Photography - Got a DSLR!

I have been interested in Photography for some time now, mostly just as a hobby, but also enjoying looking at what the professionals do and wishing I could do that one day.

I have always enjoyed making the most of the equipment I have. My last camera was a Fujifilm HS10 which was a great camera to 'bridge' the way from simple Point And Shoot cameras and phone cameras to DSLR.

BUT I have recently been blessed (by my wife, +Lisa Reynolds) who bought me a Canon 600D DSLR for my birthday! What a fantastic present! Thank you Lisa :)

And so now I am hoping to further improve my photography skills now that I am finally in the world of DSLR. Already, just shooting general photos, the quality of the images is so noticeable compared to the HS10.

One reason would be the sensor size. The HS10 is only 6.17 x 4.55mm vs 22.3 x 14.5mm of the 600D, so light collecting ability is just so much greater.

Also the lenses for a DSLR are going to be much better quality.

One thing I am really interested in is doing some HDR photography. +Trey Ratcliff is very much a source of inspiration for me and he very generously shares his photography and knowledge freely over the Internet via his Google+ page and his own website, http://www.stuckincustoms.com/.

I am certainly going to be purchasing his tutorials in the very near future as I am merely starting to scratch the surface of HDR photography.

I have tried a few HDR shots before using the HS10, but here is my first attempt with my 600D (click to view full sized version).

It isn't the most exciting, in terms of the sky, as I have been waiting and waiting for some decent sunsets and its been cloudless for the last week or so! so this was my first chance.

Got a lot to learn to improve the quality, but its a start.