Hello! I'm Derek, a Canadian landscape photographer, and I'd like to share a few photos with you and tell you my story. :)

in #introduceyourself6 years ago (edited)

I wrote a short introduction post back in January, but after almost two months of Steeming and a big dose of hindsight I realize that my previous introduction was wholly insufficient and said nothing at all about me or what I do.

This is attempt number two and I hope you won't consider it abuse of #introduceyourself, because I never really did introduce myself. This is a long post, and I don't expect you to read it all the way through, but there are a lot of pretty pictures to look at and maybe something I write will jump out at you.

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Hello, I'm Derek Kind

Thanks to Jessi Venable for the photo!

Nice to meet you! I'm a landscape photographer from Ontario, Canada: I travel and take pictures of pretty things in nature.

After two months on Steemit I can say with conviction that I'm here for the long haul. My profile has been verified with Instagram.

Before I tell you about myself, here are the kind of photos I like to make:


Milky Way Tree

I'm usually the first to arrive and the last to leave a location, and I'll stay out all night if the sky is dark and the stars are clear. Night photography has always intrigued me, and I love photographing the stars and light painting while everyone else is in bed.
Dead Horse Point, Utah


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Stars aren't the only thing to see at night - sometimes the timing is right and you can witness a wonderful display of the Northern Lights!
Lake O'Hara, Yoho National Park, British Columbia


Lonely Road

I drive a lot. I love being on the road, especially when there's no destination and I can get lost in a lonely place with moody music playing on the radio. What could be better?
Southern Iceland


Two Jack Lake

My favourite subjects are mountains, but best of all are snowy mountains on a crisp winter morning, lit by a beautiful pink sunrise in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
Two Jack Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta


Portland Maine

My heart is in the mountains, but the sea is beckoning... I can't resist a good long exposure at a rocky coast with a lighthouse in the background.
Portland Head Light, Maine


Mesa Arch

I have visited many National Parks, both in Canada and the United States. Some of our continent's most beautiful landscapes are preserved in these National Parks systems.
Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah


Foggy Vancouver

I don't get excited about visiting cities, but there are a few that are fun to photograph. Even so, I prefer when nature steals the show.
Vancouver, British Columbia


Bears Den Falls

I love long exposure photography. Some of my best images were made with longer shutter speeds, like this photo of swirling autumn leaves that reveals a vortex current.
Bears Den Falls, Massachusetts


Four Horses

I like to take portraits of animals when I can, and I'm especially fond of the friendly, cute and curious Icelandic Horses. It's hard to pass them by without stopping and saying hi!
Horses near Keldur, Iceland


ArchesWindow

Sometimes I include a person in the landscape for scale - when I'm alone the person needs to be me. This night landscape was vast and required a lot of running back and forth with flashlights.
Arches National Park, Utah


~ ~ ~
I am an artistic landscape photographer.
I make photos that communicate the feeling of a place.

~ ~ ~


Where I'm coming from and where I'm going: the story of my photography

People often ask "how long have you been doing photography?" It's a difficult question to answer accurately because memory is hazy, and I've always liked taking photos, with disposable film cameras and later compact digitals. It wasn't until 2010 when my sister and I drove across Canada to volunteer at the Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, British Columbia, that I really started to get the bug for taking good pictures. There's a big difference between photos that tell a story or document a moment and photos that make you feel. Seeing so much of Canada, especially the grandeur of the Rockies, made me want to step up from the snapshot and capture some of that feeling.

Volunteering at the Cross Country/Biathlon/Ski Jump facility in Whistler brought me up close to legendary Olympic athletes like Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Marit Bjørgen. We were able to watch the events from inside the fences - an unforgettable experience - and I photographed the action with my little compact Fuji. It was here that I first took notice of pros with their DSLRs and fancy lenses. The photography germ was planted.

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That year, 2010, was a big one: a few months after the Olympics my sister and I planned a month-long trip to Iceland. My parents' gift, a Pentax K-x DSLR to use on the trip, marked the beginning of my ongoing journey to becoming a "pro" photographer.

