Biography

The Photography Story So Far

Since the age of 14 years I have been a very keen photographer. I remember saving all my pocket money for months to purchase my first SLR camera. This was a Pentax S1a and cost about £68 including a good 50mm lens. Back then in the 70's photography was a lot more complicated than today. Before that I used my Dad's old Voigtlander Brilliant V6 twin lens roll film camera.

Voigtlander Brilliant V6

My Pentax S1a and Weston Master V light meter.

The technology was very basic. The camera had a good quality shutter and the Pentax lens was very sharp but had to be screwed on, no quick bayonet fittings then. Also I had a separate light meter a Weston Master V. This was one of the best in the 70's. It took much longer to set up a shot and get the light reading dialed into the camera. Also there was no auto focus, in fact no auto anything. Using this technology was great for learning and understanding the rules of the game. Unlike today's cameras which can be left to do everything automatically if you let them using the "P" for pillock mode.

I would spend hours in my darkroom developing black and white film and prints. After my grandfather died I took over his room as a permanent darkroom. This room was converted into a proper darkroom with an enlarger that could produce excellent 16 x 20 inch prints. The doors and windows were completely sealed so no light would come in. It was so well dark proofed I could load bulk film into film cassettes and process colour slide film in trays. I think I was also hooked on the smells of all the chemicals. I remember the smell of developer and fixer which was always in the air. I remember my mother telling me to go out with friends because I would almost live in that darkroom all school holidays, unless I was out taking more photos.

I could only do this as I had a fantastic Dad. I wanted to become a photographer at that age, so he would always get me what ever photo paper, film or chemicals I needed, thinking he was helping me for the future. He used to take me to a large camera shop in West Drayton and spent a small fortune on my photography. I will never forget what he would say when we were in the shop and he was buying me some film or chemicals "Don't tell your mother what that cost!".

Below are some of my photos I entered into the Esher and District Photographic Club. (I found all these old prints and my two old cameras in my old darkroom cupboard at my Mum's house in Nov 2007). I was their youngest member back in 1970 and was in the beginner's group. Looking back they made no allowances when judging my photographs that I was only 14 years old. (Most people seemed very old to me as they were my Dad's age or even older, most were retired).

........

These are a few of my 16" x 20" prints I entered into competitions in 1969 and 1970

The Tyne Bridges scored 7.5. The South Bank scored 7 on the 2/12/1969 and the Cob only scored 5 on 24/4/1970

........

The Cat only got 5 on the 8/12/1970. The Lion cub scored 7 on the 21/4/1970 with it's entry forms on the back.

The "Parrot Face" photo was my only 10 out of 10 I ever achieved at the club.

........

The tree got 6. Henley Bridge and Church scored 8 and the Smithy 7.

....

The Glass Duck scored 7.

This photo of Ailsa (she was stunning aged 15 or 16) scored 8 at the Esher and District Camera Club. This photo of Ailsa also won my School's photographic competition and was then entered into the National Independent Schools Photographic competition which it also won. This was my best photo along with the Parrot photo.

When I was 15 I had a long list of girls who would pose for me if I gave them a few copies of the photos. I must try and find some more examples of my portrait sessions.

This is another of my best portraits from that time of Isabelle, but it was never entered into a competition.

I started at the camera club as a result of meeting an old man who lived down the road from my house who was retired and worked part time in the camera shop in Esher. He was a real old character and owned one or two Nikon F1 or F2 cameras. He had a darkroom to die for and so many lenses and lights it was all unbelievable for me aged 14. His name was Mr Ward and he would also take me to the club meetings in his open top sports car, a very old collector's cream coloured MG car with a brown leather hood. He was well over seventy but ran around like a young man. The other thing I always found amusing was Mrs Ward, a very nice old lady, but like her husband she had no teeth. (Whenever I knocked on the door Mrs Ward would answer the door with a great big, gummy, toothless smile.)

