Mod Alumnus Danalec99!

[TPF Staff]

By terri at Fri, 2006-07-14 22:24

Danalec99 has been a member of TPF since March of 2004. Only within the last year was he asked to join the TPF staff as moderator. We decided it was high time to bring him out of the staff office and into the spotlight - for as long as he would allow it, anyway. So here he is - TPF's own danalec99!

1) Daniel, we'll begin at the very beginning - how did you come to find The Photo Forum? What brought you to us?
Thanks to Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

2) What's your gear? Are you a digital or film user, or somewhere in between?
At the moment, it's a 35mm digital SLR system.   I'm pretty much happy with the workflow at the moment.
I also have a 35mm film SLR body in my bag, which is rarely used. But I'm a huge fan of black and white film. IMO, its result is something that cannot be mimicked in photo software. Darkroom printing will be a serious hobby for me, in the future.

3) Recently, you've mentioned some photography classes that you've been taking. Where are they located? Tell us how you think they've helped you grow as a photographer.
The first one was an Advertising & Studio Photography program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I basically wanted to get a 'feel' of it. The course, however, was primarily catered towards still life photography, which I'm not a fan of. But still, it was a great experience. Got to play with a ton of gear/artificial lighting, including a 4x5.
The other one was a Film Editing program at the New York University. The goal was to feed my curiosity about the motion picture world and this program was indeed a great primer.

4) Explain your user name to us. Most of us know your first name is Daniel - how does this tie into the rest of it?
It's actually from one of my yahoo email logins. danalec is basically my full name abbreviated. dan – daniel, alec – alexander. 99 was the year I opened the email account.

5) You currently live in the Jersey area, which is the NE USA, but rumor has it you may not have always lived in the U.S. If not, tell us about your family background, and how you came to the States.
As most of you know, I hail from India. I was raised both in India and an oil kingdom (UAE, to be precise), where my father used to be employed for couple of decades. After he passed away, we moved Stateside to join our other family members. I'm married to this great person who is very supportive of my passion in photography, and who also thinks I spend a lot of time on the forum! She knows most of you all by names. My mother and my youngest sister live with us in NJ as well. My other sister, who is married and with a child, lives in Philadelphia.

God willing, you'll be seeing jr. danalec's pictures from December onwards.

6) We see a lot of your images in the photojournalism gallery. Is this a favorite subject matter for you? Tell us your photographic influences.
Soon after discovering my interest in photography, I accidentally found the Magnum site. For reasons that I cannot explain in words, the images in there moved me. I knew that was something that I wanted to do. Weddings are another major interest. I'd blame Jeff Ascough's work for influencing me to get in to the world of wedding photography. It's the people factor that connects me. I love capturing people/emotions.

7) And now, the tough question....yes, there has to be one. Name your all-time, absolute favorite photograph, and the photographer who took it. Only one! Then tell us why you believe it has such enormous appeal to you.
Boy, that's a tough one. Usual culprits like Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Werner Bischof, Rodney Smith, Jeff Ascough, Ami Vitali and a bunch of other names for unique reasons. HCB would stand out if I had to pick one.
I'm going to have to pass your 'fav photograph' question. There isn't just one.

8) What are your favorite ways of spending leisure time?
Books, magazines and online news/photography sites eat up most of my free time. I'm addicted to magazines (business & photography - both these are beautiful art forms, IMO).

9) Which members on the forum inspire you the most? Are there members whose posts you make sure you don't miss?
I usually don't miss any posts in the photo gallery.
I get inspiration from everyone, one way or the other.

10) And finally, is the role of moderator as easy as you thought it might be when you accepted the challenge? Tell us why or why not.
It's neither easy nor tough. Issues of varying nature are bound to pop up while we are dealing with thousands of members.   But it's a fun job.


We’d like to thank Daniel for taking the time to answer our questions and sharing some of his images. This is also the time to say "thanks!" for all his hard work, and the contributions he makes here at The Photo Forum.