Hello from the beautiful Pacific Northwest ( Washington State )

Mister Bumbles

Mister Bumbles

Senior Member
Hello! Stephen here, or Mister Bumbles to some. :)


I kind of inadvertently went about introducing myself the wrong way. I joined the forums, became a contributor, and then started posting in some of the other threads asking for details and info on buying a Nikon D610 (and other various gear). But, I figured i would do this properly, since I have already met some really incredible people on here!

Basic details.... I'm a 40-year-old amateur photographer / graphic designer that is currently attempting to get healthier, lose some weight in preparation for several knee & back surgeries to repair some damage from multiple work & play-related accidents over the years. I always loved photography, but after I became disabled I began to use photography and art as a way to help cope with the severe pain that I am in 24/7. I choose not to take the painkillers that the doctors offered, because they make me sick and numb my brain to the point where I was a drooling idiot, and the pain was STILL there. So, I've learned to *mostly* cope.

My nickname of "Mister Bumbles" comes mostly from my love of black & yellow things, and surfaced about the time I bought myself a limited edition turbo-charged VW Beetle that was a "Double yellow color concept". I eventually called 'him' "Sting". Loved that car, but it was not so great for my back and knees. So ended up selling Sting after about 5 years, and upgraded to a 2011 Ford Transit Connect.

More about Sting over here... https://www.flickr.com/photos/evanrude-/sets/72157601322051275/

Here is .. well, me!

7953222724_92d64c47f7_c.jpg But so is this... 8434325802_9c07fd68df_c.jpg

I'm a fun-loving kind of guy, so I'm often goofy, but in a good way I like to think!

I find that my personal tastes in photography vary, but I *definitely* am into landscape & nature photography. For the past seven years I have been using a Canon 40D along with a handful of inexpensive lenses that I attempted to squeeze every drop of potential out. I had Canon 50mm 1.8, a 28-135mm 3.5-5.6, 18-55mm 3.5-5.6, 28mm 2.8, and my favorite, a 30+ year old SMC Pentax-M 50mm 1.4 that I used frequently. Such a beautiful lens with a superb bokeh. I still have it sitting here and am considering an adapter to pop it onto my new Nikon D610 that I just ordered today!

Here are a few examples of my work...

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Well... you get the idea. I love the outdoors. Even though I'm currently disabled I still manage to get out and take these photographs. I've had 3 dislocated knees, 7 concussions, a torn hip flexor, broke both feet, broken wrist, broken jaw, fallen from heights between 10-15 feet and landed on my neck / back several times, and that's just a few of them! I just used to play and work to hard I guess. *chuckle*. In the end, I've ended up with degenerative arthritis of the spine and knees and suffer from neuropathy pretty much constantly. It's like, little lightning bolts running up and down my arms, legs, and sparking in my fingers and toes. So, I express myself through my photography!

Here in the next few weeks, my new Nikon D610 that I just ordered will arrive, and my better half will be ordering himself a D7000, and I'm going to teach him what I know about photography so that we'll both have something that we can go out and challenge each other with!

This is the better half... James.
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And as of 12:45 this afternoon.. this is the kit that I ordered from B&H Photo because they are having a really great "Bundle" sale for Nikon gear!
The camera bag, SDHC memory, remote control, and spare battery are all free for buying the body. Then I saved a few hundred bucks on the lenses by bundling too. So, I'm really excited to get this all later in the week! And I'm a nerd, so I made a graphic to show all the gear. ;)

15194866904_efe8103994_o.jpg

Yup.. that's probably enough babbling for now! See you guys & gals around!
 
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Mister Bumbles

Mister Bumbles

Senior Member
John P said:
Welcome aboard.
I am in Chehalis.
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Well hello neighbor! We're in Longview currently, but considering purchasing or renting a home in either Chehalis or Centralia. James works up there in Centralia and makes the 45-50 minute commute 5-6 days a week. We would save a FORTUNE by living up there. Only problem is so many of the places for sale don't pass inspection due to the past floods up there, and others are so old or trashed it wouldn't be worth buying! *chuckle*.
 
