My first interest in photography started when I was young and I can remember watching my grandad photographing the birds that came to feed in his garden. Inspired, I started off with a basic 35MM point and press film camera and did not know anything about ISO, F-Stops etc.
My first ever photo was of a steam train and I can remember taking the photo to this day. I was sitting down along the grass bank whilst my father was up a tree (hoping to get a better photo). My father said “When I shout now press the shutter button”. Of course, with the noise of the train I never actually heard him shout and pressed the shutter button when I thought I should. The result was a very nice and perfect photo and I think mine was better than his. I had a printed version on my wall for a number of years.
When I first saw and handled a digital camera, I was introduced to the Kodak 2.0 Mega Pixel camera with a 32MB memory card (you would not fit many raw files on that size memory card now). I was very impressed with the quality of the images it took and that if I took a bad photo, I could see without having to get a film processed first!
Over the years, and as digital cameras increased in spec and mega pixels, I had a number of Kodak and bridge cameras before taking a break from still cameras.
I have a very keen interest in Ornithology and Lepidoptera and decided to step away from still cameras and took up taking video and using a camcorder for a few years. It was nice to see the subject I was trying to capture actually move.
After seeing digital SLR’s and that they could record video as well as taking photos I decided to look at purchasing my first DSLR. This was a whole new world to me with learning what lens I would need, how F-Stops & ISO worked and which brand to go for. After much research I purchased a Canon 550D.
I changed my DSLR again in 2016 and remained with Canon, using the 7D MKII (sorry Nikon users)
Some of my butterfly photos were used for a butterfly field guide book by Michael Easterbrook. The book is called: Butterflies of Britain and Ireland: A Field and Site Guide
In June 2022, 76 of my butterfly photos were published in the Butterflies of Kent & South East London Book. One even made the front cover!
In May 2022, I have changed DSLR camera again, and swapped over to a Sony A9 MKII. The camera is great but the menus etc are totally different from the Canon system I have been used to
Wildlife will always be one of my favourite subjects, however from 2023, I have also been specialising in Landscape Photography, Event Photography, Portraiture and Performing Arts Photography.
Working with Images by Jan, I have managed to develop my photography skills in these areas and it has been wonderful to be asked to help with photo shoots for charities, music schools, performing arts and Maidstone LitFest.
2026 continues to be a busy year with several photo session\requests already received. I have also purchased an additional mirrorless camera.
If you would like to enquire about asking me to photograph an event, then please use the contact page on my website and I will come back to you. I normally work with Jan Dijkstra-Caplan from Images by Jan
I hope you enjoy visiting my website and looking through some of the photos I manage to capture.