Q&A

Although I can't remember what made me take an interest in the subject, I bought a Canon T70 in my early 20's. It was a film camera, of course, well before digital, and therefore you never knew what your photos would turn out like, as you had to wait to get them back from the lab. I can't remember taking many photos, although there are a couple that I recall. I bought a new Peugeot 205 GTI just after they came out, and I remember taking a night time photo of the car in front of the old Orgreave coking plant, all lit up, and also one over the Hope Valley from up around Mam Tor in the Peak District. Other than those, I can't remember taking any other photos although I must have done.

To be honest, no, it didn't. I'm not sure exactly why, but maybe it was due to the fact that around the time I was going through the years of engagement, buying a new house and then getting married. So there were lots of other things that took over.

It was in my late 30s. Around that time, our son Jake had started playing rugby for both the school and Dinnington Rugby Club, and I decided that it would be nice to get some photos of him playing. It expanded somewhat, and I ended up creating a website for the club, which resulted in me taking photos of senior games and also lots of club events. In addition, we were also going to watch Rotherham Titans rugby on Saturdays, and I would take my camera to all the games and share the photos.

When my interest sparked again, I started with a Minolta bridge camera because it had a lot of reach, so it was great for telephoto shots. I then worked my way up through various Canon models, resulting in having a 7D, as it was good for sports with a fast burst rate. However, that was wiped out by a wave in Iceland, so I replaced it with an 80D and numerous lenses.

No, I don't. As I found myself just using one lens 95% of the time, the 24-105mm, I decided to reduce the load and sold all of my gear. And as I no longer had to stick with Canon, and I liked the retro look of the Fujifilm cameras with all the manual controls, I thought I would give it a go. I purchased an XT-4 as it had just been released, and it was a great camera, but I found that it was a little small for my big hands, so I was always catching buttons and dials and changing settings. As I still liked Fujifilm, I changed to the XH-2 and continued with just a mid-range zoom. I enjoyed using that camera also; it just felt good in the hand. I have, however, changed again. I saw a great deal on Panasonic Lumix S5D, and although the model was a few years old, I had never used a full-frame camera so bought one, and it came with an 18-40mm lens. I then purchased a 28-200mm lens as I knew that was the sort of range I use almost all of the time.

I am a very casual (but keen)photographer, but what do I mean by that? Well, I don't plan my shoots; I don't spend hours sitting waiting for the right shot; I don't specifically go out for sunrise or sunset, and I don't like using a tripod. In addition, I don't focus on a specific genre; I just take my camera with me on hikes, trips out and holidays, and take photos of what I like in whatever conditions there happens to be at the time. As for post-processing, I just do a minimal amount. I'm not into replacing parts of the photo or making them look completely different to what the eye saw, just a few tweaks are all I bother with.

Yes, one really sticks out. I had an issue with my Windows PC that I couldn't overcome, and as it was a few years old, I decided to change. And although I had never used a Mac in my life, there was a Mac Mini M4 on offer, so I made the leap. But, and it's a big but, even though I thought I had done everything right to ensure I had my 'keeper' original photos- all 2,000 of them, I managed to lose them all. A big lesson learnt!

Well, I took early retirement at the age of 62 and nothing much will change to be honest. Yes I may be able to spend a little more time taking photos, but the type and style will not change. And of course, as our two granddaughters grow, I'm sure they will appear more often in the photos I take.