Meet the WEEKLY gang

Here's a little bit about the weekly group

Listed alphabetically by first name.

 

Art Grundfast: Laura and I have resided in Clarksville, Tennessee since 2007. I started with the J-Company that Jim works for in Winston-Salem in 1992 and was transferred to State College in 1997.

I was born and mostly raised in New Jersey.

My introduction to photography was from my Dad who shot 8mm movies of weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. I saw the magic of a B&W darkroom at about 9 years old and I was hooked. I have photographed many weddings over the years, especially when it was a major part of my meager income, having printed many of those wedding photos in my own color darkroom. The tradition has been passed down to my daughter who has a BA in Photography and Digital Imaging and is employed using those skills.

Bill Straub: Career-wise, I have been a sales & customer service rep for  the J-company for over 16 years. I provide first-echelon, on-site, hands-on, and web-based assistance to the yearbook staffs of the greater Philadelphia area. My love & passion for design, photography, and concept have flourished in these years, as I have gratefully taken full opportunity to educate myself, and my clients, with all the skills I have learned and honed. What a joy it is, simply, to be enriched, and to enrich.

With regard to hobbies, first & foremost is music, and my instrument is the drums. Someday, I will photograph my set! I have a few camera-phone pics, but I want to really shoot it, as it's one of my 'babies.' The other hobby, and perhaps someday semi-profession, is brewing beer. I have been homebrewing for about 5 years now. Each recipe is crafted uniquely... I make sure each brew has some inspiration. Notably, my brews have been in honor of my family & friends... e.g., "Herky's Strong Ale," in honor of my dad & my grandfather, "GeminIrish," in honor of my wife. Creating their labels is just as much enjoyable as crafting the recipe, and the brew itself.

But above all of this, is my cherished family. I have 2 remarkable & incomparable sons, Jack (13) & Colin (11), and one daughter, who I am simply in love with. Juli (9) has a full nelson on my heart. My wife and I recently celebrated 16 years of marriage, and she has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.

So happy to be a part of this lil community, and I thank Jim Bellomo for initiating this, and including me in his projects. You da man, Jim!

See you all in the comments sections!

Brad: Stratton: I am one of the few and proud Colorado natives as I was born and raised in Colorado Springs and now reside in Aurora. My wife and I both retired from teaching middle school and we now are part time math instructors at Community College of Aurora. We have three children. Ryan (30) is developmentally disabled (Down Syndrome) and lives at home. Melissa (28) is serving in the Navy with a rank of LTJG and will be getting married in September. Erin (25) is married and working as a Physician Assistant in Pueblo.

I have always enjoyed taking photos and have always had some kind of camera for as long as I can remember. I bought my first SLR when I was in college and still have an old Pentex with several lenses sitting on the shelf in the closet. When digital became popular I went through several cameras of various types and finally was able to buy a Nikon D80 from Bill, one of our 7/52 photographers and my brother-in-law, when he upgraded. I now have that D300 from when he upgraded again last summer. Photography has always been a fun hobby and, although I have sold a couple of prints and have photographed my niece's wedding, I could never be considered a professional photographer in any way. I am very happy to be a part of the 7/52 team and hope to continue to improve my skills as a photographer.

Jim Bellomo: I am a 61 year old amateur shooter living in Seattle with a wonderful wife, kids (grown), grandkids (one of the the best things that ever happened to me) that I am sure you will see a lot of. I started pushing myself to do this kind of product back in 2008 when I did my first 365 project (shooting one photo a day for every day of 2008). I did it again in 2011. I did both of them because my lovely bride Kathleen told me one Christmas that I only took pictures on vacations and holidays. She was right. A week later I started the 2008 project.

Doing a photo every single day really got old but I learned so much that thought it would be better to try 7 a week thus 7/52 was born. We had a great time doing it last year. One of the best parts is the comments we give and receive on each other's photos. I have pretty much taken pictures since I heloed out  the yearbook staff in high school. Once I started teaching and became the yearbook adviser in the day and age that we had to develop your own photos so I also became the photo teacher. I've been involved with photography in one shape or form ever since--totally self-taught.

