Message from Paul Ferguson
Hello and thank you for taking a look at my galleries and profile.
A little bit of background about me and my photography interest.
I've been taking photos for a very long time. I have my Mum to thank for getting me my first camera when I was very young (A Halina Disc 108 which cost £12 I think!) and having been raised in Cornwall I had plenty of scenery to practice on.
At University I got a compact 35mm camera. It was basic, but it did the job and I gained experience taking pictures in the adverse lighting conditions of parties (pictures that could yet prove 'valuable' in years to come!!).
Mum, a keen walker and bird watcher, bought herself a Nikon film SLR in 1995 and I had a few successes with that which bolstered my confidence.
Things stepped into the 21st Century in 2002 when I bought my first digital camera from a friend. A Sony DSC-S70 (3M Pix) that although bulky took pictures at least equal (but usually better than) the compact 35mm camera. That was replaced a year later with a Sony DSC-V1 (5M Pix bridge camera) that has served me very well until late 2007. It was when the DSC-V1 was unable to take a picture on a bright but overcast Autumn day due to insufficient light that I realised the time for my next upgrade had come!
Thanks to some advice from www.pbase.com/asantillo and a timely cashback offer from Canon, I took the opportunity in June 2008 to equip myself with a Canon 40D dSLR with EF-S 17-85mm IS USM lens. At the end of 2008 I added a Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM Lens and both lenses are equipped with Hoya HMC UV(0) lenses. In early spring 2009 I upgraded these to Hoya Pro-1D C-PL lenses but I'm still experimenting with these.
My preferred subjects are scenery and landscapes, sun rises and sun sets, and Railways; but I have had some success with other subjects like people and macro shots. Usually if I see something that I find visually pleasing or impressive, I will take a photo of it. If I'm successful, I've got a good picture; if not, I've gained some experience for next time!
At present I am yet to discover the world of post shooting image manipulation (i.e. Photoshop!). The most I do at present is the Chromatic Abberation corection tool in the Canon Digital Photo Professional package. Its not that I'm against manipulation, but for now I remain a bit of a purist. Any effects I have used, have been achieved using only camera functions, settings and careful (lucky?) framing of the subject. Maybe Photoshop will be my next upgrade project at some point in the future, but for now I'm happy exploring without it.
Of all the thousands of pictures I've taken, the galleries here show a small selection of my favouries. I hope you enjoy them :)
Paul
PS - I should add a disclaimer. Any map locations attached to photos are approximate, so please do not rely on them being completely accurate! They are as precise as my memory, and Google maps, will allow.
|
|
