I've been hooked on photography most of my life. I got my first camera when I was about 12 years old. It was a Christmas present from one of my parents, I believe. It was a Kodak 110; one of the long, skinny, plastic ones with a flash. I still remember how excited I was. When I was 15, I had saved up some money and was able to purchase my first SLR. I bought the Minolta XG-1. Of course, I ended up with several lenses, flash, and a lot of Cokin filters. Eventually, it was stolen from my car and I lost some interest in the hobby.

When digital cameras appeared, my interest in photography was renewed. Since the mid-90's, I have gone through a multitude of digital cameras. Through wheeling and dealing, not to mention trading, I have been able to own Nikon, Olympus, Sony, and even HP cameras. I have no clue how many I have actually had, but I enjoyed most of them. In 2003, I was looking for a good, fixed lens five megapixel camera. I am a huge Nikon fan, but I just could not find a Nikon that met my needs. I ended up buying a Sony DSC-V1 and I instantly fell in love with the camera.

Three years later, I decided it was time to step up to a DSLR. After weeks of research (I always do that...to a fault sometimes), I decided to purchase an Olympus Evolt E-300. There were many options and I again found myself torn between Nikon and another brand. The E-300 appears to offer more bang for the buck then any of the other cameras I was considering. Yes, they each had their own advantages and disadvantages, but the E-300 was strong in all areas that I need a strong camera.

So, I set up a Flickr account to share the images that I capture with my E-300. My first two images are from my V1, but as soon as the E-300 arrives, I will be adding images. If you want to see more of my V1 images, please visit my SmugMug account at ablessg.smugmug.com<

Latest- My name is Steven Ables. Several people had asked due to my username. Also, as much as I loved the E-300, I ended up selling it and getting a Nikon D80. I had some older lenses around and it seemed such a waste to not ever use them. The D80 is great and was a good upgrade from the E-300. The quality, especially at higher ISOs, is notable.

Update: Well, after using the D80 for quite some time, I never was completely satisfied with it. I ended up selling it and doing something I never thought I would do. I moved to Canon. I ended up getting a Canon XSi with the kit lens and a 55-250mm lens. I have only had it a couple of weeks but if you look at my most recent photos, you will see why I am in love with this new camera and system.