Although I've been taking photographs since I was about 12, I didn't get serious about it until around 1981, when I learned about film processing and printing. Like many others, my ambitions became a little more family-orientated when my daughter was born and I gradually evolved into a standard snapshotter. The hassle and cost of film etc became a bit of a drag.

In 2004 I tried an early digital camera and was unimpressed but got a slightly better one the year after that. Then in 2006, having moved to Kingston, Ontario, I bought a quality DSLR (Pentax K10d) and joined the Kingston Photographic Club, where my hobby became something of an obsession.

I returned to the UK in 2012, to my birthplace in Sussex and really enjoy what the county has to offer photographers, with its outstanding countryside, hills, ancient sites and the sea. One of the first ventures was to a local RSPB site (Pulborough Brooks) and enjoyed it so much I was impressed with the possibilities of nature photography, so I got a long lens (150-500mm). Enjoyable but it was hampered by a small maximum aperture, which brought shutter speeds down to an unacceptable level at times. So.......

I've recently moved on to a better DSLR - (Pentax K5ii) and am delighted with its performance, particularly the high Iso / low noise capability, quieter shutter and more pixels. (and the low light performance now allows me to shoot at high ISO with no concerns about noise, so that gives me better shutter speeds on that long lens).

I'm now a member of the Steyning Camera Club in Sussex. Some very talented photographers there and I need to "up my game"! There again, I'm not very interested in competitions and I submit what I like and won't try to anticipate what the judges say, though I'm keen to do my best to further Steyning CC's reputation relative to other Sussex clubs.