History in Brief

When I fully wind back the clock from where I am today, I think it all started in junior school with trip to the Martin Mere Wildlife and Wetlands Trust centre near Southport. So with that in mind, below is my timeline in its entirety as I remember it starting in 1977!

As our coach arrived at the Martin Mere car park, I remember very vividly the site of the grass covered roof of the main building…a building that hides itself! Whilst at secondary school, I was a serious member of the young ornithologist club and upon leaving school, I bought a camcorder with the savings from my wages so that I could film wildlife. The camcorder didn’t really work out and I was eventually given my first camera (Practika MTL3) at seventeen by my first girlfriend’s stepdad. He had a Canon T70! I then progressed to a Practica MTL5 and Practika BC1 before eventually finding the money for my first Canon, the EOS 600. I then moved to the EOS 5 and it was about this time aged 22 that I bumped into a nature photographer by the name of Colin Smith FRPS. Colin took me under his wing and within a very short time, I was taking images that I was finally happy with and eventually attained my ARPS distinction in 1998. I traded up to the EOS 3 with a quick side step to medium format with the Mamiya RB67 after which I then moved back to Canon with a second EOS 3. I bought my first digital SLR – the Canon EOS 1Ds in 2002 and then eventually the 1Ds Mk2 five years later. This was followed by the EOS 1Dx until the current day, where I find myself back with medium format and the Pentax 645z – shooting almost exclusively landscapes including intimate scenes. Alongside all the aforementioned camera goings on, my love of nature transitioned me from a hopeless school drop-out to a professional senior ecologist and a very serious photographer.

You can read about some of my accolades below.