I think the best way for a reader to assess how relevant a writer’s information is to them is to have a thorough understanding of the background from which the writer is coming from. In other words, context.

I’m perhaps an embodiment of the tech-savvy, younger generation. While I’ve had my experience with film, I more or less grew up in the world of digital photography, and my learning and practice followed the digital path almost exclusively. As such, I’m a bit ignorant to the nuances of film (while understanding much of the technology behind film, this is a very different thing from having years of hands-on experience with it). At the same time, growing up with digital means that I’m very much adapted to making full use of the digital advances, and make little of the many mainstays carried over from film cameras (optical viewfinders, for example) - a definite advantage as a photographer, yet perhaps not so great for making a recommendation to a longtime film photographer making the transition to digital (though I’ll make an effort to balance and disclaimer these kinds of situations when they occur).

My experience with photographery ranges widely. I’ve done a lot of photography on my own - portraits, theater work, and travel - and do a lot of photo-processing with Photoshop as well. In addition, I work as a staff photographer for The Daily Californian, the newspaper serving UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley. I also teach a class on digital photography and the technology of digital camera systems at UC Berkeley.

I shoot with a variety of cameras, most notably a Canon 5D digital SLR setup for most professional work, and a Fuji F30 compact for more social occasions.