Photography

I enjoy taking pictures.  I actually have a philosophy of photography.  I’m a dork.  As you’re likely to see some of my pictures or read me talk about taking pictures, I thought I would devote a little page here to photography.

I first got into photography (by that I mean realized you can do more with a camera than just point and shoot) about three years ago.  My first “real” camera was a Canon Rebel G2.  It wasn’t long before I realized how expensive it was to keep buying and developing film (I took all of my Yosemite photos with the G2, which you can see here).  And since I was learning, there were lots of wasted shots and the biggest drawback was that I couldn’t see my shots quick enough to make the needed changes for the next picture.  So …

In the fall of 2004 I bought a Canon Powershot A75, a pretty basic digital camera that let me have a little more control over things.  I actually bought this camera on the day of Lindsay’s 28th birthday party, which was a surprise party that yours truly hosted (the very first picture of the two of us was taken that evening).  Other than sucking the life out of batteries, I really liked everything about this camera.

After a short stint with a Digital Rebel XT, I got a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi early in 2007 and it is absolutely fabulous.  I still don’t know a whole lot about photography, but I’m learning and getting better … I think.

Here’s a complete list of my photo gear:

- Canon Digital Rebel XTi
- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 lens … the pretty great (for me anyway) lens that came with the camera.
- Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III lens … good for tripod-mounted zoom work and my te lens I shoot most portraits with.
- Tamron 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 lens … bought to temporarily replace my broken Canon 18-55.
- Tamron 75-300 f/4-5.6 LD Macro lens … great lens for the money … 1:2 macro capability.
- Canon wireless remote control … for shots that I want to be in or don’t want to wait on the ten-second timer for.
- Opteka battery grip … adds vertical controls and more juice.
- Sunpack 8001UT tripod … nice and light, with spikes for stability on soft surfaces, two bubble levels and quick release legs.
- And it all goes in the Canon Deluxe Photo Backpack.

In addition to all this stuff, here’s a link to my Amazon.com photo wishlist.