Welcome note.

Welcome to my brand new blog!

I suppose I should explain what this is all about. First of all, I am not much of a writer so the photos I upload may have a short description! I also feel that when uploading photos with lots of writing, more attention is on the writing than the photo!

This blog is my journey in to photography and my passion for nature. I still consider myself an amateur even though I have been in to photography since my very first camera on my 10th birthday 8 years ago. I suppose I have been concentrating on composition which is one reason why I'm not very knowledgeable about other features a camera has. It is only recently I have started to get more serious with my hobby....

And so the journey begins.

Panasonic Lumix DMC FX550.

The photographs I have taken over the years are mainly with a Panasonic DMC FX550 camera. I know, not very advanced! But in fact it is a good little camera to carry around with you. I got it new for £113 from eBay. At the time, the RRP was something like £200 so I guess that was a good purchase!

It is 12MP and printed out, the images are stunning. This camera had lasted me well. I still use it if I have a free lesson at school and go to the nature reserve just across the road from the school and take pictures of the landscape and animals that I can find. I don't want to carry around my new camera (more on that later!) which is more bulky and the main point, more expensive!

So the time comes where I decide I want to develop my skills further; probably about August 2011. My wishlist for Christmas and Birthday (My birthday is 23rd December and a DSLR would be too expensive for just one present!) was the Panasonic G3. New, cheap (within reason), good reviews. Went to the London Camera Exchange in Plymouth. Panasonic G3 wasn't exactly right. I don't actually know why I didn't go with it in the end. It looked perfect. I suppose I wanted a small, portable camera that didn't look like I was a tourist everywhere I went! But after maturing on the subject, I looked more in to 'proper' cameras, I spoke to people I knew who were also in to photography; a family friend is a photographer. Apparently the Panasonic G3 just wasn't what I needed. I also realised after looking at loads of websites that the major brands are Canon and Nikon. I visited many shopping websites and reviewers and on some of them, I couldn't find ANY Panasonic cameras. I ended up having 2 cameras on my wishlist after the very helpful London Camera Exchange. Needless to say, I didn't go with the Panasonic. I opened my present to find an awesome Sony HX100v. I used it the whole day, going around my garden, testing out the features!

My new Sony HX100v with some of my favourite photos.

This is a great camera. I've been on walks on Dartmoor taking photos of everything I see! I highly recommend it. Of course I haven't used all the features yet, which is partly what this blog is about. I want to see how my photo styles change as I discover new techniques - I consider myself beginner/intermediate borderline. I want to share my photos so people can feel the same way I do when I view them. I don't want these gathering virtual dust on my laptop for nobody to appreciate. I also want people to share my journey and hopefully, this blog may help other beginners to feel the same I now do about photography.

I aim to share my favourite photos and some of my not so good ones so I can learn from my mistakes.

This is my journey...