A challenger appears...

[Sandshark]

Good evening, fellow oppers. I figured I should get around to saying hello and introducing myself.

I've been sneaking around at night for a handful of years now. Nothing as impressive as some of the stuff I've seen on here, though. I never had any neat places to check out, as I was rural, until I moved to a new town last summer. Now that winter is ending, and I will no longer freeze body parts off at night, I'm trying to get back into opping, and I hope to be at least somewhat active on this forum.

After spending the past week (or maybe two?) almost scouring this site, and seeing what some of you have done, I want to step up my game. I plan on hitting the Dare section in the coming weeks, weather and schedule permitting.

In advance, it's nice to meet all of you.

[Xanatos]

Ooh, I'd better get my camera out again! What sort of targets do you have in mind?

[Sandshark]

Well, I've got a local school that I hear is pretty easy. Same with the public 'pool'. There's a roof overlooking the town square that I really want to get onto. I'm pretty close to a graveyard, but it doesn't even have a fence, so I'm looking for one that I would actually have to put effort into. Working on other ideas, but I've only just begun actually exploring the area.

As of last night, I finally have a camera with a flash, in the form of an old cracked phone that doesn't have my name attached to it. If, gods forbid, I were to drop it on a job, it won't be as big of a deal.

[Xanatos]

Do you use the phone for anything other than pictures? If so, I suggest picking up a cheap digital camera and using that instead.

[Sandshark]

I plan on getting a decent camera once I have the money. That could be months from now, though, with vehicle expenses and bills to pay. I figure if I'm gonna spend my future opping and urbexing, I should get into photography also.

[Xanatos]

I've used a series of compact digital cameras that are all around $100 each - you don't need to save up for a $3,000 Nikkon telescopic camera because a) you're shooting for a website, not National Geographic and b) its bulk will just get in the way. Portability should be your primary concern when selecting a camera. Of course you can pay a little extra to get one of those water & shock-proof models, but as long as its compact and has a flash, you're good to go.