Darrell Young (DigitalDarrell) is an information technology engineer by trade and has been an avid photographer for over 35 years. He has a rather large family, with his wife and five children, so he has a constantly interesting flow of photographic opportunities. In fact, his entire family uses Nikon cameras to pursue what has become a cohesive family hobby. Darrell delights in using Nikon's newest digital cameras but if pressed, he will admit to being a "closet" film user too. Living next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has given him a real concern for, and interest in, nature photography. Darrell loves to write, as you can see in the Resources area of the Nikonians.org… community. He joined the community in the year 2000, and his literary contributions led to his invitation to become a Founding Member of the Nikonians Writers Guild.
When James (Jim) Johnson retired from a 25-year career as a software developer for IBM, he had already been working as a contract technical editor for Microsoft. After his retirement, technical editing and technical writing became his primary source of income to cover the cost of his 'toys'-most of which were computer equipment and photographic equipment. Jim's involvement with cameras began in the mid '50s when he needed to record the interior of caves in Kentucky. At the time, the greatest challenge was to provide adequate illumination, and in a manner that did not defile the cave, thus he purchased a Leica 3F camera (which was the norm at that time) and experimented with numerous… lighting sources. In the late '60s Jim purchased a used Nikon FTn, and it's been a progression of Nikons ever since. The Nikon 990 was his introduction to digital photography, but the D100 provided the ability to use all those SLR lenses he had accumulated over the years. A D300 is his current working tool. Jim and his wife Heather live on the California coast, with their home overlooking the Morro Bay estuary. The coast, the bays, and the mountains all combine to host a vast array of botanical subjects, which are the focus of Jim's current photographic interest. Jim is a new member of Nikonians, having been introduced to the Nikonians organization by Rocky Nook while working on Darrell Young's first book, Mastering the Nikon D300.