2725

I was given a Zenit-B when I was 14 (it cost £15 secondhand in 1980!)...I didn't really want a camera! However, I started taking pictures and began to enjoy it. I worked as a photographer's assistant in the 1980s and as a rostrum cameraman and gopher at Stills Audio VIsual above Carnaby Street, and later in Great Windmill Street in the West End of London in 1984/5. I carried on doing commissions for some years - not very successfully it has to be said! I continue to use my old Mamiya RB67 from time to time. I no longer use a Canon A1 which was the mainstay of my work for many years. I spent a few years using Minolta gear, my favourite being the Dynax 7i. I used to do all my own monochrome processing and printing, but no longer have a darkroom - sadly. I'm not a huge fan of digital photographs, although LightRoom allows me to transform some really dull photographs into something interesting! I have used many digital cameras, but my current is a Nikon D700. I believe that it is less important to have the latest camera, than having the best lenses. Not least because with good Nikon lenses, they don't really lose value at all. So my favourites are the 80-200 ED f2.8, and a 35-70 ED f2.8. These are all bought secondhand, maybe a little old fashioned, but the optics are unbeatable. I also use a Finepix S5. I now work as a mental health professional and value the therapeutic role of photography. I like to spend as much time as possible with my children, so they often feature in my pictures! Whilst I haven't sold a photograph for many years, I always carry a camera (even if it is my iPhone) and just get great pleasure from sharing my photos (not captures!) on 500PX.