I’ve been brought up with photography as my father, a very keen photographer would always be taking photos of me and my brother when we were young (black & white in those days and processed by himself).
I used to dabble in 35mm film photography in my early 20’s predominently as means for collecting reference material for painting. Now I want to capture images for pleasure on most subjects. In August 2008 I bought my first DSLR a Canon EOS 350D second hand model with kit lense EF 18-55mm. Since then I have taken photos every week and read 'Digital Photo’ and ‘Practical Photograhy’ magazines and my Canon’s guidebook from cover to cover to learn the technical side of photograph. This has provided me with immense confidence and a reasonable platform of knowledge to get some fair results. I am so incredibly hungry for the hobby and find it difficult to satisfy my passion as I have a host of hobbies (tennis, guitar) a family and full time job - needless to say I do not watch TV very much! However, I do take my camera with me always - you never know when you might need it!
http://picasaweb.google.com/gcdjgcdj/BESTWORK?locked=true#slideshow/5498315725606171042
The biggest learning for me over the past 7 months is not expect to get immediate results; to go out and take some snaps, consider them whilst still on location, then set camera to RAW then go for it with a bit more seriousness, then review at home on PC then decide what you want from the project next time. This journey, I find, works for me and is an exciting one!
More recently I have upgraded to a brand new Canon EOS 1000D and a Sigma 105mm + Macro prime lense. It is my aim to eventually have a reasonable 'prime' lense repetoire, I have been blown away by the difference between zoom/kit lenses vs prime - no contest in my book in terms of quality and clarity of the glass. Next on my list is the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 prime - I love the bohek and dof for portraiture and the Sigma 10-20mm.
If you would like to take a look at some of my projects over the past 7 months go to http://www.ginadoverjaques.co.uk/
I visit http://www.photoanswers.co.uk/ regularly, it hosts a wealth of information, I’m a member too, and was overwhelmed when one of my images was critiqued (click here to go to it).
Happy snapping everyone!
