Morning!

More like, evening, actually!
Just wanted to drop you a note so the blog isn't completely empty! And tell you a little about me.

I'm Louise and have experimented with blogs here, there and everywhere without success for a while now! I still can't figure out how to add a logo (anyone wish to enlighten me?!).... Now with the advent of my "real" photography obssession coming near I thought I'd start again and really get the show on the road. =)

I have a couple of neat hobbies that I love but photography and writing are my passions. I love to capture a moment and savour a little slice of time with a still image. With my images I try to tell a story and evoke emotions (still got a long way to go though)! I'm one of those people who attributes 99% of their talent to their camera. With writing I do give myself some credit but with photography, it's a completely different story. So you can guess how delighted I am about my new DSLR, a Nikon D50, currently weaving its way from America through postal vans and offices and airplanes. Not to say other photographers who haven't got an slr should stop trying, I'm just stubborn and disobedient I guess!

I have been dabbling in photography since I was ten....and have always loved to take pictures. I really got serious about it around Easter time 2006 when I got to take a few photographs on a digital SLR of a family friends. Boy, I was hooked! The cameras I've had have been compact and automatic but the thought of actually being able to mould and create a photograph using all kinds of settings was new to me and I sure was excited about it. With that in mind I saved up a little money and bought a Pentax film SLR from 1981 - that camera is a beauty, but very old. It took some great pictures on my holiday at the English coast. It really is a lovely camera but it was getting past its time and is now sitting on my mantelpiece as a keepsake, half broken and still with a roll of Ilford in it. Plus it's an aperture priority camera exclusively and I really wanted to try my hand at a fully manual camera.

I love film, I do. But I also find it frustrating because you can't see your results straight away and I'm not so patient sometimes. I went from my Pentax to a Canon EOS 650 that had a serious grain complex and auto focus was broken. Still it was a pretty cool camera. I got to learn how to use manual focus pretty well and learned some great things about backlighting.

And now here I am, kind of at a double crossing - film or digital? I've chosen digital (thanks to my lovely lovely parents for making it possible) because I think I'll benefit more from it in the long run and I've come to a love-hate relationship with film because of all the frustration I've had with it!

My photos are still a long way from great and I have lots to improve on but I hope for this blog to be a document of my photographic progression and a way in which I can display my pictures.
Oh, and if you're still wondering, why Banana Jam as the name? I'm clueless too. It just came to me in the middle of the night and I thought it was cool. Quirky and quaint and cooolll.... well, in my opinion!

See you around.
Lu (did I mention I'm 15 years old?)