Coasterimage.com
started as the result of a small group of friends who enjoy frequenting
various Amusement and Theme Parks throughout the United States.
All of us in one way or another have been visiting Amusement Parks
for most of our lives and fate stuck us together later in life.
With a shared interest in Roller Coasters and Amusement Parks it
became a natural place to get together and enjoy the day. Over time
we became more and more serious about getting to new parks and riding
new rides.
DISCOVERY
It
was about this time that I began discovering the entire Amusement
Park & Roller Coaster "subculture" on the internet.
This only served to fuel my passion for it all even more. I began
learning all I could about it, amazed that so many shared our passion
for thrills. In due time I found many sites sharing photos and information
about Amusement Parks worldwide. This in turn got me started photographing
the parks and rides we visited. The next logical step was to share
my obsession with the world. Soon I was dragging friends and family
to any park I could talk them into visiting. It was (and is) a lot
of fun.
CREATION
After
filling countless photo albums with photos that looked like vacation
pictures rather than serious Amusement Park photos, I decided to
drop a few bucks on a camera, a few lenses and a nice little film
scanner. The result is the website you're viewing at this very moment
- Coasterimage.com! We continue to frequent as many parks as possible
no matter how large or small. If it has a coaster, we're there!
(sometimes, even if it doesn't have a coaster!) I hope you enjoy
viewing these photos as much as I enjoy getting them.
AGENDA
The
idea behind this site was to create an online gallery of photos from
amusement parks we visit as a way to share with others who have
similar interests. While coasters are indeed the main focus we believe
there is more to the whole park experience than just coasters -
this is why I include pictures of other rides, atmosphere, wildlife,
etc.
The philosophy behind which photos get put on coasterimage.com
is two-fold. I only want to put up the best pictures we take but
at the same time I don't want a website with a handful of photos.
The idea is to walk the thin line between quantity and quality.
Some sites offer incredible photos but there aren't many to look
at. Some sites offer countless photos but you waste your time sorting
through it all to find a few good pictures. I like to think we fall
right in the middle. I try to offer as many photos as possible but
I don't want to just put any old photo on the site. I feel I've
achieved this goal with great results.
While you'll find plenty
of top notch photos here, I do also understand that photos alone
can become quite dull, especially when it seems every enthusiast
with a camera puts their park and coaster pictures online these
days. With that in mind we try to offer a little bit more. We have
a great collection of coaster related downloads in our desktop section
and our special feature area contains exclusive, unique looks at
certain parks or rides. We also have videos for download, but again
rather than going the simple route we've created nicely edited videos
featuring original soundtracks I create myself. Clearly the goal
here to is carve our own little niche in the online amusement park
and roller coaster community.
EVOLUTION
As I sit here writing this section in early 2007, I realized that the copy on this page hasn't been updated since I originally wrote it (probably in 2002 sometime). I left the other sections unchanged with one or two wording changes as they still generally apply to the idea behind the site.
Coasterimage has become so much more then I ever expected it to - it really is just a part of my and my family's lives now. It's been so amazing to see the positive reaction to my photos over the years. I've already done more with the site and the photos than I ever imagined I would.
If you'd have told me then that Coasterimage would turn into one of the most visited coaster/park media sites and contain thousands of photos, I'd have called you insane.
As cornball as it sounds, my relationship with the site has evolved much like any relationship does. From that initial, exciting infatuation, to something more - into something that I truly care about, spend time with & continually work on and finally into something that just is.
What can I say? I still enjoy the parks, the rides and this website. It's a constantly growing, constantly changing work in progress and I'm just along for the ride more often than not.
BEYOND
The
future of Coasterimage.com should be exciting to say the least.
Hopefully as this site grows in size and popularity we'll be able
to bring you even more and more. We have some unique ideas and would
love to implement a few of them down the road. Don't think the content
here is all you'll ever see at this site, it's simply a base to
grow on. We'll continue using every free moment and every last extra
dollar to get out there and enjoy the best amusement parks and pass
the experience on to you. Until then please enjoy what we have to
offer.
CONTACT
Comments, Questions, Inquiries, Etc. can be sent
to:
webmaster @ coasterimage.com
If you simply need to vent misplaced
anger, some sort of wacko jealousy or you're a stalker then I
could do without the e-mail. I'll answer all but the most ridiculous
e-mails (those I'll post on the site, ridicule, and encourage
our visitors to e-mail you relentlessly). My ego enjoys praise
of just about any kind so that sort of thing is always welcome.
I like pie too, so if you'd like to send pie, well...
