
Photo © Bridget Kirsop |
I have
been keen on photography for over 40 years, starting with a Box
Brownie at about age 7 and working my way up via other cheap cameras
to my first SLR in 1968, a Praktica Nova, which lasted for many
years. I still have it and it still works perfectly!
This was finally replaced by a Contax 139, a reliable
workhorse of exquisite quality which I had for many years. Alas,
a thief broke into my car in France and relieved me of all my gear
in September 1995 (2 bodies, 5 lenses and all the paraphernalia
that goes with them), so I acquired a pair of Canon EOS5 bodies
with various lenses ranging from 17 to 300mm. The Canon's only
drawback is its unsuitability for true infrared film, which is
a medium I'd love to experiment with more. I am now fully digital,
originally with a Canon EOS 10D, but now using a Canon EOS 5D with
its advantage of a full-frame sensor.
I also occasionally use a Yashica 124G, an obsolete
but reliable medium format TLR which is great for studio work.
But I still find loading 120 film into a dev tank an awful fiddle
compared with 35 mm!
My favourite subjects are landscape and people
- you may access the Gallery from the
top page. I also have a keen interest in alternative processes
such as salt prints, cyanotypes, etc. And at the other end of the
technical spectrum I use digital techniques where appropriate,
indeed all my printing is now done digitally either from scanned
negatives and slides or taken directly on digital camera. Although
I still retain my darkroom, it is now rarely used as I now print
digitally with an Epson R2400 which gives great monochrome prints
as well as colour.
I enjoy working in both monochrome and colour,
but with a bias towards mono.
I am an active member of the Edinburgh
Photographic Society, of which I am currently Syllabus Secretary
and member of Council. I am also a member of The
Royal Photographic Society, of which I hold an Associateship.
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