About Monte Stevens

In my previous life I was a burned out engineer, working 40 hours a week in an 8x8 cube. It was not the life I envisioned living as a young man. It’s been almost 5 years since that life and a nine-to-five job seems almost impossible to go back to. I now work as a flight attendant (which barely pays the bills) and try to live life for the enjoyment rather than the paycheck. This includes pursuing my love of photography.

I was born under the astrological sign of Cancer in 1950. From what I remember of it, I had a wonderful childhood growing up along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. At the present time my work has required me to move so I am living in Westerville, Ohio. My interest in photography began in those awkward years of junior high when I picked up a Yashica twin-lens reflex camera. I setup a small black and white dark room in my dad's basement developing my film and making my own prints. After over 20 years away from photography I began shooting again with Nikon 35mm SLR cameras, and a dormant seed of passion had begun to sprout.

I ventured into the world of digital photography in 2003 by purchasing a Nikon D100 and have not regretted the change. I presently own two and an assortment of Nikon and Sigma lenses. Over the past 2 years I have down sized most of my camera equipment and carry smaller lens due to the amount of travel I do. I just upgraded to the new Nikon D300 and am working through the learning curve of this powerful camera.

I am drawn to shapes, colors, patterns of nature and our landscapes. I find the solitude of nature to be a wonderful place to spend quality time, but find these places are becoming scarce. I have been enjoying playing with portraiture and the studio. With all the travel I've been doing I have also ventured out into streets more looking for the everyday scenes we so often overlook or a perspective we often never see.

I am divorced, have three adult children and four grandchildren. Other interests and passions include travel, motorcycle touring, fly-fishing, light hiking, reading, writing and finding a local coffee shop.

Why have a Photoblog?
I have been posting images on the internet since 2004 on both PBase and PhotoPoints . These two websites have provided a wonderful community of photographers, and I feel it has been a great classroom environment. I am part of the photo-a-day challenge on PBase and feel this Photoblog is an extension of that. My photography is constantly changing, hopefully for the better. I see a Photoblog as an experiment to take another path, to view the world through anothers lens, to discover more about myself, and the joy it will bring. I would love to post an image everyday but that will not be possible. However, I do intend to post as often as possible as well as visit others Photoblogs.

I hope you enjoy my images. Please feel free to leave comments and critiques.

Photography Equipment

Cameras and lens:
Nikon D300
Nikon D100 (2)
Nikon 50mm f1.8
Nikon 85mm f1.8
Nikon 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 VR
Nikon 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 VR
Sigma 105 f2.8 Macro
Nikon SB-800

Tripods:
Bogen 3443D Carbon Fiber Tripod
Really Right Stuff B2-Pro Ball Head

Software:
Nikon View NX
Nikon Capture Editor
PhotoShop Elements 2