Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my blog!

So... I've created this blog, found it a name (hard with the proliferation of blogs on the Internet to find a name available!), and now is the moment of truth - what to write??

First of all, an introduction is appropriate. My name is Gilles and I'm originally from France but now live in Australia (Melbourne), with my wife and daughter. Whilst I work in the corporate world, I am passionate about photography.

My interest started many years back, probably when I travelled to Egypt with my parents. Such a fantastic country to experience through the lens, and I didn't have then a proper camera back then to capture all the things I could see.

I bought my first SLR - a Nikon F50 - not long after I started working in Australia, and went to evening class to learn how to use it. Soon joined the B&W class, to learn how to develop and print my own photos in the darkroom. Needless to say, this was pre digital era! 

A few years later, I upgraded to a Nikon F90x and my wife bought me a beautiful 28-70mm f/2.8 during a trip to Tokyo - that's a fantastic lens, and I still use it today - even though it breaks my back to carry it!

Fast forward to the digital era, which at first I didn't fully embrace. I guess the cameras initially were expensive, and the quality not as good a film (I quite enjoyed shooting slides, and the quality of those is amazing). In fact I didn't venture into digital until 2006, when I went to Japan for work and bought a Nikon D200. A great camera that I still shoot with today, it completely changed the way to take photos for me...imagine seeing the results straight away! And all that money saved on developing! 

Nowadays, I do a lot of macro photography.

I also started to post on sites such as 500px (check my work - 500px) and ViewBug. They are great sites for sharing photos, getting inspiration from fellow photographers from all around the world, and obtaining feedback on my photos. 

So why a blog now? I'm aware there are already tons of blogs about photography, yet I wanted to create my own. First to see what blogging is all about, second to share the stories behind the photos I take, and get more interaction with other photographers. I might also post reviews about other sites, cameras or lenses, etc.   So I hope that you read me from time to time and also share some of your favourite pics!