I spent my early life determined to be a mathematician, which I largely succeeded with. Spending 30 years working in the electricity industry with various roles including: research mathematician; computer programmer; performance engineer; strategist; commercial anylist; and finally contract negotiation team leader.

Having retired in 2013 I looked to my hobbies to determine what I was going to do with my time. Photography had been a passion of mine for some time and I had received a number of compliments on my work. This was to become my main driver in the years that followed.

I was predominantly a landscape photographer, although I particularly enjoyed photographing a street theatre festival every year. It is a live arts festival held in the streets and on the river of a town in the north east of England. There are hundreds if not thousands of people in the crowds so using a tripod is not possible. Also because a lot of it is performed at night, flash lights are banned. It is a real technical challenge but it is very gratifying.

After a couple of years I decided that I would like to learn a little about studio portrait photography. I joined a group in Birmingham which met up monthly. This gave me a lot of experience, learning how to use studio lights, how to direct a model, etc.