Taking pictures is one of my favorite hobbies. I enjoy photographing people, children, lightning, fireworks, architecture and everything else worthwhile. I am continuously trying to improve my skills. Though there is still a very long path to go. Luckily I have time for that.

I am a big fan of strobist techniques (see: http://www.strobist.com). David Hobby really learned me how to light better. I’m taking at least one strobe with me if I go out for shooting.

I started with a little Minolta F-100. At that time it was a nice camera and small enough to hide it in the handbag of my wife. Unfortunately I took zero action shots. It was way too slow. Switching it on, lens coming out, start zooming, focusing and finally taking the picture took around ten seconds.

Afterwards I bought a Nikon D70s with the Nikkor 18-70mm DX lens. Finally a “real” camera. It was so much easier to capture action. As soon as available I purchased the Nikkor 18-200mm DX allrounder and the Nikkor 12-24mm DX wide angle. The 18-200mm lens is excellent for traveling. Despites its huge zooming range, the optical quality is pretty good. The 12-24mm is one of my favorites. I love to shoot wide angle, it gives so much depth to my pictures. A bit later I bought my first flash: a Nikon SB-600.

After one year and a half I sold my D70s with the 18-70mm and bought a Nikon D200. It’s and excellent camera for me: much better sealed for dust and rain, big LCD screen, pretty fast and very easy to adjust many controls without using menus. In addition I got the SB-800 too for more power and possibilities….

Lightning Paul | photoblog