My passion and how it all started

I was probably about 12 years of age when my father, who carried a camera throughout much of the second world war, gave me my first camera. It was a Kodak Brownie. In those days, roll films, in this case a 127 format, consisted of an un-perforated film with paper backing. Oddly, this technology is still with us and some professional film-based medium format cameras still utilise a paper backed film. The Brownie has a screw on flashgun that took flashbulbs which could be used for just one shot.

I graduated to the then new 35mm format when I was given an Ilford Sportsman for a present. This had the advantage of differential focusing, but as it had no optical rangefinder, I was forced to carry a tape measure around with me to ensure everything was in focus. I think that I had several similar cameras before getting a Russian made Zenith single lens reflex. Built like a tank, the danger with this camera was dropping it on your foot which would have caused permanent injury. This budget camera eliminated my parallax problems, often encountered when shooting close-ups and it produced excellent results.

I dabbled in cinematography using a Russian Luch 8mm camera which has numerous facilities unseen on some more expensive British and German cameras. It cost me fourteen pounds and I remember getting it on hire purchase terms. I used this to create dissolves and stop animation sequences amongst other things. It was soon joined by a Luch projector which enabled me to see the results once the films had been returned from the processors by Kodak. Like the Zenith, if either had been dropped they would have made a large hole in the floor.I advanced from my Russian SLR to an Olympus, buying first an OM1 then an OM2 to keep it company. I still have one of these somewhere, I think. I also used a Pentax Spotmatic but can't recall where this came from but I can remember that its Takumar lens

rivalled the Zuiko  lens of the Olympus. At the same time as this I enjoyed the benefits of a larger negative by obtaining a Minolta Autocord 6X6. This was a great little camera and I could focus and shoot with it using one hand. This was good for taking pictures over people's shoulders as I could hold it high above my head upside down to beat the crowds. It had an exceptionally crisp lens. I also found that by looking down into the viewfinder, it was better for candid photography and for children as it was used at a lower viewpoint.

After my attachment to Olympus cameras I switched my allegiance to Canon. My EOS, obtained from my son, was used extensively in conjunction with a medium format Bronica 6X6 outfit but both have now been displaced by my digital cameras.

Until I started on the digital road, I processed my own colour and black and white films and prints and found that the creative side of photography really flourishes in the darkroom. The big problem I found is that demands from others on one's time for enlargements etc., precluded me from producing my own work. Living like a myopic mole for hours on end was also very anti-social so little else got done either.

The introduction of digital photography has changed all this and has liberated photographers from the confines of the darkroom. Now the long-lived debate of medium format versus 35mm has changed to pixel-based discussions as the new revolution has taken over completely at most levels.