About

I’ve always been interested in photography but never had the time to devote myself to learning about it.

Last year, when I got a Canon Rebel XTi from my sister, I decided to start concentrating on photography as a hobby. As time went by I realized I could also utilize the skills I was learning in photography to supplement my work in the field of web design and graphic arts.

What started as a hobby has quickly grown into an obsession. While I do not have the most expensive equipment, and I won’t for some time, I have been lucky to be in some of the right places at the right time to catch some moments on disk that will not likely be forgotten any time soon.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Michael T. Barrett, and I was born in Nevada in 1964. I was raised in Boulder City, a small town on the outskirts of Las Vegas. I have always been interested in current events, weather, and earthquakes. Lately I have developed an intense interest in birds,, and with the help of my three sons I have become quite the birder.

After high school, I spent a year attending college in Hawaii. Apparently I was at the University of Hawaii at Hilo at the same time Sarah Palin was (or wasn’t) there, although I stayed much longer than she did. I sure wish I had a good camera when I was living over there. After that year I returned home to Las Vegas where I attended UNLV for a couple years as well.

I spent six years at the Clark County Detention Center. No, not as an inmate, but working there as a courier. It was a slider job for a guy who wasn’t really sure which road to take from there. While I was there, I met Jan Barcza who would also shape my way of thinking for years to come. Jan was one of the most honest souls I ever met, and I value every moment I spent with her.

I have always believed that you always end up right where God wants you, so you meet the right people or you learn the right lesson. That belief held true when I met my future wife, Gidget, online in 1996. Just months after meeting her online, I was helping her move all the way across the country to be with me. Then, just a few months later we were moving all the way back here to Georgia. We have been here ever since.

I’ve spent the past several years blogging on Slobokan’s Site O’ Schtuff (my first blog) and more recently at 101 Dead Armadillos, my personal website.

Last year I was hunting for good domain names and saw EXIFR.COM come up for just $5. Of course, I grabbed it. Who doesn’t want a five character domain name? Better yet, EXIFR is a pretty cool name considering digital photographs contain EXIF data with all of the camera information embedded in the image itself. In a way EXIFR could stand for digital photographer. Yeah, I’ll go with that.

EXIFR.COM is my contribution of random pixels in an unorganized chaotic universe.