Sunday, October 15, 2006

Mr Rich Legg of Leggnet's Digital Capture

We here at the Photo Meme Hall of Shame are looking to begin publishing short interviews of photobloggers and photo meme participants much like Dale of Thursday Challenge was doing. It give us and the Hall of Shamer Community (The Shamers) a chance to know the photographers a bit better and they, a chance to explain themselves and make Mememonitor and myself look a bit more dense. We are nothing is not sporting, here at the Photo Meme Hall of Shame.

Todays interviewee is (surprisingly) an early supporter, and dare we even say, an inspiration to us here. Mr Legg has always treating us with grace and dignity which bothers us to no end because we were prepared for such a dogfight.

MemeShame: Who are you and why are you doing this to us?

Mr. Rich Legg: I am a real estate broker and own my own brokerage in Salt Lake City. I have always had a passion for photography. I was the guy in high school who usually had a camera with me (I was on the newspaper and yearbook staff). After high school, I worked for four years in a photography studio in Eagle River Alaska shooting family portraits, weddings, senior pictures and such. I then moved on to a non-photographic career and got away from serious photography. Part of the reason for the move away from photography was that I no longer had access to the photo-labs and equipment and didn't have the $$$ to have my own darkroom - not to mention the fact that I was very busy with family and work. I began shooting digital around 1999 but didn't get seriously back into it until I got a digital SLR. Digital cameras just didn't seem real to me, but with an SLR it felt similar to what I had learned on in the eighties. I began photoblogging as a way to try and show my work to a larger community. I get a fair amount of visits and such on Flickr, but my blog attracts a completely different audience - one that tends to be a bit less tech and camera savvy (with the exception of the photobloggers that visit). As for the meme's, I found it to be an entertaining way to advertise my blog.

MemeMonitor: Why do you call them captures and not photos, images, pictures, etc?

Mr Rich Legg: I have owned the domain LeggNet.com since the mid-nineties (it was the first domain I ever purchased - legg.com was already taken). When I decided to start the blog I wanted to integrate the name LeggNet into it. As for the "digital capture" part, I wanted a descriptive phrase that was a bit less generic then terms such as photography or photoblog. It has worked somewhat. If you search the term digital capture in Google right now, my site is the seventh site listed in the results.

MemeShame: What did you have for breakfast?

Mr. Rich Legg: This is sad to say, but most days I don't eat until around lunch (today included).

MemeMonitor: We read your comments. Are you commenters employees, dependents. or just well meaning strangers?

Mr. Rich Legg: With the exception of the occasional comment by my mother, I generally have no idea who the commenters are. There are a few folks who post fairly regularly, but these are people I have met through the site (JKirlin & Genevieve come to mind).

MemeShame and a Shamer: Speaking of dependents, your daughter. Please tell us she is not common and free us from this belief and also, her photoblogging, her work or a chance for a second post to the memes?

Mr. Rich Legg: No, she's not common - quite the opposite in fact (but I did think a shot of a child was 'common). She asked me this past summer if she could start a photoblog like mine. Hey, immitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I helped her set it up. Any posts she makes to meme's are definately hers. That is why we don't see much participation from her lately, since school is back in session. Her blog posts have dropped off considerably as well. Here's a plug for her site: elisarae.com

MemeMonitor: What gear do or have you used? Are there any manufacturers you'd like to praise or bad mouth here?

Mr. Rich Legg: Back in the eighties, my gear consisted of a Nikon FE, FM2 (with various lenses) and a Mamiya 645 medium format. The studio gear I used was mainly a Mamiya RB67, Mamiya 645 and a long roll 70mm camera.Nowadays, I am a definate Canon fan. My primary camera is a 30D with battery grip (the grip gives me the feel I used to get from having a motor drive on my Nikon film bodies). My most used lens is a 24-105 f/4L. Other lens' I use: 70-200, 18-55, 28-105, 100-300 and 50. I also have a Canon XT body, but my wife and/or daughter usually use it.

MemeShame: What other hobbies do you enjoy or enjoy inflicting upon others?

Mr. Rich Legg: Since I play electric guitar and bass in a church band, the wording of this question fits... I also spent this morning at the shooting range with a friend firing various Glocks, if that counts.

MemeMonitor: Where else can we see your photos? Do you have any side projects?

Mr. Rich Legg: I have some photos on iStockPhoto and so far have accumulated a whopping $85 in sales. I get contacted a couple times a month from people wanting to use my shots. If it is not for profit, I generally allow usage without compensation. I did have an ad agency purchase a photo I took of the Salt Lake City skyline for use on a promotion for the new Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. That was pretty cool. I have also had a few shots used on Salt Lake City's CBS affiliate during their weather segment. Also cool.

MemeMonitor: What is the best photo that you missed?

Mr. Rich Legg: Missed photos? Probably anything that happened between 1989 and 1999 since I rarely had a camera near me during that time.

MemeShame: Any bad habits?

Mr. Rich Legg: Fast food, preferably mexican.

MemeShame: If you weren't doing what you do now, what WOULD you be doing? Photographer doesn't count.

Mr. Rich Legg: I would love to be more than the mediocre guitar player that I am. I get the chance to play with fantastic musicians and that is something I would love to advance more at. It is so humbling to hear these teenagers that can play whatever they want on a guitar and play it well. Of course, they have no idea of the relation between f-stops and shutter speed.

An Unnamed Shamer: What do YOU think your worst photo meme submission is?

Mr. Rich Legg: One of my favorite shots, but one that is definately an offender is the Dripping Fence shot posted for the theme electric. I was stretching the theme a bit since it wasn't an electric fence. But, without that shot (and the Common one), we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

Very true indeed.

2 Comments:

Blogger Cool Daddio said...

Damn it. I was making my devotional offerings to the Welsh Witch when I followed her link to you guys and your very amusing narratives have ensnared me for the last thirty minutes. You deserve a good spanking.... you wish.

1:30 PM  
Blogger memeshame said...

We love Welsh Ginger, Asthmatic and a Lady. Or Welshwitch. Whatever she is. She linked us? She's mental!

1:47 PM  

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