I'm a newbie photographer, who bought the first good digital camera (Casio Exilim EX-FH20) in Q4 2008, sold it only a month later and bought my first DSLR, the Nikon D300.

 

Since then the weather here in Finland hasn't favored the photographers. Hence I'm eagerly waiting for the summer. Or maybe that has got something to do with the fact, that none of my lenses have an image stabilizer, and I mess up many of my shots due to camera shake or out of focus subjects.

 

I've never really liked using the flash, but I'm planning on buying an SB-900. Maybe that helps me get rid of the shadow-killer, harsh light, that a straight-from-the-camera-flash always causes.

 

It's funny how I ended up photographing, since I've always hated the fact that no matter where we go, someone always has a camera with them and tries to shoot candids all the time. That probably has got something to do with me being not so photogenic. This is also likely the reason I don't have that many portraits in my photostream.

 

I have some sort of artistic eye, because I can see what could be beautiful in a photo, but I'm not talented enough to be able to capture it successfully...yet. Should I somehow manage to develop in that area, I'd be interested in shooting more professionally. But on the other hand, I like to shoot more artistic/scenery shots, and I think those are the hardest ones to make a living out of.

 

I try to do a lot of cycling, and I am the admin of Flickr-group Turku Bike Park, that is located in Hirvensalo, Turku, Finland. It's a downhill bike park less than 10 minutes drive from downtown Turku. The venue is a ski center with MCC-mountain car course, so it has a ski lift. We've officially been included in the local sports club TuSla (Turun Slalomseura), and are allowed to use the lift with bikes. This means that Turku Bike Park is a constantly growing and thriving park with many courses and well built stunts.

   

My current gear:

Nikon D3

Nikon D300

Nikon MB-D10 battery pack

 

Sigma 50 mm f/1.4 DG EX HSM

Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8

Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 ED N

Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 ED N

Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 ED N VR II

Nikon TC-20E III

Nikon 20 mm Extender tube

 

Slik Pro Pod 600 monopod

Slik Pro 700DX LEG

Slik Ball Head 800

Wimberley Head 2

Velbon DF-60 tripod

 

SanDisk Extreme 16 GB

SanDisk Extreme IV 8 GB

SanDisk Extreme III 4 GB