Introductory post: OffTheCamera

Hello Steemians, this account is going to be all about dispelling the unrealistic standards of photography set by the pros. First let me say I don't mean to hate on the pros, in fact I admire them. But that level of dedication isn't for everyone. So I decided to create this Steemit account to show what kind of results you can get just OffTheCamera. I am just a regular guy who takes photos sometimes. The camera in the picture only ran me about $800: a Nikon D5300 and a Tamron 18-270mm. While I have a $200 Manfrotto tripod now, many of the photos I post will be from when I had a $50 Sunpak. I have a full time job. I have a commute. I've never been paid for my photos. Most of them have never even left my camera and computer. Only some friends and family have seen.

The point is that while I love photography, I'm nothing special in terms of means or dedication. I'm not a pro. I'm just a regular guy who wants to show other regular people what you can do if you put even just a little time and money (and imagination!) into photography.

Ironically, the photo attached is some of my worst work. It was taken on a 9 year old webcam that has been taped over for a long time, in low light conditions. Hopefully it will be good enough for real person-ness verification. On the left you have a shadow of my lens followed by the body of my camera with the screen flipped down to prevent glare and allow you to see a picture of a lizard I took. This lizard will most likely be featured in my next post, a photo challenge entry. If not, I will put it in a Joshua Tree post soon after. On the bottom of the camera you can make out the Manfrotto symbol on the attachment for my aforementioned tripod. The paper says "Hi Steemit! -OffTheCamera 1/6/18 ~1340 in San Francisco". (I am not in SF but I figured this is a global platform and everyone will know the City by the Bay but they may not know my River City!). Behind the paper you can see a sliver of my face, hair, and glasses and you can see my hand holding the camera.

Thank you for reading my introductory post, I hope to give you some good inspiration to get out there and shoot! Here is a couple pictures straight off the camera from OffTheCamera!

These are from a day in San Francisco. We parked in the grid of streets south of Golden Gate Park and close to the ocean. We walked to the coast and found they had shut down half of the highway to use for pedestrians and cyclists (and photographers!) I think the plant was from Golden Gate Park. We walked over 15 miles that day which was very fun but we were very sore.

Just remember that if you see a regular guy out there taking pictures that it could be me! But do not approach because its probably not me and that would be an uncomfortable situation. However, It is totally acceptable to follow me here on Steemit and give unsolicited commentary on my photos :)