I am setting up a blog, so watch this space, but don't hold your breath!

Owned my first SLR (a Praktica B 200 in 1979, followed by a Pentax ME Super in 1981), but 'took a break' from photography for a while.

My main interest is outdoor photography - landscapes and architectural, but I also enjoy studio work (product and portrait). I switched from a Sony A100 DSLR to the Nikon D200 because I found myself taking so many bracketed shots for HDR processing and the Sony (along with many other DSLR's) is not so good at that. The Nikon D200 was, bar one thing (it won't do more than a 1EV step), pretty much perfect. Sorry about that Canon owners, but the Canons would do the 2EV steps, but only 3 shots, and that isn't a wide enough dynamic range (+/- 2EV - the Nikon will do +/- 4EV). At least, on any camera I could afford.

Hey ho. Another camera is now in my backpack - the Nikon D300s. Way to go. D200 is now my backup. Poor thing, hope it isn't too upset.

Recently I have started doing strobist stuff (flashes) and now I am planning to build my own studio. Many years ago I had a Sunpak flash on my ME Super, but never got really good shots. Get them off camera! Better still are the studio strobes I use when I can get into a big enough space.

Equipment:

Nikon D300s

Tamron Di II (A16N) SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR LD Aspherical Lens

Sigma SLD DC 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX HSM Lens

Tokina 11-16mm AT-X 116 PRO DX f2.8 Lens

Nikon/Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm Zoom f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Lens

(all lenses fitted with Kenko UV Filters)

Tamrac 5627 Camera Bag

Triopo GX-1328 6x Carbon Fibre tripod (a bit like the Gitzo GT3540L) ...

with Gitzo GH3780QR ball head

Fancier KingKong I 40 Backpack camera system bag (a fantastic bag that has a tripod fitting too)

and lots of little bits.

Processed with Fhotoroom and/or Photoshop CS5.1

PTLens

And my Stobist Kit:

Nikon/Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D Lens

Samyang 85mm f1.4 AE IF UMC Aspherical

2 x Nikon SB-900 Flashes and ...

4 x Kodak P20 Flashes, powered by ...

loads of Energylock Hybrid Alkaline/NiMH AA batteries (like Sanyo Eneloops)

Ojecoco H-430 and H-550 Mk2 Transmitter/Receivers

Plus tons of stands, softboxes, strobes and umbrellas from Hobo Lighting