Always taken photos, but got more active when I got my Nikon D70. Transitioned to a second hand D300 and then when the UK pound was strong got the D810. With the D300, I realised I had to upgrade my lenses and techniques, so a magnitude change in expense, but also in the enjoyment. With the D810, I continued to upgrade lenses. I've always had a Nikkor 80-400mm (upgrading to the VRII), but found after I got my 70-200mm that I was getting disappointed with the 80-400mm sharpness when it was over 200mm, so took the opportunity to get the 180-400mm (another magnitude change in price) as a camera store was offering almost a 20% reduction on the list price on a 'demo' and a great discount on upgrading to the D850. Why didn't I instead transfer over to mirror-less? I was waiting for the next generation of cameras from Nikon and the range of Z mount lenses to increase. Now have the Z 9 and replaced to use the Z lenses for the 24-70 and 70-200, but using the converter for my other lenses. The D850 was a real joy to use, and have a sense that the Z 9 will be too.

Books on photography I've bought include:

The Ansell Adams Guide - Basic Techniques of Photography Book 1

The Zone System for 35mm Photographers - A basic Guide To Exposure Control, Carlson Graves, 2nd Edition

Low Light and Night Photography Art and Techniques, Neil Freeman

Prefer now to edit in Capture One, I think it's more intuitive than Lightroom and Capture One's webinars I find greatly helpful.