Full time shooter and all around hobbyist from NC saying hello

[tufopix]

How's it going? My name is Gabe and I'm from NC. My 9-5 is as a product photographer but I like to shoot almost anything on my free time with a focus in automotive stuff. Photography has mostly been something I've done on my own that I've learned by just going out and shooting and getting advice here and there from some friends. I know I still have a lot to learn, so I thought it would be good to join a forum to see what I can learn from others and maybe even share a thing or two if I can. And, here I am.

My interest in photography began with a used point-and-shoot camera I bought in college. I took it with me around town and into abandoned buildings while experimenting with its "manual" mode(basically just adjusting the shutter speed). At the end of 2011 I bought a '70s Canon At-1 full-manual film SLR at an estate sale and taught myself about aperture settings and ISO. I moved to Japan in 2012 and bought a Canon KissX4/T2i DLSR when the AT-1's shutter began sticking.
The day after moving to Los Angeles from Japan, later in 2012, I landed a freelance gig shooting behind-the-scenes photos for a film project. I did that on a freelance basis until the end of 2013 when I moved back to NC and now I'm a full-time product photographer.

Seeing the work and assignments of my friends in college, who were photography majors, made photography seem way too complicated to me. I didn't have much interest in it until I bought the point-and-shoot camera and even then it was just something I did when I was bored and needed a break from work. Now it's probably my favorite medium. It's crazy how things change.

I uploaded some pics spanning from when I first started shooting to now in an album here to show a bit of what I shoot: Album: Sample Pics

I look forward to becoming a part of this community and seeing what I can learn from everyone.

Here's a few:

 

[The_Traveler]

welcome.
I like the last one very much

 

[tufopix]

welcome.
I like the last one very much

Thanks! That was taken in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan just before sunset with heavy humidity. I climbed to the highest place I could find and spent a few good hours shooting the city and then the moon with it got dark.