each. I also take at least one photography-based trip with a friend each year and have bee fortunate enough to see some amazing places.
I have my own website here, which includes plenty of pictures, trip reports, and some discussions of gear. I have been part of FocalWorld since the beginning and have been fortunate enough to meet up with Jim (who's energy I could never match) a couple of times in the field.
