I got a cheap digital SLR (a Canon Digital Rebel) on a whim in late 2004, and since then photography has become a hobby and a good excuse to travel. This site is a convenient way for friends and family to see my photos (without me spending money on lots of prints), and a good way for me to organize them.
Current camera equipment:
Canon 5D SLR body
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
Canon Speedlite 430EX flash
Gitzo G1227LVL tripod
Really Right Stuff BH-55 Pro ballhead
I also used to own the Digital Rebel and [briefly] the Rebel XT before they were both replaced by the 5D, and the 70-200mm f/4L before it was replaced with the f/2.8 IS version. The 24-70mm and 70-200mm cover the focal lengths of the other lenses, and they're such good quality that generally I take just those two when traveling. Otherwise, the 100mm prime is good for macro work (obviously) and portraits, the 50mm prime is good for street photography and low-light situations, and the 28mm mostly sits in the closet now that it's been supplanted by the 24-70mm.
Software used to create this site:
Apache web server
mod_python module for Apache
Python scripting language
MySQL database
Vsftpd FTP server
All running on the Linux kernel
The backend is a database with information about each photo (date, aperture, shutter speed, etc.) parsed from EXIF data. When I add photos, a script parses EXIF data from the master JPEG and adds it to the database, then re-sizes the master to various sizes to create the needed thumbnails. All the pages & search results are generated on the fly by some custom Python scripts. Existing tools like Gallery just didn't do quite what I wanted at the time, plus it's nice to be able to tinker with all the details.
This machine is just a PC sitting in my house on a RoadRunner connection, so please be patient if you're downloading full-resolution photos. :-) Unfortunately, there aren't many better options around here ISP-wise, and I don't feel like spending money on separate hosting.
I try to code the site to standards (XHTML and CSS), and periodically test everything pretty thoroughly in both Firefox and Opera. Internet Explorer is more of a pain to deal with, but the basic functionality should still work - let me know if anything is broken.
