As a boy, I would often accompany my maternal grandfather Alan Gronn on his Sunday drives into Melbourne's CBD where he would take photos and document the changing urban landscape.

His photo hobby rubbed off on me I guess. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic when I was aged about 9 or 10.

I used it to take mainly happy snaps of family, friends and pets.

That soon expanded to landscape scenes in Victoria's High Country.

I have a real love of the outdoors because of those formative years holidaying at places like Mt Buffalo National Park.

As a newspaper reporter, one of my favourite rounds was covering the environment.

I was the first full-time environment reporter at the Herald Sun during the early to mid 1990s and the positive feedback I received from young readers was amazing.

My favourite pastimes include surfing, bushwalking, landscape and wildlife photography, Australian rules football and cricket.

I have been lucky enough to have some photos published over the years in metro, rural and suburban newspapers and online forums

Some have been with travel articles I've written, but most of them have been sports photos.

I like to make calendars with my favorite pics, which I give away to family and friends every Christmas.

In 2012, one of my photos of Banyule swamp on a cold, misty morning was selected by Banyule City Council for their 2013 calendar.

In September 2013, a photo taken while canoeing on the Mueller River in the Croajingalong National Park in Gippsland went on display at Museum Victoria's First People's exhibition.

A photo of a brumby in the alpine mist graces the cover of a children's book, while another of the site of Australia's worst shipwreck on King Island forms a double-page spread in a book called Swallowed by the Sea.

I also like taking action photos and video highlights for my amateur footy club and posting them on their website and Facebook page.

In more recent times, citizen science has been another adjunct to my endeavours, with various online research groups eagerly republishing images of rare birds, insects and whales.

Professional photographer friends say I have a good eye - I certainly learnt a bit from them along the journey as a newspaper reporter.

But I am strictly speaking just another keen amateur with a good compact camera and excellent zoom.

I am constantly blown away by the endless stream of excellent photos on Flickr and it is a great source of inspiration.

Flickr is without doubt one of the friendliest online communities and all the positive feedback is just so encouraging.

Contact me if you're interested in buying or publishing an image. A nominal fee usually applies.

Please don't use any of my pics on websites, blogs, or any other media without my permission. There is an agency set up through Flickr that is always monitoring for copyright breaches.

Happy snapping :)