Updated: 26 November 2011
When I saw my parents using their Box Brownie camera I was just desperate to have a go myself. Eventually I was allowed to hold it and take a photo and that was how it all started. It was some time before I had my own camera. I had to wait until I was full-time at University, on a full grant - what a blessing that was! This first camera was a Kodak Vario which had 3 speeds and a "bulb" setting. When you took a flash picture in those days, you used flash bulbs, burning up one for each picture, very - well - flash! In my year in France I was able to upgrade it to a Kodak Retinette, which had a linked range-finder and exposure meter, nearly professional! By the time I graduated it was a Praktiika, with 3 separate lenses.
I kept that for some time before upgrading again to the camera I still have, the Canon A1. The Japanese revolution had arrived. I've had a huge amount of pleasure from that camera, taking lots of colour slides and also black and white films that I learned to develop and print myself. It's a sort of magic watching your film turn into real pictures in the dark room.
The real magic however was the revolution in computers The first computer I could lay my hands on was the BBC Acorn, and several years later I bought my first PC which had something wonderful called "graphics". I bought a printer that came with free software that I'd never heard of. Called "Photoshop LE", it was the most amazing thing I had ever come across, literally beyond my wildest dreams. It was the end of the darkroom and the start of the "light room". Instead of bending over a dish of smelly chemicals lit by a dim red light, you could sit comfortably in front of a clear colour screen, and do far more to your pictures in less time. If you didn't like your results you just zapped it on screen and started again. It has transformed photography and there's no going back.
I kept that for some time before upgrading again to the camera I still have, the Canon A1. The Japanese revolution had arrived. I've had a huge amount of pleasure from that camera, taking lots of colour slides and also black and white films that I learned to develop and print myself. It's a sort of magic watching your film turn into real pictures in the dark room.
The real magic however was the revolution in computers The first computer I could lay my hands on was the BBC Acorn, and several years later I bought my first PC which had something wonderful called "graphics". I bought a printer that came with free software that I'd never heard of. Called "Photoshop LE", it was the most amazing thing I had ever come across, literally beyond my wildest dreams. It was the end of the darkroom and the start of the "light room". Instead of bending over a dish of smelly chemicals lit by a dim red light, you could sit comfortably in front of a clear colour screen, and do far more to your pictures in less time. If you didn't like your results you just zapped it on screen and started again. It has transformed photography and there's no going back.
1. I bought a stand-alone hard disc, made by Porsche. It’s excellent.
2. I’ve bought Canon’s superb Digital SLR, the 400D, and love it.
3, I bought a better film scanner, the Nikon Coolscan 5, and managed to sell my old one on Ebay, for £88! I was going to throw it away!
2. I’ve bought Canon’s superb Digital SLR, the 400D, and love it.
3, I bought a better film scanner, the Nikon Coolscan 5, and managed to sell my old one on Ebay, for £88! I was going to throw it away!
A primrose hill on my way to Ipswich.
Nadal in action against Gulbis, on his way to winning the title.