I took my first photograph of an aeroplane way back in 1963 at an airshow in Plymouth, and by 1967 had moved on to a simple 35mm camera (Kodak Colorsnap 35) that I used mostly (fortunately) with Kodachrome II slide film, only 25 ASA but it gave fantastic results. By 1969 I had a Yashica Minister III rangefinder (one of my all-time favourite cameras) then a Pentax Spotmatic (another favourite) in 1970 after an unfortunate year wrestling with the appalling Praktica Nova 1B. When digital cameras arrived I moved on to a Canon EOS 10D in 2004 (after a brief but reasonably enjoyable period using a Minolta Dimage 7i) and have stuck with Canon ever since.

An unexpectedly good move was (on something of an impulse) to buy a mirrorless Canon EOS R7 in August 2023, with which I struggled at first, but adding an RF 100-400mm zoom revolutionised everything. No noticeable difference in image quality* from my EF 100-400 L Mark II but a fraction of the weight, and a pleasure to use. I have since added the amazing, tiny and very lightweight RF-S 18-150mm zoom, which I am very impressed with. And more recently I went the whole hog and bought the full-frame R6 Mark II with an RF 24-105mm STM lens, and an RF 1.4x extender for use with the RF 100-400mm, later adding a second R7 for use at airshows etc. It’s been quite a lot to get used to - mirrorless is a quantum leap from digital SLRs - and a surprisingly different experience to what I was expecting it to be. Absolutely no regrets though.

Taking photographs of aeroplanes has always been my main interest, but I also enjoy photographing railways, scenery and wildlife, among other things. As I get older I've cut back on the amount of travelling I do, so St Athan and Cardiff/Rhoose is normally the furthest I get these days, other than RIAT of course.

I don't have a problem with my pictures being used in publications, web sites, etc., but please ask first!

(*A word about this statement is needed, because obviously the EF 100-400 L Mark II is a peerless professional quality lens that produces superb images if used well. But it is equally obviously big, heavy, and tiring to use for extended periods. I think the RF 100-400mm image quality is at least 95% as good as the L lens in terms of sharpness, just as good in terms of contrast, but 500% more enjoyable to carry around and use. The RF 1.4x extender makes no difference to image quality, and works superbly with the RF 100-400mm lens - and the combination is still light enough to be held with one hand with no strain at all. As I’m getting on in years now, the R7/RF100-400 combination really works for me!)

And despite what it says on the beer glass in my photo, I’m from Newton Abbot in Devon (but grew up in Plymouth). Butcombe Original Ale is one of my favourites, though. (The photo needed updating because I’ve had cataracts removed, and no longer need to wear glasses, at least for distance viewing.)