I came into photography in late 2006 while convalescing from a hernia operation. Six weeks of little movement made me buy an Olympus OM40 and a subscription to Photo.net. A good friend Eltham had donated his old film stock so I started to experiment with light bouncing off my cat.

The early efforts were mostly disappointing. But, after a while a greater understanding of light lead to more acceptable results. I still shoot more film than digital and using cameras that were manufactured even before my father was born. I shoot fully manual medium format cameras using Velvia 100 film for colour and 400CN chromogenic black and whites. Porta 160 is also one my staple choices when in the mood. The price of film, processing and the sheer effort of home scanning slows me down, probably leading to better exposures than what I could achieve digitally. It is more fun to shoot film any way! Fewer exposures mean less scanning or post-processing. I shoot primarily for pleasure.

For digital I use a now ancient Sony DSLR with prime lenses that are older than me, although lately, a humble Sigma 24mm super-wide seems to be permanently mounted to the body. I also take great delight - when in the mood - from using Retro-App on my 3 year old phone camera. The five seconds shutter lag and loss of highlights add interesting challenges to say the least.

This year's photographic project is '12FacesIn12Frames'. I'd like to load either the Zeiss Ikonta or the Rolleiflex with a roll of new emulsion Kodak Porta 160 NS and shoot 12 portraits of people who I have some connection with, perhaps in natural light. Wish me luck!

I am the Editor of LawNewsIndex.com and most of my photography is a pleasant distraction from various writing and legal projects.