Hi Everyone,
My name is Stephen (Scharf) aka known as "Puma Cat" on many different forums.
I'm a scientist by profession (molecular biologist and Six Sigma Black Belt) and I work for a large biotech company in the Bay Area. I live in the "East Bay" about 20 miles south of Oakland, CA, and have worked as a professional motorsports photojournalist for many years. I've currently one of the accredited track photographers for Sonoma Raceway, and I cover all their professional motorsports and racing events for photojournalism, PR, and media purposes and I have also covered a few motorsports events with credentials in Australia (MotoGP). My photographic work has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as numerous other newspapers in the Bay Area, as well on on the Web and in motorsports magazines. I was also one of the official track photographers for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for nine years. My work ranges from professional motorsports photojournalism, to landscape, architectural, fine art and documentary street photography. A recent area of project-related focus for me is "urbex": photographing abandoned and derelict spaces and places.
I started shooting with Fuji X in December, 2012, with an X-Pro1, and it was a revelation for me after shooting with a full-on pro Canon kit for a decade. Using the Fuji X-cameras reignited my passion for photography again after becoming jaded using Canon gear all that time. The only time I shoot with my Canon gear now is when I am at the k-wall shooting racing action; everything else is shot with my Fujis (X-T1, X-Pro1 and X100T).
I'm also on the Fuji X-Spot forums (user name Stephen S), and have been a featured photographer there three times, and I also know fellow member Stockographie from one of the British Fuji forums.
Looking forward to meeting all of you and contributing to the community here.
Regards,
Stephen
