I retired very early, and travel around quite a bit. I love my car and my caravan.

Photography is an enduring passion. I take a lot of photographs, and have been doing so since 1965. But I still wouldn't claim any special talent or expertise. I just see arresting shots everywhere, and ensure that I always have a camera to hand.

I went digital in 2000. For various reasons, including cost, and not liking prints, and to avoid environmental damage, I won't be going back to film.

I shoot whatever catches my attention. I don't show many pictures of people, and very few of family and friends. Most 'people' shots are shots of myself in various localities, partly to show I was there, partly because I want to experiment with different cameras in various lights, and with various camera settings. I am my own model: there's nobody else I can shoot on demand.

In the past I've used a variety of cameras, some of them complicated and expensive. One's equipment doesn't have to be the 'latest and best', although quality and versatility matter. My all-time favourite camera is my faithful little Leica D-Lux 4, bought in 2009, with nearly 100,000 shots now to its credit. It seems fit to go on forever, and can still turn out excellent pictures. You shouldn't endow cameras with human qualities, but a camera you can work with does become a faithful and dependable friend, and at some point loved and cherished. The D-Lux 4 long ago won a place in my heart. Any replacement must have the same bonding potential, a distinct character, and a soul. I have a smartphone as well, of course, currently a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the 1TB version. It can function as a take-anywhere stand-by camera, with me at all times. As a photographic device, it would be silly not to use it for what it can do well, and it can take very nice pictures. But it's a slim oblong, awkward to hold and operate. And I have to say that its computer-processed results look unnatural to me. Nevertheless, it's a reliable standby, and my only practical choice for telephoto work when travelling about.

I never join anything, nor enter competitions, and I'm part of no photo community. Frankly, I don't want to be. I take great care with my compositions, even of everyday subjects, but I'm not following any particular 'rules' and will experiment freely. I certainly have opinions on various aspects of photography, but leave those to my blog - just search 'Lucy Melford' on Google and you'll find it. You may see some pictures you won't find here on Flickr.