About

I have had a camera since I was small. My first efforts were with an Halina 126: tiny, disappointing prints a lot of the time, but I loved the ones that worked and found I had an ability to notice things.

When I was 13 I won a £25 premium bond prize and it went towards a single lens reflex camera, the mighty Russian Zenith E.

This taught me a huge amount as I puzzled through the settings and learned the characteristcs of slide, black and white and colour print film.

A few years later I was able to move on to a Canon AE1. By now I was hooked. Ansel Adams and Cartier-Bresson captured my imagination. I wanted to produce better prints. Eventually I was able to buy a Canon T90: this was perfection. Surely there was nowhere else to go? Living in London I earned some extra income photographing weddings and children.

I learned about the advantages of a larger negative and researched medium format photography, compromising on a Bronica ETRS rather than the Mamiya 6x7 I could see had the edge. Still it was a step beyond, and I loved the ritual of setting up a picture and using an exposure meter.

I did some developing at school and college but the home darkroom eluded me. With four children, photography took a back seat for a while; I just tried to cover family events.

As a teacher I was aware dimly of the digital revolution but I not feel any interest until a trip to America in 2004 and a torn film accelerated the process.

I researched the options, and concluded that the Nikon D70 was a passable start. Leaving Canon was a wrench, but I have not regretted it.

However the results from the D70 felt disappointing in some respects. Since then I have moved on to the Nikon professional cameras. The large FX sensor and superb optics mean I only have myself to blame now if the results don't measure up.