What do you do for living?

[sinwen]

My grand pa was developping his glass plates, my uncle followed up, then me, at 12 I got a Retinette F and never stopped since. From deep sea diver to construction engineer, then purchaser and jobless a while, many jobs in between, I am finishing at 59 in a small civil engineering firm.
I had my film lab at home and was doing everything I could from B&w to Ciba. I sold it all for an Epson 4000 and a Canon film scanner, renewed for a Minolta, so I wasn't the last getting into digital, but funny enough until now I am still with film.

 

[Paul_Kerfoot]

Hi Sagar

By education, I am an electrical engineer and before retirement developed tactical missiles for Lockheed Martin.

Paul

 

[wjlapier]

Oh boy. Stay-at-home dad. A decision me and my wife made while she was in med school. It's been 10 years since I've worked as a chef.

Photography was always a hobby for me. Took my first photos at age 15. Currently I mostly take photos of my kids in sports ( and band! ). Landscape photography has always been a secondary interest. I really enjoy other people's landscape photos though!

 

[esy0345]

Surgeon - working hard to pay for all this stuff. This site and Steve Huff have cost > $20K this past year! Photography is a hobby.

 

[dseelig]

Pro photographer this is my life. I picked up a camera at 13 and never stopped. It saved muy life I was orphaned at 16 and where I grew up little lost kids usually became junkies. Photography became my drug.

 

[Bob]

Ex-chemist, physicist and engineer, used to manage tech companies and try turn-around tricks for a large Japanese company.
Now I do "Boards and committees" mostly at the World Wide Web consortium and OASIS-Open, a structured information standards organization.
-bob

 

[sonomichele]

Somehow this group does not quite seem representative of the population at large.

 

[BlasR]

I shot for leaving.

blasR

 

[David K]

Practiced tax law in NYC for many years then moved to Florida to develop real estate... we all know how that ended... but it was good while it lasted. Currently in the golf course maintenance business with clients in NC, SC and Georgia using H2B workers from Mexico and, most recently, US citizens from Puerto Rico.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Somehow this group does not quite seem representative of the population at large.

How?

I think it is very representative of GetDPI in any case, intelligent, educated people. I'm probably one of the youngest people here at 30 years old.

If I was to describe this forum it would be like a quiet conversation late at night next to the fire and over an expensive single malt. Every other photographic forum ends up being like a very loud bar argument. Everyone is trying to shout over the ambient noise and each other, no one makes much sense and intelligent thoughtful responses are utterly alien.

 

[atanabe]

Sagar,
Currently I am a Senior Systems Analyst for a hospital chain.
I have a BFA in commercial photography from Art Center College of Design, worked as a photo assistant when I was still in high school for an architectural photographer. Had a studio in SF shooting for Silicon Valley clients and food work. My wife could not tolerate the ups and downs of the business, busy 9 months and slow for 3, so I succumbed and went back to school.
Got an AS in Radiologic Technology and went on to manage a cardiac catheterization lab. Moved for my wife's job and started to work for a medical imaging company on their digital image capture for cine 1024 x 1024 at 15 frames per second! This was big news back in the 90s. Traveled the world teaching people about this technology, spent more time away than at home.
So I once again transformed and learned about databases that ultimately brought me to where I am today. I now work from home and live where I want to, finally peace and happiness.

 

[Vlad]

For the past 5 years my wife and I have been running our own online marketing company. We run a large site & forum devoted to designer handbags, the most active one online.

Photography is just a hobby, though I have been trying to tie it in with our business by shooting some of the bags that are sent to us by designers and that my wife reviews for the blog.

 

[ecsh]

I was in the Automotive field for some time, but now just stay at home building helicopters for the government, UAV's.

 

[Maggie O]

I used to be a reporter and a photographer for a few different small-town newspapers and magazines, then I did a bunch of freelance technical writing. In 1997, I moved to San Francisco and I was an editor at a commodities trading website, then I was a cigarette girl for a while, then I was a website "Producer." Then the dot-com crash came and I couldn't even get my cigarette girl gig back, let alone another producer job.

Now I live with and help with the care of my elderly parents and every so often my SO buys me something nice, allowing me to keep snapping photos and bothering all you nice people with actual jobs and careers.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

And we love ya for it too. LOL

Frankly my dear you may have the most rewarding job of all of us taking care of your parents. I say that with a sad heart as we lost my wife's Mom 2 weeks ago and she resided with us for almost 3 months and it is one tough job to care for the elderly.

 

[Maggie O]

Thanks, Guy!

I dunno, a lot of the time I think "rewarding" is spelled "frustrating!"

 

[bensonga]

I'm a "volume accountant" for BP here in Alaska.....ie I keep track of who produced and who owns what, both oil and gas. However, as my wife would say, I'm not a REAL accountant (she is)....and if truth be told, I'm pretty bad at volumes as well. I always seem to pick the wrong size tupperware container for our left overs. Would you expect anything less from a guy with a degree in philosophy? On the plus side, as I've told my wife many times, I don't have to FILL the barrels with oil, I just count them.....and I did ok in basic math courses.

I've been interested in photography as a hobby since I was 14 (now 55).

Gary

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Until I was almost 40, most of my work was related to mainframe computers (operations, programming, sales...). Then I spent a couple of years at art school, which started my graphic design career. Now, I'm doing 50/50 design and photography, plus some writing and translations between assorted languages.

I'm originally from Norway, but have lived in Bangkok for most of the last nine years. Nowadays, much of my time is spent taking care of my 85 year old father who lives in Pattaya, providing him with food and entertainment that make the life worth living (he's in a wheelchair and he more or less died earlier this year, but they put him back together again ).

I've taken photos since I was around 10, starting with my mother's Kodak Brownie, before I got my own, an Adox Golf 1A. My parents claim that I'm 54, but unfortunately for my surroundings, I tend to forget about that, unless there's a mirror around

 

[Maggie O]

My parents claim that I'm 54, but unfortunately for my surroundings, I tend to forget about that, unless there's a mirror around

I know that feeling!

 

[TRSmith]

Reducing one's life to a description of jobs held is a sobering venture. Nevertheless, starting with the earliest job titles I can remember, the list goes something like this:

Tobacco Crew,
Chicken Fry Cook,
E-6 Processing Tech,
Darkroom Tech,
Custom Black & White Printer,
Medical Photographer,
State Police Photographer,
Instructional Media Developer,
Director of Marketing Communications,
Advertising Account Executive,
Creative Services Manager,
Communications Consultant,
Graphic Designer,
President of Smith & Powers (current).

I'm still trying to figure out what comes next and contemplating the removal of all mirrors in the house.