Iceland was (and still is) incredible. On that first trip we explored so much of the island, hiking, hitchhiking and driving around and really getting a feel for the country and the people. My photos were terrible. I didn't know how aperture, shutter speed and ISO related. I didn't understand the importance of exposing for the highlights. I didn't really know what HDR was, or maybe I would have come back with some keepers. I drowned my Pentax during a rain storm on the island of Heimaey while out searching for the last stragglers of a puffin colony that was migrating out to sea for the winter, and we replaced it with a new K-x purchased at the one Pentax retailer in Reykjavik (the first camera recovered with the help of a dehumidifier, but not until we were back in Canada). Despite that hiccup we had a great, intensely unforgettable trip and I thoroughly enjoyed taking photos, because I didn't know how bad they were.

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This was one of the better ones.

Over the next couple of years I researched photography, hard. As a homeschooler, I've developed the ability to teach myself about anything that interests me; the internet is the best resource in human history, and the information is there for anyone willing to take the time to find it. I read countless articles, watched hundreds of videos, and pored over photographs that stood out to me, analyzing them to see how they were made. When all else failed, I asked questions. I returned to Iceland in 2012 with a new camera and a different attitude. It was my first trip where photography was the main purpose, and this time I knew what aperture and shutter speed meant:

Ring Road

The Ring Road, Southern Iceland

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Sunrise in the Westfjords, Iceland


Gaining Confidence

Eventually I came to the realization that there wasn't anything magical about photography. No secret formula, no special "something" that a few photographers have and others don't, except patience, desire and money (to fund gear and travel). Anything that the very best photographers in the world could do, I could do too (in theory) if I worked hard enough at it and got myself in front of amazing locations. I set for myself the highest goal I could think of: to become one of the best landscape photographers in the world. Not because I want to be known as the best or to win awards, but because the higher one aims, the more successful they will be when they fail. Why not emulate the very best and strive for perfection, knowing that I'll never reach it but that I might hit close if I try (aim small, miss small).

Now, patience and desire are not trivial things - they are of paramount importance, but they are within my control. I love photography and have a strong desire to constantly improve in my art, so it's been easy to keep on keeping on, even when the prospects have been bleak (and they usually are). Money is more difficult, but I'm thankful to be in a position where I can allocate a lot of my earnings towards travel instead of student debt, rent, expensive cable and phone plans and other things that are considered a necessary part of growing up. I am grateful that I never went to university or was forced into a premature career path because I couldn't have explored so far down this artistic path if there had been an easy out towards a stable future. It may not be a long-term solution, but I have been willing to sally forth and try for a career in photography.

A Life-Changing Social Network

One of my biggest influences when I was first learning photography was Trey Ratcliff, a pioneer in HDR photography, and I learned so much through his tutorials. Trey had a regular video conference "show", where he would talk to other photographers, and I followed him over to Google Plus to watch these Hangouts. That network would provide the turning point in my life as a photographer, and though Google Plus is often made fun of as a network that failed, it did not fail me: I owe my success to it and the people on it.

It was through Google Plus that I met all of my best photographer friends, directly or indirectly (including Steemian @jarvie!), and it was Chrysta Rae's Scavenger Hunt that pushed my creativity far, far beyond anything I thought was possible. The Scavenger Hunt is a competition where everyone is given 10 words, and you have to make a photo for each word. You can interpret the word any way you like (Photoshop is allowed), but all the pictures are judged and then put into an album for everyone to see and comment on before the winners are announced. It sounds simple, and it is, but nothing has spurred me on to be creative like the Hunt has, and the Scavenger community turned into one of the tightest-knit groups on Google Plus (we had a hundred people meet up in Vegas and it was like a family gathering).

In a previous post I shared the story of how the Hunt changed my life.

Many of my pictures were selfies; often the lighting and sets were MacGyvered from random objects arranged precariously in a small room, and there was usually an element of Photoshopping involved (though not with the "Reflection" photo below - that was an in-camera effect). To give you an idea, here are a few images I made for the Hunt, with the themes written beneath.

