Why I Enjoy... Photography

I thought it'd be good to post something about why I enjoy things, so here's the first post and funnily enough, all about why I enjoy Photography.

Photography has always been an interest to me, from when I was 3 years old I used to run around the garden holding my mum's old 35mm camera, pretending to take photos of the flowers and whatever my dad was doing. I guess the interest was thanks to my mum then. Around the age of 15 I really got into Photography, having my first real camera, that being the HP Photosmart M525, an old 6 Megapixel camera which came with a printer (which I funnily enough still have). I used to love using that camera, it was a fun little thing, and took bucket loads of photos with it, that was until I got my replacement, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX10. I swore by that camera, taking widescreen photos and doing pretty good video capture as well, mine obviously being the silver model. It wasn't until around 2007 when I got into Photography a lot more, when my parents bought me my first Digital SLR camera, that being an Olympus E-410. It was weird, having a professional quality camera, which had some weight to it, yet took some amazing photos, both in day and night. I finally got rid of that in July 2010, when I replaced that and a backup Canon camera with my current line-up, those being the Fujifilm Finepix S1500, and for video the Samsung HMX-U10 HD Camera.

I still have photos taken on my Olympus E-410, for instance the one of the ride "Megaspin" to the left was taken on that camera. It wasn't as much as the camera was heavy, what got me with having a DSLR, was the fact it was so fiddly. I do admit it's fiddly because you can tweak the settings to get it to do exactly as you want, but in the long run it got annoying, and the old thing got sold on.

My next camera, however, would see me going back to owning a DSLR, just not an Olympus. I'm looking to get one of the highly recommended Canon EOS camera. I've had my eye on a 550D now since it was released, with it's 1080p movie capture, and large range of lenses and accessories, it seems perfect for me, apart from one thing, the price. The only downside to owning a DSLR is the cost, the upkeep and most of all, especially with HD Video capable cameras, is buying the right kind of SD card to work. I've got 2 SD cards made for HD video capture, one being at Class 4, and the other being at Class 6. Obviously a Class 2 card can produce stuttering when capturing long pieces of film, but then who'd pay £200 for a Class 10 card with a descent capacity?

So, why do I want to go back to owning a DSLR? Well it's simple enough, I just don't like being restricted to 1 lens as you are with the majority of compact cameras. I know I could buy a Panasonic Lumix GH2, or an Olympus EPL1, but I think that venturing into the market of high-end professional DSLR's is the best bet for me.

If I had to stick with a compact camera, there is only one I'd shell money out to buy, and that is the Sony NEX-5. It does seem pretty weird wanting to spend £550 on a compact camera, but it has it's advantages. Full HD Video recording (AVCHD), 14.2 Megapixels, Interchangable lenses, Sweep Panoramas, it even has an attachable microphone to improve the sound when recording. It just seems like the perfect camera to suit my needs, and I'm sure one day I'll actually purchase it.

Anyway, I've gone way off subject, so here's a few photos I've considered to be my best ones, taken with my cameras over the years.