Later I bought a Praktica SLR but was unhappy with the poor quality of the recorded images, they didn't seem to be sharp enough so I traded it in for a used Canon FTb. From then on apart from buying a Roliflex with a f2.8 Zeiss Planar lens and using it for a while, I have stayed with Canon, I use two Canon EF bodies now. Over a period, I bought a set of Canon FD lenses which range from 17mm to 210mm, which includes two zooms. The EF's are ageing and I don't know what I'll do when the fail, no one will repair them and I have a lot invested in the lenses.

Somewhere along the way I set-up a dark room and processed all of my black & white film and prints some of my colour film and prints and colour reversal film. However due to circumstances I no longer have a dark room and send out my film for processing.
Now I scan with a Nikon LS-2000, prepare my images in Photoshop and print them on an Alps MD5000.

For a while I did some professional work for advertising, mainly in the local glossy journal. Some work for presentation and evidential work. I never though followed through and made it a career.

My main interest has and still is the artistic side, creating images which people wish to see. I create for my self, if it interests me then it should interest someone else. It wasn't long after being able to turn out technically good pictures that I started thinking in themes and stories. Most pictures are either part of a set or tell a story on their own.

Sometimes I set out on a shoot with a theme in mind, others I let the circumstances tell the story. On occasions I only take a few record shots and come home. It's amazing how often the record shots when I see the spark off another idea.

I don't think I have been over influenced by any particular photographer, although there are a few who's work I do appreciate, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier - Bresson, Alfred Stieglitz and a few others. Then there are the classical painters, maybe JMW Turner, the most prominent. For themes, I tend to literature or history.