You know, I don't recall exactly. It was a corporate shoot paid by HP for an ad they were running and wanted a quote and picture from me while I was at Microsoft. If I were to guess, I would say 2005.
Being a photographer, I tend to be picky about people taking my pictures and such. But these two ladies showed up and did an incredible job. That was the first time I learned what a good skill it is to know how to talk to your subject to put them at ease and have them put on the face you want. I had only an hour and was in between meetings so was not in the best mood, having to change cloths, get make up, etc. At the end, I was so impressed with the work they did. Not that the picture is all that great per-se but their skill to get that much out of me!
BTW, I have never used my picture as an Avatar. I put it there to test as we were creating the forum and lack of creativity in picking something else meant that it stuck there!
.