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FastGlass

Senior Member
Welcome to the most friendly forum on the net Mr. Bumbles. Not sure how many other forums you've stumbled across but this one is pretty easy going. Pretty friendly people who are not quick to judge and criticize but will tell you up front what needs improvement and what doesn't. Lots of knowledge that still amazes me. I've read books, watched countless video's and still manage to learn more here than anywhere else. Not so much asking and getting answers but just reading questions and responses. We've all fallen into the "just ask and wait for a response" mentality. Yes the questions get repeated over and over but it's so much easier that way as opposed to searching for it. So ask away, show some of your talent and take everyone's suggestions with stride because no matter how good we think we are. We all can still improve.
 
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Chubby

Senior Member
Welcome, I've never introduce myself to everyone, seems like there's not enough hours to get everthing done. Your sample pictures look great, we're lucky to live in the PNW, the photo ops are everywhere you look and as long as you remember to bring your camera all is good. I live up in the Orting valley, too close to he city for me, but we gotta do, what we gotta do. Good Luck.
 
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Mister Bumbles

Mister Bumbles

Senior Member
FastGlass said:
Welcome to the most friendly forum on the net Mr. Bumbles. Not sure how many other forums you've stumbled across but this one is pretty easy going. Pretty friendly people who are not quick to judge and criticize but will tell you up front what needs improvement and what doesn't. Lots of knowledge that still amazes me. I've read books, watched countless video's and still manage to learn more here than anywhere else. Not so much asking and getting answers but just reading questions and responses. We've all fallen into the "just ask and wait for a response" mentality. Yes the questions get repeated over and over but it's so much easier that way as opposed to searching for it. So ask away, show some of your talent and take everyone's suggestions with stride because no matter how good we think we are. We all can still improve.
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I have indeed noticed that people are friendly here. I've been part of a large VW Beetle club for the past 8+ years, and they were *mostly* friendly, but there are usually a few bad eggs no matter where you go, just like in most families! ;)


Chubby said:
Welcome, I've never introduce myself to everyone, seems like there's not enough hours to get everthing done. Your sample pictures look great, we're lucky to live in the PNW, the photo ops are everywhere you look and as long as you remember to bring your camera all is good. I live up in the Orting valley, too close to he city for me, but we gotta do, what we gotta do. Good Luck.
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Good evening Chubby! You really SHOULD introduce yourself, best way to get to know people (and for them to get to know you, right?). I agree, we are VERY lucky to live in the PNW. Back in 1996/7, I fled from the west coast to 'find myself' and ended up living in Upstate New York. Two years later, I returned back to the west coast, but I drove home without a map (on purpose). I ended up seeing 17 states on the way home, over the course of 4 days. Technically I would have made it in a lot less, but I stopped to visit friends in Texas for 2 days. Otherwise, I drove from upstate new york, said goodbye to friends in Vermont, then went all the way from Vermont to Dallas, Texas in 28 hours of driving straight through. Only stopping for bathroom & gas for the car.

My brother flew down from Washington, after having just driving TO Washington from Loma Linda, California. He and I took turns driving straight from Dallas all the way to Longview, Washington. It took us roughly 30 hours of straight driving. UGH. I won't be doing that again. BUT, needless to say, I saw a LOT of the U.S. all at once. And most of it was pretty barren, flat, dry, etc. I have to admit though, coming over the Rockies just west of Denver, I've never seen the sky so .. clear and filled with stars as I did on top of those mountains. I stopped for about 15 minutes and watched the sky there before continuing towards home.
If it wasn't for the lack of oxygen up on top of those mountains, I could live there, just for the sky.

The Pacific Northwest really is beautiful and unique. I grew up on about 50 acres of private land in the mountains here and I don't think I'd ever be able to live anywhere that did NOT have mountains and rivers all over. I visited a friend that lives in Modesto, California and I *hated* it there because it was so open and .. flat.. and... wide. It's like the opposite of claustrophobia. All that wide open space bugged the hell out of me. *lol*.

hark said:
And here's an official welcome to Nikonites from me. ;)
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Heh, thanks Hark ;)
 
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SteveH

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum! I like the shots you posted, beautiful countryside you have there - I was lucky enough to visit the Seattle / Tacoma (Ft. Lewis) and Yakima areas for 12 weeks back in my Army days. I'm sure you will love your new gear, and we are all looking forward to seeing the results!
 
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