Q
What was the first picture you took, that you can remember?
A. A B&W Instamatic shot of the coast at Saundersfoot
Q Have you any photographic awards?
A. In 1994 I gained a distinction from the Photographic
Alliance of Gt. Britain and this year will be submitting
a panel to the Royal Photographic Society
Q Have you any other interests?
A At the risk of sounding like complete anorak, no. All
my spare time goes on photography
Q. What was the first camera you owned?
A. A Kodak 133X Instamatic. I was 10 and my Dad traded his
darkroom kit to buy my brother and I cameras. My first SLR
was a Pentax K1000 and I still use it (occasionally)
Q. Which piece of equipment could you not
live without?
A. The computer and digital imaging software, because it
has added such a huge new dimension to what I can achieve
Q. What equipment do you use now?
A. A 24 yr old Pentax K1000, a 22 yr old Pentax MX and a
10 yr old Canon EOS 1000 - so hardly state of the art!
Q Here is a blank cheque, what piece of
equipment would you buy?
A. That flash Canon Digital SLR with a full-frame sensor
so I could use existing lens without affecting their effective
focal length
Q How long have you been a member of OPS?
A. 24 yrs. I joined shortly after purchasing my Pentax K1000,
with lots of enthusiasm and not much else!
Q What are the rewards of being a member
of OPS?
A. For me it's the opportunity to show my pictures to other
photographers and get their feedback. I started out with
little more than an interest in photography and have learned
so much from looking at other people's work and talking
to them about how they approach their favourite subject
areas.
Q Have you been a member of other camera
clubs?
A. No - when you belong to the best there's no point in
bothering with the rest!
Q What would you say was the hardest picture
you ever took?
A. The one after the best one to date!
Q What is your most successful picture?
A. In terms of recognition by others, it has to be a very
recent picture of my daughter Emma, having won medals at
The London Salon 2004 and the PHOTO2004 exhibition.
Q What was the worst picture you ever took?
A. We don't have a enough space for a list of all the contenders!
Like everyone I get through a lot of film to achieve some
good results.
Q What is your favourite film?
A Fujichrome Sensia 100
Q What are your favourite subjects?
A People and documentary work
Q Would you say you have a particular style?
A Style is the inability to approach a subject in a different
way, so I guess my over-use of wide-angle lens means I have
a style!
Q If you could take a picture again which one would it be?
A All those that failed!
Q Who are your favourite photographers?
A Shirley Baker, Martin Parr, Elliot Erwitt and Tom Stoddart
Q Has any one picture influenced your photography?
A Yes, when I was about 13 I saw an Open University programme
that featured a picture of an alley way and some dustbins
(I think it was by Elliot Erwitt) and it simultaneously
looked so ordinary and so special and I thought 'Wow - I
wish I could do that!'...and I'm still trying.
