Frequently Asked Questions

What do you do for a living?
I'm a Professional Photographer in Burlington, Vermont. I specialize in Commercial, Wedding, and Portrait Photography and serve clients in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Upstate New York.

I'm also a Root Administrator, President, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the WyldRyde IRC Network, which provides free technical support and offers a free chat room that can be added to any web site or blog. WyldRyde is home to LIVE.PIRILLO.COM and the Lockergnome Chat.
Can you tell me more about yourself?
I'm 31 years old and married. I grew up and went to college in South Florida and then moved to Vermont in 1995. You can find out more on my About Me page.
Which cameras do you own?
I have a bunch of cameras and lenses and what I carry around with me is constantly changing but you can see which cameras I own and what is currently in my photography bags here.
Canon or Nikon?
Personally I have chosen to shoot with Nikon equipment and stay with them for several reasons including:
- I've made a considerable investment in Nikon Nikkor Lenses and Nikon Accessories and switching would be very costly.
- I prefer the ergonomics and feel of Nikon bodies.
- I'm very used to Nikon's menus and controls and prefer the way everything is displayed. Someone aptly said, "Canons are the best cameras available designed by engineers, and that Nikons are the best cameras one can buy designed by photographers."
Do you hate Canon?
Nikon and Canon make fine bodies and lenses for the most part and you really cannot go wrong by choosing either!

I don't hate Canon but I applaud Nikon for their commitment to their customers by not switching lens mounts and ensuring backward compatibility for the majority of their lenses. The vast majority of lenses produced by Nikon, even most of their oldest manual focus lenses, still work on all their professional bodies produced today.

Unfortunately, Canon has done a disservice to their customers by changing lens mounts and forcing their customers to invest in new lenses. I believe these changes were purely profit driven and show that Canon cares more about lining their own pockets over treating their customers, who invested in their equipment, right.
What camera should I get
Every photographer I know gets asked this question way too often and it's a difficult thing to answer because there are so many cameras on the market, all for different uses, and models are always coming and going which makes it hard for most photographers to keep up with what is new. But you're in luck because I pay close attention to the consumer, prosumer, and pro camera models because, to be frank, I'm a camera junkie and would buy them all if I could. I maintain this listing of my most recommended cameras and accessories and you can get the best prices and deals here! But before you buy I recommend you also read the specs carefully and some reviews to make sure it does what you want it to do. Take a look at DigitalCameraInfo.com as they seem to be the least biased and honest with their reviews.
Mac or PC?
Back in May 2007 I purchased my first Mac and I'll never go back!
Why do you hate Windows?
I was a Windows user since Windows 3.0 and have owned and used every version of Windows since except Windows ME and Windows Vista. The more I looked into Vista the more I became convinced that investing any money into it and PC upgrades would be completely wasted.

Since switching to Mac I've found for every program that's available on Windows, there is a BETTER version that does the same [and more] features for the Mac OS! (Except when it comes to games and since I'm not a gamer I don't care about gaming.)

But most of all, I find Macs have an advantage over Windows because of their reliability and quality.

How many weeks have you spent the majority of time trying to get your fracking Windows machine to boot and run without BSODing or run without problems than actually using it for real work? How many times do you have to reboot every week...no ever day...what am I saying...I mean every hour?! It's ridiculous to have a machine that's supposed to make your life more productive but it's almost never ready to work when you are. In short, you simply don't have the amount of problems you have on Windows machines on Macs.
Windows machines have always been prone to driver problems and hardware incompatibilities and this plays a big part in their unreliability. If it's not bad/failed driver updates or just a lousy driver thats not ready for prime time, it's something else. I don't know if it's because PC vendors and the hardware companies simply don't care, are rushing to put out products, are incapable of releasing reliable drivers due to problems with Window's itself and its development model, or if it all comes down to the vast amount of hardware out there that Windows can run on that there will always be some incompatibilities that weren't foreseen. It may even be a combination of these. Whatever the case, you usually have a machine that's more trouble to keep running than actually use. This is the case with systems that are specifically built for the version of Windows they're running and home-builts. It's an unavoidable problem on most systems and if you never had driver problems on your Windows machines you've been very lucky!

