I took my first street photo by accident when I was travelling in Vienna in the year 2000. I just put the camera to my eye and snapped by instinct. It was of a little old lady walking across a street. It was a bright sunny day and I was using 3200 speed B&W film.

It was taken at the camera's maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second, no doubt at f22, just as her heel was about to hit the ground. It cast a beautiful shadow and there was a strong lens flare from the light. The highlights were blown out, the image was very grainy and there was not much shadow detail in the original shot, but even so, despite its flaws -or perhaps because of them- it showed me that I could capture a very fleeting moment in time. Everyone in my family has remembered that photo ever since.

The camera I used was a relatively basic Olympus IS30 SLR with inbuilt 28-110mm zoom lens. I didn't have to worry so much about settings because there weren't all that many on the camera. I think I've travelled to almost 50 countries with that one camera!

I've travelled a lot outside Australia and lived in Spain for 8 years, so I definitely have a unique perspective of Australian life.

I currently like to take photos of alternative characters, their interactions, seedy districts, ghettos and the road to urban decay.

These days I normally go out and shoot with just one small, lightweight lens and no bag as I don't like things weighing me down. It allows me to be faster and shoot for longer.

My favourite focal length is somewhere around 28 to 50mm although I love using all focal lengths, one at a time, everything from 12-90mm. I prefer to have a cheaper camera that I know how to use to its full potential rather than a heavy and expensive camera with too many 'features'.

I also enjoy taking macro photos of animals.

my youtube channel

www.lesliedeanbrown.com/photography