Photography

I first took an interest in photography as a serious hobby during a holiday in Thailand some time in the 1990s, well before the dawn of digital cameras. My dad took my brother and me to Khao Kheow Open Zoo near Pattaya and, using my cheap point-and-shoot camera, I attempted to take a photo of an emu. I was very annoyed, when I got the film developed, to find that I had a great picture of the chainlink fence in front of the bird. On returning to the UK, I asked my mum if she’d teach me how to use an SLR.

My first “proper” camera was a Pentax SP500. Being entirely manual and mechanical, it was severely limited in its capabilities, but it did teach me a lot more about the intricate details of photography than any automatic camera would have. Those skills got me the position of Photography Editor for my student newspaper at university – The Linc – and then helped me get my first full time job. Since then, it has been both an important string on my bow professionally and one of my main hobbies in my free time.

Relatively recently, I have added a new challenge by trying my hand at model photography, but I still enjoy landscape and travel photography. I don’t consider myself an expert in any of these or the dozens of other fields of this art form I have attempted through the years. I enjoy getting out and taking pictures, practising and applying my skills and seeing the fruits of my labours, it being one of the only forms of artistic expression I have in my life. I hope that you will enjoy looking at my work and maybe learn how to take better pictures yourself from the few tips and tricks I have picked up along the way.