46.2

I'd become more and more disillusioned with flickr and wanted somewhere fresh where I could share my shots.

I became quickly awed by the overall quality of photography I saw here.

I was also inspired by the criticism and support shown by some photographers I met on here and decided I wanted to make some changes to the way I approached my photography.

Part of that commitment was to overhaul my kit completely. I'd been shooting with a very old Nikon D70 and a newish Olympus PEN E-PL1 and was frustrated by both. I also came into a little bit of money recently so it seemed to make sense to do this.

I found from shooting the PEN that I really like the Micro 4/3 form factor and so decided to stick with that and (deep breath) invested in the new kit you see here. It gives me more range and versatility and more control over what I shoot and process.

Clockwise from front:
- New Olympus OM-D E-M5 body (with previously owned Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f2.5 ASPH (H-H014) Pancake lens)
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2
- Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 100-300mm F4.0-5.6 MEGA O.I.S telephoto lens.
- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ (OM-D kit lens)

The D70 will be repaired and then put on eBay. The PEN E-PL1 I sold to my father.

The E-M5 is incredibly fun to shoot and very very versatile. It also looks super cool. A best friend's father had an OM-1 when I was a child. I loved that camera and this feels so like it. I love it to death. I've already uploaded a few shots taken with this new setup.

I hope to get better and better and want to thank (or blame!) the 500px community for inspiring me to make this leap.

(this was taken using snapseed app on the iPad)