"FISH"
"REFLECTION"

"WIG"
"PEPPER"

A lot happened since joining Google Plus

I won the Scavenger Hunt twice, was added to the G+ suggested user list, had my photos featured on Chromecast (where they apparently appeared several billion times), toured the Googleplex and went to Vegas for the Hunt meetup. I became an Artisan in The Photo Frontier and traveled to Colorado to meet up with them (I hope to do a post about The Photo Frontier soon!). I took up real estate photography with the help of other Scavenger Hunt friends and have been getting into it more regularly, because new adventures don't fund themselves.

I can hardly believe my life the last few years: one or two long trips a year, to places like New England and the Southwest USA (especially Utah). Last fall I photographed the Great American Solar Eclipse from Wyoming and then took three months to drive across Canada (more on that later). These trips have focused my attention more seriously towards landscape photography and away from the kind of digital art I was making for the Scavenger Hunt. Sadly, between work and travel I've had trouble keeping up with the Hunt.

I've been fortunate to meet photographers who have inspired and helped me along the path to becoming a serious photographer. Many of those people have become my good friends, including Scott @Jarvie: it was he who called me up in January to tell me about a new thing called Steemit. Following Scott's advice, I signed up and haven't looked back. My prior positive experiences with Google Plus fuel my enthusiasm for Steemit: I see great potential here for the growing photographic community.


RECENT PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURES

The Great American Solar Eclipse

I wrote a big long post story about this which I encourage you to visit (lots of pretty eclipse photos), but here's the super short summary:

On August 21st, 2017, a rare total solar eclipse was visible within a narrow band across the United States. I traveled to a rural part of Wyoming, armed with a telescope and a whole assortment of cameras and gear to photograph not only totality, but something a little more special: a transit of the International Space Station during the eclipse. My mission was successful and you can see the results below. I found out afterwards that I wasn't the only one to capture the ISS: popular Youtube channel Smarter Every Day were just a couple of miles from me in this remote corner of Wyoming doing the exact same thing...which is awesome.

But seriously, please read the full story to see more photos!

ISS Transit
Looped video of the International Space Station

Total Solar Eclipse
Composite showing the different stages of the eclipse.


Capturing Canada - a cross-Canada road trip

I wrote a blog post about this as well, and will be sharing much more in the year to come.

For three months in the fall of 2017 I drove across Canada, visiting and photographing National Parks in all of the provinces and two of the territories. It was my most ambitious photographic road trip to date. Thirty-five thousand kilometers in 101 days.

I'm still in the early stages of sorting and editing photos. Having joined Steemit right after I returned from this adventure, the time that I was planning to dedicate to post-trip organization has been severely and unexpectedly et into. It's all for the best; Steemit quickly proved to be more beneficial than I first dreamed and I've been happy to reprioritize my time to make the most of this opportunity. Ironically, the original plan was to use this network as a platform for sharing photos from the trip, but I've been too involved in other projects on Steemit to take the time to edit photos!

More will be coming soon, I promise you.

Cape Spear
The end of the trip - Cape Spear, Newfoundland.


Places I've Visited With a Camera

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ICELAND

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ISRAEL

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BERMUDA

NATIONAL PARKS

Canada

United States

Banff
Bruce Peninsula
Cape Breton Highlands
Forillon
Fundy
Glacier
Grasslands
Gros Morne
Jasper
Kejimkujik
Kluane
Kootenay
Kouchibouguac
Mount Revelstoke
Nahanni
Pacific Rim
Prince Edward Island
Pukaskwa
Riding Mountain
Terra Nova
Yoho

Arches
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Death Valley
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Mount Rainier
Rocky Mountain
Yosemite
Zion








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Current Camera Gear (as of March 2018)

  • NIKON D850
  • Nikon 24-120mm
  • Nikon 70-300mm
  • Tokina 17-35mm
  • Rokinon 14mm f/2.8
  • Nikon 85mm f/1.8
  • Sirui Tripod

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Artistic Influences

Influental Photographers

Quote from Tolkien

  • Trey Ratcliff
  • Marc Adamus
  • Daniel Kordan
  • Miles Morgan
  • Elia Locardi
  • Paul Zizka
  • Max Rive
  • Michael Shainblum

