| |
NAME:
PhotoDude, but my bills come addressed to some guy named Reid
Stott....
SEX:
.....'nuff said....
HEIGHT:
Six feet....
EYE COLOR:
You figure it out. There's a brown ring around the center,
and a green ring around the outside, but I don't think that qualifies
as hazel. Makes it hard to fill out job applications....
HAIR COLOR:
Salt & Pepper, in a ponytail. Never thought I'd
cultivate that ACLU lawyer look. Between that, the goatee, and
my new-found computer geekiness, old friends who haven't seen
me in several years think I've joined the Federal Witness Protection
Program.
HANDICAPS:
No, it isn't a *real* handicap, but if you assume it
isn't limiting growing up left handed in a right handed world,
think about it the next time you use a chainsaw. It can be limiting,
and dangerous! Above, I am shown using a top secret prototype
of a left-handed mouse/pen being produced by Southpaw Peripherals,
a division of PhotoDude Labs(tm). Coming
*Real Soon Now*....
HOPES:
I've always said I could get a lot more done if it wasn't for
work. Imagine how big this web site would be if I led a life of
leisure. So perhaps it's just as well....
FEARS:
Before he was captured, I figured it was just a matter of time
before one of my friends turned me in because I looked like the
Unabomber sketch....
JOURNEY'S END:
The above is the closest you're going to get to a realistic
depiction of me. Confirmed masochists can click on it to make
it bigger.
|
 |
|
I suppose a brief introduction
is in order, but you'll soon know more than you care to about me. My name is Reid
Stott (alias PhotoDude), and I'm a 44 year old freelance photographer and web
designer in Atlanta, Georgia. I've called this fair city home since 1985, and
have been in the photo-biz since 1987.
Having purchased my first computer 1/20/96, I progressed
from a clueless computer newbie who thought PPP/SLIP was some kinda
bathroom accident, to a slightly-less-clueless webmaster of my own
domain in less than a year (PhotoDude.com was born 1/19/97).
Anyway, starting with the most meager of programming and design
skills (all gained by osmosis), I've tried to use the Web as my personal gallery,
playground, and medium for creative expression. I've reveled in it, and feel as
though I've found my best canvas. After 5 years, my skills are no longer quite
so meager. Apparently, they're even marketable.
My Portfolio section encompasses
the range of content I originally envisioned my web site would hold. But it quickly
became so much more for me. Things like the Olympics
(1996) and Red Rock Road Trip
(1997) would not exist if the World Wide Web didn't exist. They are truly products
of this medium, and, I hope, relate the progression I made on my journey through
cyberspace, long before we got around to things like weblogs (in my case, July,
2000)
And if you haven't already, you'll soon figure out
this site was not conceived as a "marketing vehicle."
But if, after viewing it, you figure out some reason you'd like
to give me money, I'm all ears.
Finally, there's Links
....a blessing and a curse....
29 Miscellaneous Factoids:
[1] I used to think tomatoes were made from
ketchup, in molds.
[2] I believed pencil sharpeners removed the
old point, and replaced it with a fresh one.
[3] At the age of 7, my parents took me to The
Ed Sullivan Show, and I saw Topo
Gigio.
[4] At about the same age, I went to the World's
Fair in New York, and I saw Mary Poppins at Radio City Music
Hall (after the Rockettes, my mom fell asleep)
[5] At the age of 8, I asked my parents if I
could take oil painting lessons. Bless their hearts, they let me.
[6] At the age of 9, I could imitate LBJ.
[7] As a child, adults found me very entertaining.
[8] At the age of 15, I called out the high
school principal in the local paper, and survived to tell
the tale.
[9] I was a DJ back when music was played off
of large black petroleum byproducts. From 1975 (my first part time
gig in high school) until 1985 (when I finally wised up).
[10] I broke my neck. Really, Nov. 26, 1983,
2nd cervical vertebra, the same point of fracture as Christopher Reeve.
That I survived is amazing. That I survived without permanent damage
(after 3 months of healing) is a miracle, and every single day since
has been a gift.
[11] I was shot. At close range. Nightly, on
stage at the Wake Forest University Theatre. But freakily memorable,
just the same.
[12] I've stood in a smoke shrouded field in
the midst of 5,000 men with rifles and a dozen field artillery pieces,
30 yards apart, firing as fast as they could. Blanks, in a Civil
War reenactment. Again, freakily memorable, just the same, especially
in a wool uniform on Labor Day weekend.
[13] I've led a comparatively charmed life.
[14] I've played against the Harlem Globetrotters
(for charity). They kicked our butt, laughin' the whole way.
[15] I've played basketball while on the back
of a donkey (for charity). Or tried to.
[16] I've battled professional mud wrestlers,
an all woman team called the Chicago Knockers. It wasn't for charity,
and they kicked my butt far worse than the Globetrotters.
[17] For 5 years, I was Program Director of
a rock radio station, overseeing a staff of a dozen disc jockeys.
Think Animal House, for profit. It may have been perfect
training for the dot com world. Fast, furious, and filled with creative
energy (even if it was sometimes directed with mischief in mind).
[18] In 1984, all I knew about the technical aspects of
photography was how to get the film out of the camera and take it to Eckerds.
[19] In 1995, all I knew about HTML was that I was probably
gonna have to hire someone to write some for me.
[20] People now pay me for doing both. Life
is good.
[21] Despite virtually being raised on the Outer
Banks, I can no longer tolerate seafood. Not even the smell. I also
hate nuts (all types, except the human variety). I may be the only
kid in America who never liked peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.
[22] This body powered by coffee (before 2pm)
and Mountain Dew (after 2pm). Where would I be without these fine
caffeinated beverages? Asleep.
[23] I am a man of earth tones. Get that lime
green away from me. Unless it's Mountain Dew.
[24] Places I've lived (in order): Raleigh,
NC, Oakland, NJ, St. Johnsbury, VT, Clinton, NJ, Raleigh, NC (again),
Cookeville, TN, LaGrange, GA, Winston-Salem, NC, Warner Robins, GA
(Macon area), Tallahassee, FL, Warner Robins, GA (again), Atlanta,
GA (now)
[25] I love the South.
[26] I love my truck.
[27] My neck is not red.
[28] Despite my dedication as a Web Advocate, I'm in love
with a woman whose name I can't link, because she is web-less, totally bereft
of online pixels. [UPDATE: After five years, finally, the girl
got domain. PhotoDude Labs LLC is not responsible for any content on that
site; she did it all herself] [UPDATE #2: After seven years,
we
got married].
[29] Evidence of my WebHeaded nature (all sites open in
a new window): Fuji's
Feline Tour (the original cheesey web site, April, 1996). 1996
Olympics (July-August, 1996). PhotoDude.com
(this site, launched in a more primitive form in January, 1997). Red
Rock Road Trip (November, 1997, within PhotoDude.com, but truly a site unto
itself), and PixelPile.org
(September, 2001, a community photolog). Client sites include Photomac.com
, AlaneCohen.com,
GarciaStudio.com,
PatJenkinsInc.com,
PurpleSnowflakeStudios.com.
ProfitsInProgress.com,
and soon, Petraiture.com
and MichaelWest.com.
|
|
