More about me...and Photography

I was used to having cameras around the house from an early age through my dad but, even though I borrowed his Pentax and Praktica cameras often, I didn't really get the photography bug until 2001 when I purchased a second hand Kodak DC-265 digital camera. I know the purists amongst you will be aghast at that but I was always a child of the computer generation and so when I got the opportunity to own a camera that would bring together photography and computers I took it with both hands (so to speak).

The "instant" results and not having to pay for processing of the film really gave me the impetus to go out (or even stay in) and try new things. As an amateur with a film camera I would never have spent hours taking pictures of flowers in the garden from different angles or using different aperture settings because I couldn't afford to buy the films and pay for the processing. But with a digital camera I could experiment with all of the camera settings without it costing me money. I started uploading to some web based galleries (such as pbase and ePhotozine) and brushed up on my photo-manipulation skills shortly afterwards.

In 2003, after a couple of years of use, the 1.6 megapixel camera wasn't producing high enough quality files for me and the prices of more advanced cameras had substantially reduced so I bought myself a Sony DSC-F717 digital 'bridge' camera. The 5mp sensor and much higher quality pictures impressed me and I increased my photo presence on the web by uploading work and being accepted as a contributor by iStockPhoto. Since then I bought a Sony Alpha 100 DSLR, then upgraded to a SOny Alpha 350 DSLR and joined many more Stock Photo Agencies that I will detail in other posts and that feature on my websites.

I have photographed a few weddings for friends and done some formal potrait work but my main interests are just taking natural, unposed, photographs of anything that I like the look of and experimenting both in camera and on the computer. As I upload photos to this blog and if you visit my websites (more of which later) you will notice that very few of them contain people, I'm not adverse to taking pictures containing people but it's hard to find willing models and very easy to find nature and architecture (flowers, landscapes and buildings are always available).

I don't claim to be any good at photography and I certainly can't explain every little detail about camera features or composition etc. but I enjoy taking pictures and have sold a few in the past so hopefully I'm doing something right...and if not well I'm still having fun and isn't that the important thing?

More later,

Shane