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”

-J.R.R. Tolkien (Fellowship of the Ring)

Favourite Roadtrip Music

Favourite Editing Music

  • Stompin' Tom Connors
  • The National Parks
  • Imagine Dragons
  • E.S. Posthumus
  • Hans Zimmer
  • Serena Ryder
  • CHVRCHES
  • Relient K
  • Enya
  • Yanni
  • Broods
  • Röyksopp
  • Hennie Bekker
  • Lindsey Stirling
  • Movie soundtracks
    • Lord of the Rings
    • Gladiator
    • Kingdom of Heaven

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Cool Achievements in Photography

  • Won the Photo Decathlon twice as part of The Eh Team
  • Photo cover for Digital Photographer, Issue 184
  • Photos featured in Digital SLR Photography Magazine (January 2015)
  • Many photos featured on Google Chromecast and was on the G+ suggested user list
  • My eclipse story was featured by CBC Ottawa and I did a radio interview on Ottawa Today

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Fun Facts


I like to make graphite art

Sadly I haven't been able to pursue this hobby since becoming serious about photography, but for a while I dived deep into graphite art. Mostly I'm only good at copying things instead of drawing by eye, but I enjoyed the deep concentration required to meticulously render an image this way using pencil. Maybe some day, in another life, I can take this up again and use it more creatively, drawing from the artistic principles I've learned through photography.

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I'm rather a big Tolkien fan

It's no secret that I appreciate the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and other books from this master of British literature were large influences in my formative years and I spent most of my early internet days hanging out on Tolkien forums. I feel like I belong in his world, and I appreciate the books anew every time I read them and see how the themes relate to our own world.

There's a fabric of truth woven into his stories and histories that makes sense to me on a deep level. His characters are asked to look into the very depths of darkness, to accept that there is darkness and to not shy away but rather travel directly through the dark to reach the light. There is nothing more compelling, frightening or inspiring.

“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

I have made a couple of fun Tolkien-related Photoshopped images, but hope in future projects to blend photography with the world of Middle-Earth in a more serious way. I'm still trying to figure this one out.

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WHAT'S COMING NEXT

Photos of Canada

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My original thought when I joined Steemit was "I just got back from a trip across Canada and this is the perfect place to share my photos!" but as I talked about earlier, it wasn't long before Steemit and the Photo Games demanded so much of my time that production and sharing of the Canada photos slowed. This will change once I get my head above the water and can start processing photos and writing about the many locations I visited in this beautiful country of mine (like this waterfall in Vancouver Island)!

I ask for your patience... but meanwhile I'm sharing photos from past travels, and I've enjoyed being able to pull out some old favourites for a new audience.


The Photo Games

I am very excited about this project that @jarvie, @caseygrimley and I have been working on. The @photogames are a series of mini-contests that we host every day or two. The goal is to involve the whole community, photographers and non-photographers alike, through fun challenges involving photography. Every week we invite Guest Photo Stars to play and help us host the games, and we offer public prizes on each Photo Star's blog.

Scott and Casey

Six weeks after our first Photo Game, we're thrilled with the response and amount of interaction that the games have produced and are hopeful of building strong ties within the Steemit photography community. We have long term goals and are working to improve our system every week with the hopes of offering more serious prizes in the future.

Come and play! Visit @photogames for the details, and keep an eye on my blog for the contest posts.


ONWARDS TO THE FUTURE

Since I'm writing this "Introduction Post" a couple of months after joining, I'm able to speak with some perspective about what Steemit means to me and what you can expect to see on my blog in the future.

This short time on Steemit has changed my life. To paraphrase @yumyumseth, I came for the money, stayed for the people! I am constantly reminded of the golden age of internet forums, because I haven't felt so inspired to write and comment since ezBoard and vBulletin were all the rage. Facebook and Instagram don't inspire this kind of interaction, but the people I've met here on Steemit are interesting and engaging - has the pursuit of SBD brought out the best in us? Whatever the reason, I look forward to checking my replies every morning.

