Okay; time for a NEW AND IMPROVED profile.

Well, who really would want to hear about what I’ve already done, anyway? So… time to focus on what I am actually at present doing!

It has been an interesting year or so, now past behind me into memories which no longer apply to my current concerns. Gone are the long days spent labouring away in a local factory, incrementally positioning myself for a great leap of self-belief toward an independent career as a self-employed photographer… that new reality has been nicely taking shape for me, and I am finding that once again I am getting paid to do the kinds of things that I truly love doing.

That’s a nice change!

Of course, I’ve been developing and printing black and white film since the age of 13; so it’s not as if this is a new experience for me! But I never really worked with color technologies until digital replaced film-based photography; and so while one area of my expertise became somewhat obsolete, at the same time a much wider field of application opened up to me.

So, now I am living yet another new life, one of many career transitions I have embraced.

Switching from a 35mm film camera to a full-frame digital camera last year has allowed me to greatly expand my possibilities… and cut down to an amazing degree on my professional overhead and my turn-around time for projects I undertake. So, I no longer advocate the advantages of film over digital capture: I am now fully converted and committed to all the new photographic technologies!

I am really enthused about the kind of work I have been achieving using digital capture; and I’d love to post a few examples which greatly impress even my own jaded photographic sensibilities but, I never seem to manage to include myself in those really amazing, one-time-only shots I so dearly love to capture (despite using a tripod with a fair degree of consistency).

[August 19th, 2009 - Just back from a bicycle-based photographic tour: Brockville to Gananoque on the 18th, then back again on the 19th (100 km round trip); with lots of stops for photography along the way. I brought just one lens: a Nikkor 45mm 2.8 PC (Perspective Control) or "Shift/Tilt" lens, mounted on a Nikon D700; and had a really great time, with lots of wonderful photo opportunities along the way. Only one complaint: it is almost impossible to find so much as a cup of coffee along the 1,000 Islands Parkway at this time of year!]

Every now and again, I hang out for a while with someone with whom I exchange a photographic moment; so if you are into photography, and / or would like to have a relatively decent photo to post, then get in touch with me and we’ll see if we can arrange a get-together to do something fun, like a hike of a bike ride.

Anyway; I suppose a few more personal details would be appropriate at this point…

Okay; did I mention that I am into photography?

I love to visit art galleries, museums, attend poetry readings, concerts (jazz, folk, world beat, alternative, etc.); I use to be the photo editor of a small, alternative newspaper in Vancouver (early 90's) so I have had distinct tendencies toward an activist lifestyle. I am no stranger to being in print, hence my rather extended profile here...

I really enjoy outdoor adventures. I also enjoy a simple walk in the park or a visit to a botanical garden; but, if you feel the need for a week of hard travel through the middle of nowhere - hey, I'm in: and I promise to get you back safely. I won't hesitate over sticking your toes into my armpits to warm them if they are in danger of freezing (in the event of a three day blizzard above the snow line on some remote slope… a walk to the convenience store on a cold winter’s night DOES NOT COUNT – PLEASE!!!).

I’ve been practicing tai chi - taijiquan - regularly (also some basic Taoist meditation techniques) for half my life now (I've had some world class teachers). I often practice with weights. I supplement this practice with various meditation and stretching techniques designed to enhance ones sense of embodiment – cultivating “feeling tones of wellness” through stretching and relaxing muscle/tendon groups.

I have always enjoyed spending time with artists and those who are involved in the sciences. My political inclinations tend toward the left-of-center, with a definite and determined environmentalist influence.

I do not have room on my bookshelf for your bible; and I am not going to move any books by Richard Dawkins to make space.

My academic background is in post-structural philosophy - Deleuze, Guattari, Derrida, Foucault, etc. - and I still actively work in that field. If there were opportunities to be paid for doing this, then that is what I would be doing full time!

Oh; and I am a vegetarian; but, not for any religious or ‘moral’ reasons - just because I don’t really enjoy eating meat.

And now, a little ‘cut and paste’ from my old profile…

~ By Way of Introduction ~

Saying too much here, one risks having most people find something which would make them pass by; but by saying too little, one ends up meeting people with whom they have little in common...

So, I ask myself: how much do we all value our time; and, how many people am I trying to meet here anyway? Thus, in deference to those seriously seeking a life partner – and with the same intention myself – I will tell you a little about the type of person I’ve become. I will refrain for the most part from outlining the sort of person I am interested in meeting, since I do not think that I have the right to tell anyone else what kind of person they should be.

IN SUMMARY: "nice guy looking for a funny and/or intelligent and/or talented-creative woman to spend ever increasing amounts of time with"...

So, please do say ‘hello’!

Having been born where I presently live, but, also having lived a good part of my life away from here, I will assume that we can both agree that the options are somewhat limited in this immediate vicinity; and thus, this may require some serious brainstorming on both our parts.

Oh, wait... that WOULD be the first date! Well, I don't know; any ideas?