Welcome! Riley here...
Riley Todd Bowman has loved cameras and taking photographs since a child, first messing around with an old film Olympus XA rangefinder that belonged to his grandmother. As such he has been taking photos for years. But as a self-taught photographer, it's only been recently that he decided to take it more seriously and begin sharing his work.
Riley started out his professional career in the construction trades, attended college and earned dual degrees in Architecture (A.A.S) and Construction Management (B.S.) and spent a number of years managing complex and high profile projects as a project manager.
He later decided to pursue another interest professionally--teaching others how to safely handle and accurately shoot firearms. This led to his current job as the VP at an online e-commerce business focused on training and product sales that support the concealed carry lifestyle. He has also become highly proficient with a pistol, competes regularly in USPSA matches, and is currently ranked in the top-50 shooters in the country. His well-trained and super quick trigger finger comes in handy on the shutter button of his camera!
Riley loves and spends as much time outdoors as he can. He likes to camp, hike, mountain bike, hunt, fish and off-road. His camera goes with him everywhere so that he is able to not miss a moment.
Riley is a proud husband and father of 5 children ranging in age from 4-16 that you may see featured in his photography from time to time.
My Gear
Riley is a lifelong fan of Olympus cameras. From his old Olympus XA 35mm film rangefinder to the class-leading technology found in the professional OM-D E-M1, Riley appreciates the innovative design and thoughtful features that Olympus puts into their photography products.
Olympus’s current lineup of DSLR-style cameras are actually mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras in the Micro Four Thirds (m43) family. They use a smaller Four Thirds sensor that allows for much smaller camera bodies and lenses. Riley feels these m43 Olympus cameras are the perfect combination of size and image quality. Sure some people will say that Fuji and Sony are making cameras that are just about as small but with larger full-frame and APS-C sensors, but m43 cameras still allow for smaller lenses to be used.
Gear List:
- Cameras
- OM-D E-M1 MkII Black Body (Primary)
- OM-D E-M1 Black Body (Backup)
- OM-D E-M10 Black Body (Compact Backup)
- Olympus XA 35mm Film Rangefinder (primarily shoots B&W with this, it’s a wonderful camera! You should see some images from this camera coming soon…)
- Lenses
- 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro (My go-to lens)
- 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro (Wide angle)
- 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro (Telephoto)
- 45mm f/1.8
- 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ with Macro
- Accessories
- HLD-9 Battery Grip (for E-M1)
- MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter (converts the 40-150mm Pro lens to a 56-210mm f/4)
- Feisol CT3441 Carbon Fiber Tripod
- Photo Clam Pro 30NS Ball Head
Just a note about focal length on micro four thirds cameras–the crop factor is 2x when compared to full-frame 35mm equivalent cameras. This means that you multiply the focal length by two to get an equivalent figure. So my 7-14mm lens is equivalent to a 14-28mm lens on a full-frame camera. The 40-150mm is equivalent to a 80-300mm and so on.