I'm a believer in the idea of a decentralized blockchain social network... I think we all are, whether or not we think Steemit will be The One, but photography is my life and I think the future is bright for photographers on Steemit... I envision many of the same things happening here as happened on Google Plus. I'm looking forward to helping build the photography community, seeing the development of groups and participating in the inevitable meetups, photowalks and conferences.

What can you expect to see on my blog? Well, a lot of pictures for a start: photos are what I do, but along with the photos I will continue sharing stories and talking about different things that are on my mind, photo-related and otherwise. I plan to begin making tutorials and dive into some of the deeper questions about art and photography - we'll see how it goes!

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Thank Yous

I know it's unconventional to thank people on an intro post, and dangerous to do it individually, because I will forget people, but I will take that risk, asking the forgotten to forgive.

First of all, I owe a huge thank you to the founders of @photofeed: @aweber, @yumyumseth, @jrue and @cryptoctopus. Their support of my photography and the contributions from @cryptoctopus are a major reason I've been able to dedicate so much time to Steeming every day. More than that, I think their curation of #photofeed is the best thing that's happened for photographers on this network, and I'm sure it will inspire many similar initiatives.

I owe a similar thanks to the @curie team and to voters like @pharesim, @liberosist and @hendrikdegrote, whose significant upvote early on was a practical validation of the power of Steemit, made me dance for joy and has helped spur me on to more and better content. I know they've done the same for others, and I appreciate their efforts!

To the contest and challenge creators, like @czechglobalhosts, @daveks, @jamtaylor, @killerwhale, @juliank, @jasonrussell and @shadalene, to name only a few, thank you for your time and efforts! I love that you've given new Steemians a way to make a bit of money with their photos and know how much work is involved in running these!

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed, resteemed, upvoted and commented on my photos! You guys are awesome. I try to respond to all comments, but a few slip by - doing my best with the time that I have. I've already made friends here - (you know who you are!), and I'll get to know more of you in the coming weeks and months!

A special thank you to @theaustrianguy for @welcoming me and verifying my identity, and to @intrepidphotos for the awesome tips, helping to unlock the many newbie mysteries - this is not an easy network to understand when you first join.

Finally, thank you to @jarvie for introducing me to Steemit and turning the light bulb on; I would still be in the dark if he hadn't called me a couple of months ago, and I'm thankful for all the help in figuring out the nuts and bolts of how Steemit works. It's been fun, and here's to the future! :D


Photo by Scott Jarvie

Introduce yourself

That's my story, now let's hear from you. If we haven't met, please leave a comment and say hi, and I will respond!

(If we're already friends you can pretend you're meeting me for the first time!)


www.derekkind.com

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P.S. I'll give 0.5 SBD to anyone who finds a serious typo or grammar error to fix.
Nothing this long is perfect, but who wants to leave bad English on the blockchain? ;)

Dead Horse Point

Sort:  

Wow!
You are a real professional. Magnificent photos. Stemit needs you!

Well, I'm trying. Thank you so much! :)

Really beautiful .. amazing photos
steemit is now the place of creativity
Thanks for sharing

Thanks for stopping by and commenting! :)

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your posts! Upvoted and followed!!

Awesome, thank you, @skycornish! :)

Welcome to Steemit platform, from all of us in promo-nigeria. Steemit is a beautiful place to be and we are sure you will be happy here. Get to know more by blogging consistently. Never be discouraged, seek for assistant when necessary. Cheers!

Thank you, @promo-nigeria! I am happy so far, and when discouragement comes, I will push through it. :)

Great story and bloody brilliant pictures!!

You can get a free Chrome extension called Grammarly which picks up on any spelling or grammar issues.

I love it and has helped me no end over the years.

Nice to meet you and good luck on your adventures.

Take Care

Thank you for the comment and the tip, I'll check that out. Interested to see what kind of grammar miscues it picks up on. :)

Honestly, I feel like an intro post once you've established yourself on this site is almost better. I feel like I already "knew" you in internet terms, so reading this has helped me get a much better background on you now that I have interacted with you.

