My interest in photography started when my dad introduced me to developing Black and White (B and W) film and photos way back in the 60's. I still remember the spark of fascination when the images first started to appear on the paper as it floated in a bath of chemicals under the dim glow of the red safety light.

As time passed, I soon became aware that my pocket snap camera just wasn't up to the type of photos I wanted to take so I saved up some money and invested in a second hand Pentax S1a I'd seen in a photo shop... that's it on the right, I've still got it after all these years....

This camera lasted me many years first with 'home developed' B and W photos, and then later color when it grew a little cheaper to have developed and photos printed. Whilst in the RN it travelled from Iceland to the West Indies, from Gibralta to Cyprus and many other places taking photos in all conditions and as far as I can remember, it never let me down. I may try to dig out some of the old photos, scan them, and put some on this site someday if I remember.

Of course, once you buy a camera, you soon find you need a few more accessories, so I started to amass my collection... First was the usual bag, or in my case a large box, then came filters soon followed by a second portrait 135mm lens, some multipliers, a lens converter... I'm sure you get the picture...

This equipment collection did me proud for 10 years or so, taking even more pictures of faraway places as well as various parts of the UK. With subjects ranging from RN ships, aircraft, landscapes, portraits, action shots etc though I did take my fair share of duds as well....

Eventually though I got a little tired of missing those 'on the spur of the moment' shots whilst I tried to set up the camera, and decided to upgrade again. This time, and in part due to the reliability of the Pentax, I decided on a model upgrade and bought a P30... Photo right...This camera has the advantage of TTL (Through the lens) metering and auto setting, though focus is still manual. True to form, I still have this camera tucked away at the back of the loft (that's why I can add a picture of it).

Being a more modern camera meant I had no need of upgrading it for some time, though the accessories front did trim down a little (remember Bonusprint...). This camera was used for a number of years to supplementing the family photo album. Mainly kids and relatives at holiday times, but also some landscapes and scenes of interest.

Later on and with a career change, and I started to program computers, first desktop apps, and then later websites. I now started to hit the problems of getting images to include on websites and in online photo albums. I managed to fund a fairly good scanner and spent some time taking photos, getting them developed, then scanning them in for use on the pages of websites. I managed for some time to resist the temptation to go digital, but as time passed, it became the thing to do. I first purchased a digital family snap camera with 3 megapixel definition. Since images on web pages are relatively low definition, this did me for a while, but I soon started hankering after another SLR, and finally justified the purchase of a Canon 400D this is the first Canon camera I have used.

I am still getting use to it even though I have had it for a while now. It seems a good camera and very capable of taking any photos I want to take, especially now that I have a 300mm second lens for those more distant compositions. As to quality... it is difficult to tell on web pages, but you can see some of the photos in my new online albums using this link... my albums. The subject matter is a bit limited, and the composition of some of the shots is probably suspect, but you can get the picture so to speak.

I then decided to move on yet again, and keeping with the Canon theme (I did already have some lens's) I upgraded to the semi-pro Canon 70D. This APC sensor camera was my stable for some time, and really taught me a few things. It allowed me to take 'RAW' format files, and to really experiment with image processing. To supplement my accessories, I also invested in a wide angle lens 10-18mm and a couple of filters

Finally, when my wife joined me in retirement and we moved back 'up North', I decided on another upgrade, and bought a canon 5D Mk IV. This over-engineered heavy weight full frame monster seems to do everything I ask. Together with it's 24-105 kit lens and my new 75-200 f2.8 lens, I can now 'take some pictures'. After six months playing, I can say I almost know what all the buttons do (vaguely), lots of fun and experimentation to come.

So where to from now... Well I have a number of hobbies to maintain, and whilst I may loose focus on photography, I know I will always come back to it in spurts, and of course, I will still need images to experiment with, and to dispay on the walls of our home.

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