While the above viewer illustrates some of my favourite images that I've taken, it's only a small sample of what is on my flickr gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allegrodigital/. If you like what you see above, please take a look at the rest of what I've shared online. If you would like prints of anything or to discuss photographic services I'd be happy to hear from you.

My First Camera.
In December of 2009 I bought my first DSLR: A Canon 7D. I bought it off eBay with a Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical Lens, a telescopic, and a macro attachment. I took that camera everywhere with me snapping photos whenever I saw anything that caught my eye.

Eventually I grew tired of the chromatic aberration on this beginner lens and I decided to pick up the nifty fifty 1.8f lens by Canon. I really dug the depth of field that I was able to get with this thing, and it became my lens of choice. From that point on my Tamron saw almost no use at all save for the occasional macro photo that I would take with the attachment that I'd bought with it.

The more photos I took however, the more I realized that I really liked taking wide angle shots. I found myself craving something that would be good for tight spaces and showing off buildings. I eventually picked up the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM used on Craigslist and also picked up an intervalometer just in time to skip off overseas to the little known island of Australia.

My Second Camera.
It was only a couple of weeks after arriving in Sydney that I took my camera on a trip down to Bondi Beach. It was there that I stood in awe, looking transfixed at the enormous splashes that would happen at the north end of the beach. I took that wide angle lens, stood just meters away from those splashes, and had the time of my life. Until a wave came in that instead of splashing against the rock, swept right over it and took me with it.

I got some good lacerations as I was dragged across the rocks that day. The salt water also did a number on my lenses and camera. Unfortunately the electronics were ruined in my 50mm lens, in my 10-22mm lens, and to my 7D. I spent a reasonable sum to repair the 10-22mm, decided the 50mm wasn't worth the repair bills, and eventually found myself having to get a new 7D. Ouch.

So at the end of 2010, I was on my second camera. I found myself a reversal ring so I could treat my 50mm lens as a cheap macro, and decided to up my kit with a Canon EF 50mm - f/1.4 USM that was bought used from the Ultimo Community Centre's camera fair in Sydney. The Tamron was still in perfect condition (though I didn't like using it) and my 10-22mm lens was freshly repaired and worked great.

More Gear.
With lots of Kookaburras, Cockatoos, and Lorikeets to see in Sydney, I soon found myself limited by my wide angle lens, and it became apparent that I needed something else to polish off my arsenal. Luckily, Canon was releasing the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM at around the same time. This meant that on Gumtree I was able to find someone willing to part with their Mark I model to help fund their upgrade to the Mark II model. I got a fantastic lens for a fantastic price. I also picked up a battery grip at around the same time, satisfying any worries that I had concerning my battery life on my upcoming trip to Bali.

Before moving back to Canada, I decided to part ways with my Tamron lens. Selling it along with an assortment of household gadgets, I found myself in Vancouver where I would lug my gear out to the Rocky Mountains. At one point I heard about a little concert series happening called Symphony of the Goddesses, and contacted the promoters asking if there was any chance I could take some snaps. To my surprise, I was invited out to rehearsals and decided that if I was going to do any shooting in a low light space like this I should look into borrowing something appropriate from a friend.

I was able to get my hands on a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM which I fell in love with. I realized that while I had a fantastic 10-22 range, and a fantastic 70-200 range.... my used 50mm was only usable with manual focus, and still left a lot to be desired for much of my missing 22-70 range. The only thing left to do was to fill up that range with a new lens. Luckily, around this time Tamron was releasing their new 24-70 mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Lens For Canon. Reviews were great, and having experience with the image stabilization of my 70-200 lens, I decided to take the leap on this lens despite my previous unhappiness with the lens I'd originally had with my camera.

The purchase was worth while, and I've now got a full range that I'm happy with covering almost all of the 10-200 range. Admittedly I look a little insane when I'm out with all of my lenses... especially when hiking up mountains... but I wouldn't have it any other way.