Anywho, man.. Awesome stuff! I did actually laugh out loud (lol is what the kids say) at the Dr Pepper photo. Too funny. As @yumyumseth pointed out, he was homeschooled. As was I! Homeschooled for 9 years and then finished in a tiny private school, so basically the same thing ha. I also see you like Relient K. I don't listen to them much anymore, but back in the day that was the cream of the crop!

Loved reading this (all of it), and there was a small error in Capturing Canada in the second paragraph. But no need to financially reward me, just an internet high-five, ha. Looking forward to seeing the shots from your recent trip!

I felt the same, Andrew; I saw a few people making belated intro posts, and it was more effective that way. My own intro post was literally my first post, and so I didn't have a clue about how to make it, haha. Also agree that it's nice to read about people's background once you already have a foreground and they aren't strangers.

Wish I'd been able to finish this before the weekend...

Happy to make you "lol" - can't ask for better with a photo like that, haha.

Another kindred spirit! :D I've never gone to a school, but I finished high school online, if that counts. Took me forever because there were so many other important things to learn - school just got in the way. Speaking of Relient K, were you a College Kid? I think their best album was Five Score and Seven Years ago, but some of their more memorable songs were on previous albums. They don't get old. At least their music doesn't. The band members are probably aging at the standard rate.

* internet high five * I'll check that out. Thanks for the great reply! :)

Jumping in this Reliant K convo: Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, but Three Do is the album of my teen years. I'm pretty sure I still know like 90% of the words on the album even though I haven't listened for years! Also, later on Deathbed was my favorite song for a long time.

Yes, it is one of the better and most unusual songs I've ever heard. I always appreciated how Relient K play not only with words but with the music itself - they are not conventional.

You should test your theory: karaoke it on DTube it, haha!

Yeah, they definitely had a great command of the English language.

Haha! That makes so uncomfortable to think about people watching me do that! Like so uncomfortable!

You'll never be comfortable with growth. That's why it's growth. - Jerry Seinfeld

Does singing Reliant K karaoke constitute growth?

I think that's actually the first reference on dictionary.com for growth.

FS7Y was great, but I think I agree with Seth that my favorite album was TLDMARBTD. But honestly, Savannah which isn't that old, is such a good song. I don't listen to them much anymore, but I really should. They had some smart and quirky stuff.

Also, I didn't know you also do real estate photography. That's actually my main during-the-week gig out here, I work for a guy who schedules me houses. How often do you do it?

I don't know Savannah. I'll go listen. I guess I'm weird because while I still like to listen to Relient K, I'm In Love with the Mid-2000s and haven't listened to their recent stuff.

I don't shoot real estate often, but I edit real estate photos regularly as a part-time job.

Savanna is probably right before 2010, so it's late/mid 2000s...close enough right? Ha.

It's on the cusp. ;)

Thanks for being honest dude, means a lot.

Honesty is next to cleanliness.

Honesty is the one standing next to Cleanliness, elbowing it in the ribs and saying "you smell!"

Haha that got real deep real fast!

Well, you've got me there! Gonna go scrub behind my ears.

Welcome to Steemit, Derek!

I love that photo of me and @jarvie. Man that mustache was sick.
I too am grateful for the G+ days, I learned so much from so many photographers, especially from you and Jarvie.
I wonder where this network will take us and who we will meet from it.

I feel like you had that mustache for a long time right? haha

I saw that and did a double take. You best regrow that nose neighbor!

@aweber I pretty much always have nose neighbor, but is usually accompanied by a chin blanket.
I'd grow a beard if I could but I haven't quite hit puberty yet so my sideburns are lacking.

Nose neighbour? Chin blanket? Where have these phrases been all my life?

Hiding underneath hair.

Is there such a thing as a cheek mullet? There should be.

That is a good look for sure! You pull off a lip lurker (just made that up, we'll see if it catches on) better than most.

Ya, my wife hates when I grow just my lip lurker, but I think it goes great with my unmarked white 1988 Chevy van.

Haha that's the dream team! Everyone will know you're a quality guy just by looking at you!

Lets get lip lurker into the OED by 2023!

Yessss, I think it has a bright future hahaa

Yeah, you rocked that mustache!

