Putting together an internet photo
album takes a lot of work, but it
also brings great satisfaction.
Hello and welcome to my photo website. My name is Steve Minkler and I began building this internet photo album in August of 2007. I am having a lot of fun putting it all together, and I plan to continue adding to it (hopefully) for many years to come. I do apologize for the somewhat slow loading times of certain pages on this site, but that is because the pages are very graphic intensive.
This is me with my 28 year old Canon AE-1P camera in hand.
Photography has been a favorite pastime and passion of mine since 1983. However, it has remained a hobby and is not my main profession (that would be drawing custom house plans in Southern California). If you are interested in custom home design, please feel free to visit my other website at
www.Minkler-House-Plans.com
to see what I do.
I grew up in Escondido, California (in north San Diego County). I am a big San Diego Padre baseball fan and enjoy many different types of music. I have been married to my wonderful wife Karen for 20 years. She grew up in Eugene, Oregon and loves the scenic beauty of the Northwest. She is also the inspiration for this website. We currently live in San Jacinto, California and love to travel whenever possible. And we are both Christians who love the Lord Jesus Christ and believe that He is the only way to the Father - and ultimately to Heaven. I have two brothers (Don and Jim) who are both pastors in Oregon. Don started an online ministry at
AHolyCalling.com
and also has a radio program which broadcasts out of Coos Bay, Oregon (which Jim also contributes to). It is geared toward those people who really want to delve deep into the doctrinal truths of the Bible. The goal is to deepen one's biblical understanding and to equip people to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. You can download many of his radio broadcasts from the website.
The island of Kauai, Hawaii is our favorite vacation spot. There are many pictures of Hawaii featured throughout this internet photo album.
Creating an internet photo album is made a little bit easier if all of your pictures are already in digital form. Mine were not since over 90% of my images were originally shot on film. So I knew that I needed to scan lots of slides and negatives into digital files. I invested in a dedicated film scanner (a Nikon Coolscan V-ED) in 2006 and began the long and laborious process of digitizing my images. While enjoyable at times, the scanning process is also very time-consuming. After several months (to save some time), I had a number of photographs and slides scanned commercially at a local photo store close to my home.
To this day, I still enjoy using a 35mm film camera in addition to digital. The majority of photos on this website were shot with a Canon AE-1P which I purchased back in 1983. It still operates perfectly. I have also (on occasion) used a Minolta X-370 film camera, and I began taking lots of casual photos with a Kodak digital compact in 2007 as I transitioned into the digital age. However, most of the photographs you currently see on this site were taken with the Canon SLR. I subscribe to Popular Photography magazine and also to Shutterbug, and enjoy reading their camera and lens reviews each month. In fact, those reviews (along with some online reviews) led me to purchase a Nikon D90 digital SLR in December of 2010. I hope to capture lots of new images with this digital camera and add them to the website from time to time.
If you have a collection of old photos, negatives, or slides which you would like to be able to view on your computer or TV screen, you might want to check out an affiliate of this site who can save your photo memories to a DVD for a very low price. It is much easier than doing it yourself.
Another favorite pastime of mine is going to a Padre game.
This internet photo album begins with pictures and information about San Diego, since I have more photos of that particular city and area than anywhere else. Karen and I would both like to go back to Hawaii again (our favorite vacation spot) and collect more photos of that beautiful place. And we both have family members living in Oregon, so I hope to add more photos of the Northwest from time to time.
Building this internet photo album allows me to share my "photographs and memories" (anyone remember that Jim Croce song?) of some favorite travel destinations. Some of the images on this website are also featured on some stock photo sites. You can see more than 245 of my stock images (and instantly purchase and download them if you like) at Dreamstime.com. They are listed under my stock photo alias "Pj1960". I also submit photos to five other online stock photo agencies. Please click here to read about how I earn money with my photo collection - and how you can sell your pictures too!
My Photo Store
I have created an online store where you can purchase items such as photo note cards, photo coffee mugs, posters and more. Click on any image below to be taken to my Zazzle storefront - or to see other stores featuring a wide range of products. You can even create your own store featuring your products!
How This Internet Photo Album Got Started.
Online photo galleries are a great way for lesser known photographers and amateur hobbyists (such as myself) to become known and showcase their best images. However, you need to build a website that generates traffic or else no one will find you (that is the unfortunate case with 99% of the websites on the internet). My wife and I discovered a unique and very rare company in late 2006. They have created an unmatched record of success which anyone willing to work a little can duplicate using their software. To read about our search for a work at home opportunity which actually earns an income, please click here.
Thank you very much for visiting my photo gallery! I hope you enjoy it.
To return to the home page, click here.
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