jody miller

Bio

I have been a photographer most of my life. I was first handed a Brownie box camera by my father at the age of nine, then got serious about photography in my late teens. In the intervening 35 years, I have shot, developed, printed and lost untold thousands of images, a very few of which I have recently resurrected thanks to the wonders of Photoshop and a good scanner.
My biggest photographic catharsis was studying at the 1982 Ansel Adams workshop in Carmel, California during the last year that Ansel was able to actually teach (he died in April 1984). Talk about a life-changing experience! It was a transcendental 10 days. I continued to study privately for the next two years with one of the instructors, and it helped shape the vision and approach to image-making that I use today.
I have never actually worked as a professional photographer; photography has always been a passionate hobby. I work in the television industry in Hollywood as an art director and animator; this has melded beautifully with my favorite pastime.
My introduction to flickr, and then Utata, was recent but also life-changing. Our community has come to mean a great deal to me in the relatively short few months since I discovered it. To have this wonderfully civil and erudite group of people to relate to, share ideas and images with, and argue with occasionally has meant the world to me.