Hello...... (Darren)

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Hi guys.

I just thought I'd say hi.....I've been on here for as while and the 'how toos' has been excellent reading for me. I've never been active on the forum though so I thought I'd come on in and have a good look.

I'm sure I'll talk to some of you in the coming weeks.

Darren.

[Colin Southern]

Hi guys.

I just thought I'd say hi.....I've been on here for as while and the 'how toos' has been excellent reading for me. I've never been active on the forum though so I thought I'd come on in and have a good look.

I'm sure I'll talk to some of you in the coming weeks.

Darren.

Hi Darren,

Great to have you with us

What kind of photography do you enjoy?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi guys.

I just thought I'd say hi.....I've been on here for as while and the 'how toos' has been excellent reading for me. I've never been active on the forum though so I thought I'd come on in and have a good look.

I'm sure I'll talk to some of you in the coming weeks.

Darren.

Hi Darren,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, great to have you 'join in'.

What camera are you shooting with?

Cheers,

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To answer you both without hitting the qoute button.....

I do a lot of HDR photography, but not to the extent it looks too over processed. I also photo lots of actions sports, rallying, BMX freestyle, skating etc. I've been involed in the sport of BMX for over 30 years so it's something that's a real passion of mine.

As for the camera, I've shot film for many years on a Canon T90, I still use it but no as often these days. I started in digital with a bridge camera, a Fuji S1000fd, which for what it is, its a nice little piece of kit. No good for action shots though, too much shutter lag. But it has auto bracketing and it's nice to have in you pocket instead of the bag full of tricks on your shoulder. I still have it and do still use it when I'm not taking the DSLR out. I also did a slight modification with a step up ring so I could use filters and hoods on it.

I then got a Sony A200, which in my opinion takes some beating in the 'value for money' stakes, excellent camera. After that I got a Nikon D40X, which in terms of spec. was virtually the same as the Sony. I believe the D40X has the same 10.2mp sensor as the Sony. However, I did find the images slightly crisper on the Nikon, but that could have been down to the quality of the lenses. The Sony had the kit lens with it and also a few Minolta AF lenses, so they weren't quite Nikkor quality. Loved them both but there was also things I needed that they didn't have.

Most recently I've just up-graded to a D5000, which I LOVE! The logical step would have been to go up to a D90, but because I do a lot of BMX photography, I shoot lots of stuff at low-level. So the D5000's drop down screen is a god send for me. Laying on the floor isn't always convenient, so the screen really does come in handy, horses for courses, as they say.

So here I am, I'm by no means a pro, but nor am I an amateur either, I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle, lol.

Darren.

Below is an example of an HDR image I did a while back.

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....it was supposed to be there, where's it gone???

I'll have a look later.

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Here we go...one of my HDR shots, Sandal Castle, Wakefield.

Darren.