I always forget the timeline, Casey - you joined the Scavenger Hunt before I met you, right? Or am I just thinking that because you were on G+ long before I met you? :)

I wonder too. Time will tell. Steemit could attract some interesting people before it goes mainstream.

I knew about the Scavenger Hunt before we met (3 years ago btw) but I never did participate until later that same year. 'Sweet 16' was the first one I did.

Okay, that makes sense. You were definitely around on G+ for a while though!

Man, how much has happened since we met in the Arches parking lot (not the Golden Arches) that day.

Awesome to read more about you man! And some absolutely gorgeous pictures too. Thanks for the shoutout, glad that @photofeed has been a source of support for you!

Also, I love The Lord of the Rings as well, and I think part of the reason is that Tolkien's writing has a way of making nature come alive in a way that not many books do.

P.S. I was homeschooled until high school, no wonder we're both so smart! ;)

That's what I done always said about you two... you two is smrt

I smrt and red gud.

Oh yeah, @yumyumseth, Photofeed has been a big deal for a lot of people. Thank you guys. :)

Yes, I agree with that too - literally alive, in many cases. Also he strips away the artificial and material aspects from the lives of his characters - they're usually only traveling with what they can carry on their backs. People in nature trying to be good in a bad world. Timeless.

P.S. We're KINDRED SPIRITS! :D

This is happy news! :)

Yeah, that's a really good point! It's such simple and beautiful storytelling with bits of otherworldy weirdness thrown in here and there to keep you guessing.

Haha wahoo! Did you like being homeschooled? What curriculum did you use?

I think I liked it as a kid too (did you?), but I really started to like it when I grew up and saw what school was doing to kids. I am so thankful I was homeschooled and wouldn't have had it any other way. I did the Alpha Omega Online high school.

BJ and Me was my jam. Oh Bob Jones. Those losers who did Sunlight were dumb.

Uh huh. I'm guessing you did too? ;)

Haha no!! I did Bob Jones University curriculum. Which probably explains a lot of things about myself now.

This explains everything.

Now it all makes sense.... (actually I have no idea).

Yeah, I loved it as a kid! I could have my schoolwork done by noon then spend the rest of the day running around in the backyard pretending I was Daniel Boone! I had some other close friends who were also homeschooled, so I think that made it more enjoyable as well. As I got into Jr. High, I definitely was interested in going to a public school where I would have more social opportunities, but I never felt like super confined by being homeschooled or anything like that.

Gotcha, I did Sonlight if you've ever heard of that haha.

That explains the lumberjack beard and the red checked shirt (not that Daniel Boone had those things, but, y'know, stereotypes)...

Sorry, I haven't heard of Sonlight, but I have to admit I'm not up on my homeschooling curricula. Unfortunately I didn't interact much with other homeschoolers (was a loner even then), so I didn't know what else was around. My parents could probably tell ya. :)

Haha I guess it gives it a little context eh!? :)

Well I'm deeply offended! Just kidding, I don't think it was very big. Basically involved a ton of reading books which I loved.

You said "eh"!!!

Did you have to also analyze the books and do essays or did they actually let you read them?

NOW THAT'S AN INTRODUCTION!!

Also even after 5 years I still learned a decent amount and saw new pictures I've never seen before.

Also look at those formatting skills!! HOT STUFF!

Also I knew you would kill it here, never had a doubt!
#ProudSteemFather

Yeah for real. Some real nice formatting. Doing things I didn't even know you could do!

Necessity is the mother of...discovery? I learned that tables are a versatile formatting tool!

Aw, thanks, #SteemDad! ;)

I learned a few formatting tricks for this post. You like those < tables >? :D

I do send me the code

Also... I prefer #steemfather

Oh, yeah sure, I thought you were using tables already.

If I get a vote in this topic unrelated to me, I choose #steempapa

#steemfather sounds more like GodFather... so i think it'll be catchier.
Soooooo... i'm right.

I know it sounds classier, but.. Why would you choose classy over quirky?

You'd better stop now before you find a unicorn head in your bed, Mr. Weber.

I've never been more motivated until now.

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