Photography has been a passion of mine since I was a young lad. I bought my first serious camera (a 35mm rangefinder) when I was twelve, and was developing and printing my own black and white images in my teens. I was Chairman of the University of Kent photographic society (only briefly, because I was more interested in taking photos than attending meetings - and was soon booted out!).

 

I am interested in all forms of photography, but since the arrival of my daughter Jasmine in 2006, she has become my main subject (so expect to see a lot of her in competition!).

 

Like most people in the club now, I shoot almost exclusively on digital (although I have an extensive collection of film cameras they are mostly just on display and rarely used). For the technically minded, I shoot RAW images on a Nikon D70 and do my post production on an Apple Macbook with a range of software including Expression Media, Capture One, DXO Optics Pro and (very occasionally) Photoshop!

 

So what types of photo do I like, and aspire to take? Photos are like books - they can either be factual or fictional. In books I prefer fiction, but in photos I prefer fact - I value photography’s ability to record the truth. I respect journalistic photographers such as Robert Capa, who went out to record what was happening in the world. I hope my photos are an accurate record of what I actually saw, and any manipulation I do brings the image closer to how I saw things. That’s just my preference and the way I work  - it doesn’t stop me appreciating images that have been created “outside the camera”. It’s just not my thing.

 

What does frustrate me is not knowing whether a picture is fact or fiction. I think that is important, and I wish we could enter our pictures into competitions certified free of all (photoshop) additives!

 

Our daughter Jasmine

and grown-up son Mikey

My wife Jane

Me!