Macs also always been much more secure out of their box and are not as prone to security vulnerabilities, exploits, and viruses as Windows machines. I don't want to have to be a security expert to use my computer. I just want to be able to read my email and surf web pages without fear of clicking on the wrong thing and getting infected by the virus du jour!

Thanks but no thanks Windows, I've went Mac and I'm not going back!
How many computers do you have?
I primarily use an 24" Intel iMac and an 13" Intel MacBook. I also have four PCs that I pretty much never use anymore for anything but storage. Three run Windows XP Pro and one is currently running Ubuntu. As these PC die they'll be replaced by Macs. In addition I have two servers in my house that run OpenBSD and my dedicated web servers at WebAir run FreeBSD.
Do you have dual monitors?

No, I don't but I would sure love to! Help me get them by leaving a tip or making a donation with PayPal:
What photography software do you use?
I love Apple Aperture and would be "out of business" without it! I also use Nikon Capture NX and Nikon Camera Control Pro. I very rarely use Adobe Photoshop so I stopped upgrading after CS2.
What are you favorite Mac Applications?
Coda, Apple Aperture, MarsEdit and TextExpander.

Also see my list of 50 Must Have Mac Applications.
What web cam do you use?
Sometimes I'll use my JVC Everio GZHD3 but more often than not it's easier and simpler for me to just use my iMac's iSight.
What microphone do you use?
Currently I'm using the internal microphone on my iMac but I'm counting my pennies to buy a Samson C01UCW Studio Microphone. They supposedly give the best bang for the buck. Help me get one by leaving a tip or making a donation with PayPal:
What are those voices I hear?
Those voices are WyldRyde staff members and #Chris Volunteers on a private Ventrilo server. Sorry but we don't give access to it.
Did you hack Chris Pirillo? Why are you on live.pirillo.com?
No, I didn't hack Chris! I sometimes fill in on live.pirillo.com when Chris is not broadcasting, after all, even I can be more entertaining than his empty chair! Chris allows WyldRyde staff members and #Chris Volunteers to do this and we have the ability to switch the feed to us when we want. We're broadcasting from our own homes or offices and are not in Chris' house.
Did you hack Jeff? Why are you on besttechie.net?
No, I didn't hack Jeff! I sometimes fill in on besttechie.net when Jeff is not broadcasting.
Are you related to Chris Pirillo?
No, I'm not his brother and I'm not related to him. I don't know why I get asked this so often!
How do you know Chris Pirillo?
I've known Chris from his Lockergnome email newsletters and the #lockergnome chat room. This was way before he was on TechTV.
What is a Root Admin?
A Root Admin is a superuser or someone that has the highest level of access to a computer or server. Besides having this access, WyldRyde Root Admins have the upmost responsibility on the network and the final say on all decisions. For more information please read the FAQ topic WyldRyde's Staff Positions and also see the WyldRyde staff directory.
Did you start WyldRyde?
No, I didn't start the network. WyldRyde was initially started by GregMo and he was running the network with _Mist_ when I first connected. I was just a normal user, not even opped in any channels. I became more and more involved in various channels, got opped in a few, and was eventually asked by _Mist_ to be on WyldRyde's staff after GregMo left to pursue other things. He hasn't been involved or played any part in the network for many years. Sometime after _Mist_ asked me to take over and run things.

In 2007, I setup the WyldRyde Corporation which owns the WyldRyde IRC Network and I'm Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Corporation.
How did you come up with usrbingeek?
I wanted something very unique and original and could also be trademarked. As I was writing Perl scripts at the time I decided on using a word play on the first line of most Perl scripts, #!/usr/bin/perl.
How did you get the chat on your video?
I just followed these instructions written by Bwana, Enhance Your Ustream Video Feed. Sorry, I have no idea how/if it can be done on Windows.
Did you design this web site?
Yes, I created the entire design myself. The backend uses a heavily customized version of Moveable Type but I'm in the process of porting the site over to Drupal. No ETA to completion.
Can you design my web site? Can you help me code something?
I'm a Photographer, not a programmer. I cannot help you code something or code something for you! I code for myself, for fun. I don't do it for a living and I won't do it for money. So, I'm sorry, but I cannot help you design a web site, code something, and won't respond to coding questions.