I've been interested in photography for quite a while and have recently been working to improve my skills, beyond simply point-and-shoot type picture taking. I started out with a Canon Rebel 35mm SLR and a digital point-and-shoot and produced some pretty decent results, but it wasn't enough to satisfy my curiosity, just enough to make me want more. In 2005 I bought an Canon EOS Elan 7NE 35mm SLR to replace the Rebel and started working on upgrading my lens collection. I stuck with the 50mm 1.8 but added my first L lens, the 17-40mm F/4L to do a better job with close-up and wide angle shots.

I used that body for about a year and a half, producing some great results, including one shot of some irises taken at the Dallas Arboretum, taken on Fuji Velvia 100 slide film, which blew up beautifully to 11x17 and now graces my wall. That being said, the most frustrating part of film photography, for me, was always waiting to see the results. I'm a little impatient and cheap enough to not want to go through so many rolls of film and the associated cost of developing and printing. So when Canon announced the EOS 30D digital SLR, I snapped one up and started moving over to the digital world.

I've been using it since September, 2006 and got to take it on the motorcycle trip that went through Garden of the Gods, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands National Park. It was really nice only having to worry about RAM cards instead of the dozens of rolls of film and the worries of storing them on the back of a motorcycle.

I have since purchased a second L lens, the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS image stabilized lens, which really improved the quality of my telephoto shooting over the previous lens. I've taken some pretty good sports shots with it and captured a hummingbird on a trip to San Francisco. I'm still trying to learn how best to use it, but it's a nice feeling to know that the kit it better than me.

Canon’s 100mm f/2.8 macro has been added to the bag, and it’s opened up a new world of in-close photography. It’s also a great fast portrait lens that I’ve used to capture shots of my son and nature due to it being in the tele range.

If you follow the link to my photo gallery you can see some of my work.