In the beginning

Hi there,

I'm Tony Thomas and welcome to my blog.

I decided to begin this as I have recently taken up photography and would like to create a journal of my progress. Hopefully you will enjoy it and hopefully you may even learn from it as I learn as I go along.

I took up photography last year, and joined a local camera club. I have gone along to a few meetings, and have lstened and learned as I went along. I entered 3 photos into the competitions and ended up with the runner up position in the image of the year (beginners section) so this was an encouraging start. The photos were taken with a Fuji compact.

The club was commisioned to be official photographers at Gardening Scotland. As a result, I decided to buy my first digital SLR and I went for the Nikon D60. Essentially, when you buy your first SLR, you are buying into a system because to make use of your lenses etc. your next camera will have to be the same make. I opted for Nikon.

Here is the first lesson I learned in photography. A camera is like a rabbit. What was that? Well some years ago, when my daughter was 12, I bought her 2 rabbits as pets. They cost me only £12 so they seemed a bargain. However they cost me more that that every week in feeding and bedding and the vet bills were beyomd the pale. A camera is like that. You may spend 2 or 3 hundred pounds on your first SLR, but it's what you spend after that on lenses and accessories which hurts. Sam, a friend of mine, remarked to me that his camera wasn't expensive, while at the same time telling me about the printer he was buying. the cost? £1500! That camera was an expensive rabbit.

Anyway, I will sign off now. I hope you take the time to follow my blog but before I go there is one website I must recommend for clear and sensible advice. Visit www.kenrockwell.com/ for the best in advice and it's free. Speak soon.

Tony.