History of BakuPhotos.com
BakuPhotos.com has been officially launched on Sep 1, 2007. I was planning this site for about 2.5 years, but other commitments delayed the project implementation. Finally, in early August I got everything I needed for the site: registered domain name, hosting space and most importantly, site engine (that's the user interface and programming code). I spend all of August customising and re-programming user interface, and then uploading first batch of photos.
The idea about the site came to me when I was working in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2003-2005. Very often I got asked about Baku and Azerbaijan, and the best thing I could do was to show Baku and Azerbaijan photos, however, the quality of photos in the internet left a lot to be desired. It was about the same time, as I got my first "proper" digital camera - Nikon D70 DSLR - so the idea was very clear to me - "when I'm back to Baku, I will create the site myself !!". And here it is !!
I have spent hundreds of hours building and maintaining BakuPhotos.com, so hopefully, browsing the site makes it an enjoyable experience. I'm committed to keep improving the site and I'm open to your feedback and suggestions, so feel free to contact me.
About Me
My name is Elnur Amikishiyev. Despite all the photos on the site, I'm not a professional photographer - I have full-time job as a manager in one of the oil companies. My specialty is Accounting, Financial and Performance reporting. I graduated from Azerbaijan State Economic University (International Economic Relations) in 1998 and later qualified as chartered accountant with Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). For the last 10 years I worked in oil industry, mainly in Baku and Aberdeen (Scotland).
Not hard to guess, my main hobby is photography. I had my first digital camera back in 1999, but the real breakthrough was my first digital SLR Nikon D70 which I bought in 2005 and still own. The photography is a very wide subject, and I'm still learning it. I never had any training on photography, all I know, was gleaned from internet and through experiments.
My other interests:
Football - I'm a regular football player and enjoy playing as a creative attacking midfielder, however, others say, I play best in defense. I'm also a fan of Italian football club "Internazionale".
"Brain-Ring" and "What?Where?When?" (Брейн-ринг и Что?Где?Когда?) - For many years, I was an active player of these intellectual games and represented Azerbaijan in many international competitions. Although, other commitments no longer allow me to devote much time to the game nowadays, I still play for TV show "What?Where?When?" at channel Space. Visit their site http://www.gametv.az, if you're interested.
Commercial Photography - In addition to running BakuPhotos.com, I also do some commercial photography through microstock photo agencies. It helps to finance my photography hobby and pay the costs of running this website. You can see my portfolio if you click here. If you're interested in how you can earn money in microstock photography, feel free to contact me.
My Photo Equipment
I use Nikon D70 camera for my photos. It is 6-mega pixel digital SLR. I also have a host of various lenses:
- Nikon 105mm VR f/2.8 (macro lens)
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8
- Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 (telephoto lens)
- Nikon 70-300 f/3.5-4.5 (telephoto lens)
- Nikon 18-70 f/3.5-4.5
- Sigma10-20 f/4-5.6 (wide-angle lens)
Nikon recently announced two new cameras in DSLR range D300 and D3. I was waiting for this news, so later this year, as soon as D300 hits the market, I will get one. However, my Nikon D70 still does a great job - hopefully, my photos is a testimony to that !!
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