About me

Photography is a part of me. It’s as familiar as sleeping and eating…in fact I seem to do much more photography than I do sleeping and eating these days! My aim is very simple and straightforward – to try to capture places, people and moments in time and make them as beautiful and interesting as possible. I try to go beyond the objective recording of fact and to use self-expression to provide an interpretation of my subjects. This approach can be controversial in the world of photo club photography, where maintaining the objectivity of the shot can be, to some individuals, the most important thing. But photographers have been manipulating photos since its earliest beginnings, so I make no apology for that!

I was brought up taking pictures and learned how to process them in the darkroom from the age of about 5. The excitement of taking and making images has never diminished for me. In common with so many others, I have “gone digital” in recent years and now use a digital SLR for image capture. My pictures have been primarily made for my own pleasure. Some are “competition” pictures, others just an expression of my enjoyment of a day, an area or a subject.

I am a member of one of the oldest photographic societies in the UK, Oldham Photographic Society, which was founded in 1867 when photography was in its infancy. I have held most offices there over the years, with my third term as President in 2004-5.

Initially a hobby, photography has now become a major part of my life, as an exhibitor locally, nationally and internationally and also as a lecturer and judge in the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union, where I have also served as Hon. General Secretary and am currently Vice President.

An increasing number of images are now processed primarily for stock. In October 2006 I joined forces with fellow photographer, Mike Lawrence, as SteelOrchid Social and Commercial Photography. Our web site is at www.steelorchid.co.uk