I’ve been interested in photography from an early age, secretly taking candid pictures with my elderly aunt’s Box Brownie and then watching her reaction when the prints were developed. I took it more seriously in my late teens using my first few months’ pay to buy a SLR and a telephoto lens after I realised that the Box Brownie didn’t cut it when trying to capture Concorde at an Air Show. Is that dot really a plane? I enjoy travelling and usually have a camera with me whenever I go away; my unrealistic aspiration is to capture an image that could grace the National Geographic magazine. I prefer open spaces to studios and capturing people off their guard rather than posed and even though my camera can take multiple shots a second, it is set firmly to single shooting – a legacy of my film days when every image had to be paid for.
I joined Croxley Camera Club after I retired a few years ago as I realised I had more time to use my camera and wanted to get more out of it. Talking to and working with like-minded individuals is a great way to take ‘better’ pictures, the sort that people actually look at or talk about. The club’s competitions are not just good fun but also make me think about what I’m trying to capture – and sometimes what I’m not! I’m always amazed at the different ways members can interpret a challenge and the sheer variety and quality of the images we produce.