For my 16th birthday my parents bought me an Olympus Trip 35, which I still use; I quickly got the bug and temporarily converted my dad’s shed into a darkroom to save on developing and printing costs..
I moved on to a Pentax K1000 that took me around the Scottish highlands and islands a few times and many gigs and festivals and quickly realised that just snapping what was in front of me rarely conveyed the atmosphere of a place or the excitement of a gig. So, gradually I started taking fewer, but hopefully better, pictures.
I purchased my first DSLR for a trip to New Zealand in 2007, but working life meant I didn’t give it too much attention at the time. A few years later I was winding down and with more time on my hands I realised that I didn’t know what I didn’t know about digital photography, so I booked myself on a couple of courses, including an Open University course that ended with me gaining an RPS certificate.
Until then I’d mainly been a landscape, gig and travel photographer, but decided to step out of my comfort zone and attend a 5 day portrait course. To my surprise I loved it and realised that it’s fun when you can talk to your subject!
There are many benefits of digital photography and plenty of things that aren’t practical to do with film but I probably love process as much, or more, than the result, so I’m at my happiest with 10 shots in a Mamiya RB67 and some messing around in a darkroom.
I moved on to a Pentax K1000 that took me around the Scottish highlands and islands a few times and many gigs and festivals and quickly realised that just snapping what was in front of me rarely conveyed the atmosphere of a place or the excitement of a gig. So, gradually I started taking fewer, but hopefully better, pictures.
I purchased my first DSLR for a trip to New Zealand in 2007, but working life meant I didn’t give it too much attention at the time. A few years later I was winding down and with more time on my hands I realised that I didn’t know what I didn’t know about digital photography, so I booked myself on a couple of courses, including an Open University course that ended with me gaining an RPS certificate.
Until then I’d mainly been a landscape, gig and travel photographer, but decided to step out of my comfort zone and attend a 5 day portrait course. To my surprise I loved it and realised that it’s fun when you can talk to your subject!
There are many benefits of digital photography and plenty of things that aren’t practical to do with film but I probably love process as much, or more, than the result, so I’m at my happiest with 10 shots in a Mamiya RB67 and some messing around in a darkroom.