The beginning

I used to do quite a bit of outdoor nature type photography but somewhere I lost the dedication and exuberance and I let my cameras and tripod sit for several years. Recently I saw some HDR photographs and was amazed at what detail you could see in them. I tried a few shots using my old Pentax *ist and a monopod and got decent results. But I was not pleased with the limitations of the camera itself, so I sold it and got a newer Pentax K20D instead. All photos contained in this blog will be made with this camera, and if I make a huge change later on I will let you know.

So my equipment consists of a Pentax K20D camera, a Bogen 3221 tripod with a 3047 head. I am using a remote wired shutter release right now but I am going to get a wireless remote soon. I was amazed at the prices these days. When I first got a digital Pentax I thought about a wireless remote, but at the time they were almost $200 each! I did a quick search on ebay the other day and found tons of them for $5 a piece! WOW!

What will I focus on? (Bad pun, I know) I don't think I will be strictly looking at any one area of photography. I used to really be into macro photography, flowers and such. I will probably do a little of that. I also like buildings and architecture so I'll probably shoot some along that line. I've never enjoyed photographing  people, and my feelings have not changed on that subject, so probably no people, but you never really know. Animals and sunsets are a sure thing of course, but I'm going to let things germinate and see.

For post processing I will be using Photomatix Pro and Photoshop. I am really impressed with Photomatix and have just played with it a little on a few photos I took in Louisville, Kentucky last month. I will be making my own adjustments with Photomatix and will not be using the presets. Don't get me wrong, the presets are nice, but I want to make my photos my own and not something that anybody could do by just tapping a mouse button. I also don't really care for the painterly or grunge settings as I feel they are a bit too much, making the photos look completely unreal.

That's where I am for now. I'll be posting some photos soon and then you can let me know what you like and don't like.