Colour was then invented. ( I'm not that old really)

I then moved onto colour slides for years even processing these myself. Once the film was loaded into the developing tank the process was very simple other than all the chemicals had to be within +- 0.25c of the correct temperature. This entailed filling the bath with water at the correct temperature and floating the tank and chemicals in the bath to keep them correct. This was fine other than the day I dropped a lemonade bottle full of fixer through the bathroom sink. Luckily the bottle did not break and the film was OK. We did have to wash in the bath for a week until a new sink was fitted. (Mum was not pleased.)

How things have changed.

Today, digital has taken over and now the world of photography is all based around the PC. Gone are the days of trying to get a film into the developing tank by feel in total darkness. Photography is faster, cleaner and does not smell and can be done in ordinary daylight without the darkroom. I still own all the old equipment and it still lives in the room that was the darkroom at my mothers house. Every year she asks when I will go round and clear out the old darkroom cupboard, but I never do.

But at the end of the day, photography has never changed. It's all about seeing a picture in your head and turning it into a great image, but today all the clever stuff is done on a computer using Photoshop or some other program. The end result should be a great image be it on a computer screen, on a web site, or on a printed framed photograph.

After all the years since purchasing that Pentax S1a, I'm still hooked on taking photographs. Now I use Nikon equipment which I always wanted as a boy but could not afford.

I changed over to Nikon in 1997 when I was IT Manager for Nikon at their Kingston UK Head office. It was like a dream come true. I could borrow and take home for a few days or weeks any bit of kit I liked, it was like being in camera heaven. Gradually I could not keep on borrowing for ever the kit so started the expensive task of buying my own equipment.

The Photography story today

Today I have gone completely digital. I am now on my third DSLR. I started digital photography with Nikon Coolpix compact cameras when DSLR bodies cost thousands of pounds. I owned three top end compact digital cameras, then Nikon announced the D70, their first DSLR which cost under a thousand pounds. This was a 6MP DSLR which I still own and takes very high quality images. This is my backup body now just in case I have a problem with my current camera. (But I never have had to use it) I then purchased a D80 when that was launched, another great camera, which I owned for just over 18 months till the D300 was launched. The D80 was sold to purchase the next body, a D300.

The D300 is the best camera I have ever owned. It is a 12.3MP professional DSLR made to deliver professional functionality, performance and reliability. With rapid 8 frames per second continuous shooting and a 51 point auto focus system all in a tough magnesium alloy body for strength and durability.

So today I use a Nikon D300 and have a backup D70 just in case I need it and a Nikon Coolpix P5100 12.1MP compact which lives with me when I have not got a DSLR camera with me. The Nikon P5100 is the only compact Nikon I have owned that has been a disappointment, the previous model P5000 which I sold was very good, but this had only 10MP. The problem with the P5100 is the pixels are to small and far to noisy, this results in the quality at anything over ISO400 being covered in digital image noise. Also it's the only Nikon I have ever owned that has had to be sent back for repair, in fact it has broken twice, (must be due for an upgrade and sold on Ebay asap.)

Some of my Photo Kit today

Nikon D7000 DSLR

Nikon D300 DSLR

Nikon D70 DSLR

Nikon Coolpix P5100

Lenses;

Nikon 18-70mm zoom,

Nikon 18-200VR zoom lens,

Nikon 70-300mm zoom,

Nikon 105mm macro VR lens with a set of extension tubes.

Sigma 10-20mm wide angle zoom,

Sigma 150-500mm OS stabilized lens.

I also own 3 Nikon SB800 flash guns and 2 SB-R200's which can be used for studio work or extreme close up work.

 

In September 2010 I wasawarded the Royal Photographic Society Associateship. Click on the photos above to see the panel I submitted in detail.

 

 

In February 2009 I was awarded the Royal Photographic Society Licentiateship. Click on the photos above to see the panel I submitted in detail.

 

Click on the logos above to enter the section of the site in which you are interested.