I have been interested in photography for quite a while but my interest widened with the discovery of my Father's Olympus OM10 film SLR, which I found in his cupboard. I became interested with the fact that you could change lenses and different settings manually rather than relying on the automatic mode on a point and shoot compact camera - I realised that the photographer could have complete control.

It had been years since my father last used the OM10 and after buying some batteries and film, I began to experiment with the camera. I was really pleased with the first few shots I'd taken, although looking back at them now - they are awful!

I was impressed with the camera but there was one major disadvantage for me, which was the film. After I had taken a photo, I couldn't see it straight away and had to wait until I'd finished the roll of film, sent it away and received the printed pictures back. Needless to say it took a while! There was also the cost of buying new film - and with about 25 to 36 exposures on each film I bought, the costs of buying new film was starting to become too much - (as well as my mother nagging me "You've not bought MORE film!!").

 

Realisation of new technology

I soon realised what I would like for my upcoming 18th birthday - a digital SLR camera! There were so many different DSLR's that it made me confused as to what features and quality I needed. After quite a while - and taking budget into consideration - I finally decided on an Olympus E500 with a twin lens kit (14-45mm and 40-150mm olympus zuiko lenses).

It was great, I could see the images straight away and delete the ones which were not worth keeping (at the time, most of them!). The E500 was a fine first DSLR and I was happy with it but as I grew older and my skills improved, I found I needed more features and better quality, especially as I was hoping to be able to sell some of my images one day!

With the money I had saved up for my 20th birthday, I purchased an upgrade to my E500 - the Olympus E520, which I am really pleased with. The quality is so much better and it has all the features I need. I also bought a battery grip, firstly so I didn't have to change batteries so often and secondly, for a more comfortable fit in my, (fairly big) hands.

 

Current Equipment

My current equipment consists of: Olympus E520, Olympus E500(now used as a backup body), Ownuser battery grip, Zuiko 14-42mm lens, Zuiko 14-45mm lens(kit lens with E500), Zuiko 40-150mm lens(kit lens with E500), Sigma 135-400mm lens, Lowepro Fastpack 200, Hama tripod, variety of Cokin filters (mainly ND grads), variety of CF cards(Sandisk extreme III is my main choice) and other bits and bobs.

 

Main Photography Interests

My Main Photography interests are wildlife and landscapes and living in Cumbria, there is plenty of both!

I enjoy the challenge of wildlife photography, first finding the subject, then trying to capture the natural behaviour of the subject without disturbing it. This is related to my interest in Bushcraft.

 

My other interests

As well as photography, my other interests are: