about

A B O U T

This is the third reincarnation of this website, and it's taken the longest to get together. I toyed with the idea of putting together a new one, and I knew the only way I was going to do this was to ditch the old one. Which I did, about 3 years ago! There's still a lot to do with this site, but at least it's taking shape.

I have two main interests, storms and photography.

Photography

My personal interest in photography started fairly recently, maybe 10years ago or so. I was encouraged and helped by someone over the internet who has now disappeared (maybe I asked one too many questions!), I am very grateful to them! I will discuss my gear below, but am looking to upgrade now. My preferred photography is long exposure (longexposure.com was discussed as a url, but didn't go for that for obvious reasons!). My favourite location is Croyde, if I could be anywhere it is Croyde after the suns gone (with a few beers) doing long exposures (photography!).

Storms

No idea when I started to be interested in tornadoes and storms, but it was long before Twister and the internet! However it was the internet that allowed me to learn, and with more and more useful tools becoming available it became easier to chase. I don't know how anyone managed without radar or lightning detection! As mentioned above I have been to the States to chase also, and I plan on going back again as soon as I can, though it's not cheap! I cannot forecast very well, but there are enough sites out there to do that for me, and I don't travel hundreds of miles. But if storms are in the area I will be either at my favourite viewing points or stuck in traffic!

The two hobbies mix well, and you can't beat lightning photography. This is my preferred area, though this country isn't great for it.

Equipment

I started off with a Canon EOS 300, and used Fuji Velvia. I was just starting to move onto slide when I then bought my first digital camera, the Minolta Dimage A2. This was fine for a long time but not being a proper slr (no lens changing) there were limitations so I then bought the Olympus E500. This has served me just fine but now I plan on moving up a level as the lenses I want are just too expensive with Olympus. I then borrowed an EOS 40D for a year, which was really nice! When I gave that back I couldn't bear to be without an EOS so got an ex demo stock 50D, which is what I use now. I have two lenses, the 18-200mm and 10-20mm extra wide angle lens!