I had my first camera at the age of 8 it was a point and shoot with the 4 flash cartridges you plugged into the top. When I was 15 I had a Minolta SLR. I used the Minolta for a couple of years. When I started working as an apprentice engineer I could afford a more modern camera with a built in light meter, I got myself a Canon AV1 and gradually purchased accessories to use with it. I purchased a flash unit, macro bellows, a few filters, starburst, soft, different colours and strange effects. At first I used B&W or colour film negatives and sent them away for developing and printing. I moved on to slides as I could project these. I took holiday photos, Family photos, Rally car racing, Motorcross racing, Motorcycle Grand Prix racing, Wimbledon tennis and Landscape images while I was on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. I did the official photography at few weddings in the 1980s. When it became difficult to get 35mm film, get it developed and digital cameras came in, I gave up photography!. I was married with children and couldn't afford to buy a new digital SLR Camera. 25 years past and in 2014 a friend I used to do DofE with was a member of Cheltenham Camera Club, he got me to go along to a club evening. I enjoyed the evening and the season program interested me, with a few Saturday morning camera tuitions I got the bug! I decided to buy a very basic point and shoot digital camera. It wasn't long until I bought myself a Digital SLR Canon 7d. I started competing in the club beginner competitions and quickly moved up to intermediate. To get into the Advanced competitions you had to win at intermediate. I succeeded in 2016 and moved up to the advanced section. I soon won the advanced colour prints aggregate 2018. I had started entering international Salon in 2015 getting the occasional acceptance. I now enter international salons on a regular basis. I have received Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for my images. I still enter Cheltenham Camera Club annual club competitions which over the last 10 years I have won many times. In the 2023/24 season I won the best advanced annual exhibition Portrait, I also won all three advanced aggregate leagues, Mono Prints, Colour Prints and Projected images. My passion now is creating composite images, portraits and landscapes.