Most of the folks doing this are friends or relatives. Brian is my wife's daughter's husband (there has to a name for our relationship--his wife, my wife's daughter did 7/52 last year and is switching to monthly so she can write a cookbook), Steve (in the monthly's) is my brother, Tim is a good friend from Toronto, Mike is a long-time friend and traveling companion, Brad is Bill's (in the monthly's) brother-in-law and I have known Bill for about 20 years. Pretty much everyone else in the original group works for the J-company.

Mariah Cowan: I grew up in a small town called Estancia, NM.  I got started in photography when I was in middle school.  I was writing articles for UNM Women's Basketball team for a website when a photographer asked if I'd like to learn about photography so I would have photos to put with my articles online.  I fell in love and have been shooting every since.  I started shooting weddings, events and portraits my senior year of high school and currently run my own business shooting whenever I can.  In May 2013 I graduated from NMSU with my bachelors in Journalism with an emphasis in photojournalism.  I am excited to do this project because as life gets busier my photography ends up taking last priority and I really need to make it more of a point to find time to shoot.

Tim Giguere: I have lived in Toronto, Ontario, since 1995, but I spent the first 18 years of my life in a small city in Northern Ontario called Sault Ste. Marie; my father (who is doing the monthly 7/52 project) still lives there.  I left to attend university in Ottawa (BA), and then Waterloo (Master's), and I now work in the field of educational psychology, working with children and adults with various learning and behaviour disorders.  Unlike most of the other people in this project, I have nothing to do with the yearbook industry at the present time, but there is a tenuous connection there as I did co-edit my high school's yearbook for three years.  I met my partner, Perry, in 1998, and we met Jim and Kathleen on a cruise two years ago in New Zealand and Australia; we've been friends ever since, and have each played host to the other couple in our respective cities.  Both Jim and Kathleen have been instrumental in supporting and encouraging the development of my photography skills.

I have always enjoyed photography as an amateur, but only obtained my first 'grown up' DSLR, a Canon Rebel, as a birthday present (from Perry) in 2012.  Prior to last year's 7/52 project, I primarily used my camera only on vacation, but the 2013 project encouraged me to experiment with my camera on a more regular basis, which helped me to get to know it reasonably well.  There was also the added benefit of documenting the year in pictures for myself.  However, there's still a lot to learn, which is why I'm back for a second year.  I also hope to refine my post-processing skill set this coming year, and I plan to take a couple of courses to help me along.  Of course, I also look forward to hearing everyone's feedback, which was invaluable last year and a real boost to my confidence.

Have a great year!

Here's a little bit about the monthly group

Listed alphabetically by first name.

Bob Fitzsimmons  -  Originally from Port Hope Ontario I travelled west in 1965 to  the great Province of BC and remain here to this day.  I was in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and with my family have lived and worked in Burnaby (a suburb of Vancouver) Hazelton, Cassiar,(since gone) Salmon Arm and Chilliwack where we are at present. Since retiring here from the Force I have experienced the “Real” world in a few endeavors but am not working anymore.

I have followed Jim’s escapades with his cameras and photography since meeting him on a cruise in 2005.  Mike was also on board that cruise.

I have owned 4 cameras in my life and used them for “What is happening” pictures.  I’m on my second digital camera a Canon Powershot S95 and it doesn’t meet the SLR description that Jim thinks we need to join his 7/52 project.  So I’m going monthly and will only take 6. The reason for that is explained on my website where the pictures will be found.

I have followed the 7/52 site since it was hatched and Jim’s lonely solo projects previously and have really enjoyed all of the photographs.  I have to give special mention to Tim’s shots however as he wandered through Upper Canada and along Lake Ontario. His shots took me back to times past and perked my interest a lot and then finally enough to finally join up.

I hope to entertain and actually learn what all those dials, symbols and numbers mean on my wee camera. Until last week I still only took pictures at holidays, on holidays , of holidays, road trips and family functions.......looking forward to some different challenges.