And we’re off! The main reason this blog got started is because I find myself wanting to join the hype and blog about something. But rather than keeping an online diary where visitors can read what I had for breakfast I prefer writing about something other people may find interesting.

I’ve been photographing for about 4 years now, and lately I notice a steep increase in DSLR fans around me. For those, and for you, I’d like to share what I think I know, and what I’m up to.

When I’m not working, which is pretty rare, I like to go out with my bag-o-camera-accessories and my beautiful wife to take pictures of .. well, pretty much anything we come accross. Living in Amsterdam should leave us with lots of great photo opportunities, but we find ourselves going to ‘nature-ish’ spots most of the times like the nearby lake and the Amsterdam Forest.

Lately I’ve begun to pick up an interest in photographing people as well though, so I think we will spend some more time in the busy city-centre soon to see what we can capture there.

My current bag consists of:

Canon EOS 20D.

Cenon EOS 20D

I upgraded to this 3 years ago after my first camera, the 300D Digital Rebel and it’s still my favourite toy.

Flashlight

The one and only flashlight I have for now. Does a great job, even though I’ve yet to figure out the fine art of using it. But that’s half the fun isn’t it.

Lenses

Tamron 90MM Macro.

I use this one, obviously, for all the macro photography I do. The lens is amazingly sharp, and one can get really close to the subject. Even closer if you’re as brave as my wife and not at all afraid of hairy spiders ;)

Canon EF-S L 70-200 USM.

This lens I got quite a while ago, and didn’t really use it all that much up until recently. I mainly had it in my bag as a “zoom lens” but realised it also makes a great outdoor portrait/action lens. So now I use it quite more often.

Canon 17-85mm USM IS


This is my latest lens. Emma got it for me for christmas (yay). This is my all-round lens and it’s the lens that’s connected to my camera most of the time. Great for indoor shots, landscapes and just general clicking around.

Of course, boys need toys. So my bag has some accessories as well.

  • Remote control shutter.
  • Omni Bounce cap for the flash
  • Extra memory cards
  • Spare batteries for the flash
  • Remote controller for the flash (so i can flash wirelessly)
  • Lens hoods
  • And more :P

So there you have it. My tools of the trade. My precious bag of goodies.

And with that out of the way, I’ll write up some posts soon to cover some of the basics on how to work a DSLR camera. If you would like me to write about something specific, drop me a comment or email and I’ll pen it in.

- Hyra