I am originally from Devon but now live on the south coast of England. I work in software development for a large I.T. company and prior to that I was at Southampton University, studying for my Ph. D. in chemical physics. Photography for me is a hobby; I am also learning to play the electric guitar and produce digital music using Ableton Live.

My interest in photography began at the age of nine when my grandfather bought me a little 126-cartridge camera. Despite some light-leakage, which clearly fogged the film, I found it fascinating and began taking pictures of just about anything. I gradually progressed via a real 126 Kodak Instamatic and an old Box Brownie to my first SLR at the age of eleven.

It was a Zenith EM; a big, heavy Russian tank of a camera with which I learnt all the fundamentals of photography. It was completely manual with an external match-needle exposure meter (no TTL) and shutter speeds which were limited to 1/30th - 1/500th sec., but it was extremely rugged and didn't require battery power for anything. It came with a hard leather case and standard lens for £30, if memory serves. I used it to experiment with the effects of depth of field, different shutter speeds and close-ups using extension tubes.

I later traded up to a Praktica MTL3 because I wanted TTL metering. It served me well, despite being dropped onto concrete, and I used it for some years until I traded up again to the Praktica B100 Electronic. This one was initially impressive but had problems, so I switched brands to Minolta. Technically speaking, the X300 produced much higher quality images than I'd ever produced before but, ironically, I slowly began to lose some interest in experimenting and being creative.

When the Nikon F301 came out in 1985 I took notice because I'd always longed for a Nikon and this one was being aimed at the consumer market. Even so, I couldn't afford one and so I forgot about it until 1987 when I had my first student credit card. Suddenly I had the means to buy one and I knew I'd be able to pay it off in the Summer. My hobby gained a new lease of life, albeit temporarily, and this fine camera went all around Australia (where it was dropped at least twice) and to India with me during my year off. Alas, I later began to lack inspiration again, so the F301 was used fairly infrequently during much of my remaining time as a student.

Out of university and with a full-time job paying me real money at last, I found that Nikon accessories were no longer out of reach. My cheap Cobra flashgun had been totally unreliable, so I decided to treat myself to a used Nikon SB-15. Then I replaced my Vivitar zoom with a Nikkor prime: a used 35 mm F/2.8 AI which I still have because it's small, very sharp and robust.

When a used FE body appeared in my local dealer's window, I traded in my F301 to have it. I really liked the FE but missed TTL flash, so I subsequently traded it for an FE2. By the time I'd added an F3 my Nikon obsession had begun with various, mostly used, items added and traded over time. For my 40th I treated myself to a Leica rangefinder: the M7.  Using a rangefinder is a very different experience and I now find myself equally at home with a Leica M as with any SLR.