I had my first camera when I was about 10. To be honest I don't remember the make but I do remember that it was Russian and it wasn't automatic. So I guess I started early but my fascination with photography didn't come out until fairly recently. Up to about 2 years ago I've been mostly taking travel snaps. I love traveling and photography and I also like to look back at where I've been and share it with other people. My albums are full of pictures from all the holidays and although there are some really nice places on those pics they are nothing more than quick snaps.

About two years ago, while having a lot of free time due to my illness, I started reading few photography magazines to improve my photography and to learn a thing or two. I bought a Canon S2IS digital compact camera that lets you have all the controls of a proper SLR without the cost of all the lenses etc. I think creative compacts are a great way to learn the bits and bobs about shutter speed, depth of field, white balance, focusing and so on. They are nice and small and you can carry them around most of the time which is important since your camera is only useful if you have it on you.

As great as this camera was (and I still use it sometimes) I was soon craving for results that are only possible with a SLR. I'm not a pro, not even very advanced amateur so I went for the best on a small budget (spend less money on camera and more on taking pictures). I believe that resolution is not as important as the quality of the optics and the camera so I went for a 6.1MP Nikon D50 dSLR with a standard 18-55mm lens. This has opened new doors to things that I couldn't do before and I was very excited about the results.

I started reading "Practical Photography" magazine every month and learned a lot from it. The basics are in every photography book but the magazines are always up to date and very interesting to read as well. I think this was the main help in improving my technique and I buy this magazine (and some others) religiously every month.

Once I was relatively happy with some of the results I've started posting some of the picture on photography forums, photogalaxy being my favorite. Thanks to internet other photographers can comment on your pictures and you can learn a lot this way.

At this point I was still taking most of my picture in JPG format as I couldn't see any point in double size of files and extra work associated with RAW. It was because of someone on the forum and an article in the Practical Photography that I tried RAW and now its RAW only.

If you want control over your digital images than RAW is the best thing since sliced bread. It introduces an extra step in your work flow but gives you so much more control that it's worth the extra time. To master all the Photoshop tricks that you need I also bought a very good book called Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers. And that brings me to present. 

My favorite pictures are landscapes but since I live in a city I only get a chance to shoot landscapes when we are on holiday. While at home I shoot what's around me. I've studied construction and engineering so Architecture is very close to me. I like urban photography because it's always original. I've lived in South Africa for few years so nature and wildlife photography is up on the top of my list as well. I could carry on like this and mention every area of photography because I find something fascinating in all of them.

And what do I think is most important in photography? If I had to chose one thing it would be the light. I think light makes a difference between a normal picture and a great shot.

And who inspirer's me? I'm not sure, many different people. The only name that springs to mind is David Noton. If I like a picture I try to find what it is that I like about it and create something similar. Most of the time its just looking around and spotting opportunities. Some of my favorite pictures where not obvious things to shoot. If you choose a correct angle, composition and light you can make something out of very little.

I still have a lot to learn.

---