New members

[forumadmin]

I'll introduce myself.

My name is Dave Budd and I live in Las Vegas. I have been doing this Aviation Photography hobby for a few years now. I bought my first D-SLR for the air show up here at Nellis AFB in Nov. of 2005. Aviation Nation was sorta my start!!

I got hook on the idea of having digital pictures of aircraft and the possibilities seemed endless. I was deep into flight sim at the time and I use to be an aircraft repainter for a virtual airline. I got pretty good at Photoshop so the idea of having digital files to work with seemed natural. I had always loved airplanes as I grew up an Air Force brat and I took many photography classes in high school and college. So the hobby of photographing aircraft with a digital camera has made my life complete!!!

I also run a sister website to this one... www.visitinglas.com

Cheers..

Dave

[TimdeGroot]

Hi All

Tim from AMS here.

Most of you know me from A.net I guess where I'm one of 3 Headscreeners. I'm the guy who rejects all your great shots...just kidding:)

Been shooting aircraft ever since I was a little kid, my dad passed on the crazy gene I guess. Been doing digital since 2004.

Visisted LAX and LAS in 2007 where I had the pleasure of meeting Tim and Dave, who were so kind to show me around.

I'm working with Dave on a similar site for AMS, which should be ready in a few weeks

Cheers
Tim

[Tim Wagenknecht]

Hello all,
Tim here. As founder of this site, it my pleasure to welcome the new members, and invite others to join in. Welcome to Dave Budd, and Tim De Groot...wonderful to have you two on board.

I live in the SoCal area, and have enjoyed aviation, in general, since the ripe age of 3. I was born on the east coast in the NYC area, and spent much time on top of the viewing platform at La Guardia as well as JFK. I can't remember the planes, but in doing some historical views back, am sure that I saw plenty of the original 4-holers, and much of the jet age starters. The bug bite deep when I was in school, and started shooting, but I never focused on airplanes specifically, and many of the slides and negatives have been lost to really bad storage techniques. I have once again delved deeply into the pool for the last three years, and have met some great folks along the way. A nod to Dave Budd, or Mr. Las Vegas, as he is know, for his support in the Southern Nevada area, and a thanks to Tim for his help at AMS (although it was really friggin' cold that day...remember when we chipped ice off of the electrical box so we could stand on it to get those birds heading to the 'Polderbaan'?).

Any way, this forum is open to all, and we welcome all submissions...just keep it clean and along the family lines.

Thanks all...
Tim

[Rjuncker]

I guess I'll introduce myself as well. René Juncker here. Originally from Denmark but now a 6 year expat. I'm a pilot and my first job was on the B737-6/7/800 with Scandinavian Airlines based in Copenhagen. After that, it was B738 with, the now bust, Excel Airways and the infamous RyanAir. 2004 I joined Singapore Airlines Cargo on a contract to fly the B747-400F. After 5 great years living in Singapore, that contract is ending and in June 2009 I'm moving to Qatar with the family to start flying the B777 aka "cripple 7".

I was never really into aviation photography but, I wanted a few decent shots of my bird. So, in 2006 I read about "The Hill", rented a car and drove around until I found it. I was just gonna spend an afternoon taking a few snaps with my EOS 30D. By happenstance, Tim W. was at the Hill that day - as he usually was - and I was smitten by his enthusiasm for everything photography and everything aviation. 2½ years and a great friendship later, I'm now a "regular" at the hill and try to be there as much as my nightstops allow. If any "outsiders" read this and you're interested in a few happy snaps of airplanes, I can strongly recommend a visit to Imperial Hill at LAX - but be warned; you're very likely to meet some nice guys and catch the bug that is aviation photography.

In the future I won't be much at the Hill - unfortunately - but I'm hoping Qatar Airways will copy Emirates and start flying there. I will, however, be keeping an eye on what goes on with you guys - so keep posting, please.

René Juncker