What now seems to be a lifetime ago, I was passionate about photography. My interest was sparked during a foundation course in art and design, prior to studying for a degree in visual communications (graphic design), where I specialised in photography, with the intention of making a career as a studio photographer. Throughout this time I loved nothing more, than setting off with my camera and lenses and capturing images. Barren, open landscapes, cityscapes, images of urban decay, people, graphic and textural studies. Experimenting with exposure and different film types, more often than not, using black and white, which I felt complemented my style, then returning to the darkroom and processing these images with great care and attention to detail.

Unfortunately, I never worked as a professional photographer, taking a job in graphic design instead, which gave me a huge variety of work and experience. I spent almost twenty years art directing photograpic sessions, but hardly ever touched a camera myself, except for holiday snapshots.

Now, I feel the urge to create my own photographic images again. Of course technology has moved on significantly over recent years and I believe that now is the time to invest in some new, digital equipment and hopefully re-kindle my passion.

I have a lot of 35mm film cameras and lenses which will have to be sold, though there is no value at all in them now.

I've decided to go for the new Canon 550D DSLR with an 18 - 135mm zoom lens (shown above) this gives a good balance of pro features in a top end amateur camera. I had thought about the 5D MKII which gets rave reviews in the photographic press, but at almost £2,500 (€2,850), it's a little too expensive for my first footsteps into photography for many years.

The 550D should be ideal for what I want, it captures raw images at 18 megapixels, has a wide ISO range and a wealth of controls and settings, including the ability to capture full 1080p high definition video with stereo sound.

I've created both a Flickr photostream and a Youtube channel to display my work. I also have other gallery sites ready to come online as soon as I have the images to post. All details and links will follow in a future post on this blog.