My photography journey so far
Once upon a time
I am now in my 73rd year!
Where did it all go?
It has been quite a journey to get to this point and hopefully there is lots more to look forward to.
Please join me on my travels.
MAY
2026
I am touched by the kindness of people
It seems that we are bombarded with bad news every day and the cruelty of mankind to each other.
So, I have been very pleased with the kindness of people to me during the month with my photography journey.
Firstly, one of my mature classmates at college knew I was having a problem cleaning a lens for my Bronica camera and he has kindly offered to clean it and to put it back together again for me.
Then, I have always wanted to photograph in black and white, but felt that some images are better in colour. One of the people I follow on social media, Paul Sanders, whose book, Still, I can thoroughly recommend, wrote that he only photographs in black and white and in a square format (my favourite).
I wrote and asked him what he does when he seems something that would work better in colour. Does he ignore it, photograph it in black and white or take a colour photo. I also sent him an image I have of a blue VW Beetle which I think works better in colour.
he very kindly took the time and trouble to write back, telling me I was over thinking it (probably right) and also edited my image into a variety of black and white photographs.
These people are so kind and have restored my faith in human beings.
By the way, I did edit the photograph to black and white as you can see. Hope you like it.
APR
2026
My photographs are now on display in my local coffee shop!
I can't tell you how happy I am that my local coffee shop have agreed to let me display 5 of my photographs in the premises.
The first display went up in April and I will try to change these every month and they seem to be getting a good response.
If you are in Southsea, please pop into Braodway Coffee Roasters on Highland Road, where not only can you get a great coffee, but you can now also see my photographs.
I am still learning the Leica Lux app and continue to be impressed with the results so far.
At college we have continued making progress with our project and this should be finished in September.
It has been lovely to see the sunshine which encourages me to get out to take more photographs.
MAR
2026
A busy month
There has been a lot going on throughout March.
Enviromental portait class.
Premieres of two of the films we filmed at college.
Advanced iphone mobile photography course.
The start of our project, Portsmouth 100, all the Open Spaces on Portsea Island (one of the most densly populated cities in the UK).
All this and I got a cold.
Very tired and think I took on to much.
I am starting to take things a little easier now and get back to making photographs for myself.
I have now decided to concentrate on photographing on my iphone and hope to add some great images to this site shortly.
I have downloaded the LeicaLux app and am experimenting with this at the moment and am pleased with the results so far.
FEB
2026
Only half way through the month, but Still. Now at the end of the month and Still
I received my copy of
JAN
2026
Follow the rules
I have learnt a lot at college and am grateful that it is somewhere where I can go and meet and talk to other photographers, who are much better than me.
But I find that it is stressed that there are rules that you should follow to produce that good photograph. The rule of two-thirds, leading lines, triangles, etc, etc.
Unfortunately, I am not a great rule follower and again I found that I was trying to hard to please other people, rather than myself.
As I mentioned below, I recently came across the works of Daido Moriyama who doesn't follow any rules and just produces photographs and for the first time in a long time, I actually found someone a bit like me and who's work I really liked.
This in not to say that subconsciously I probably do use some of the rules some of the time, but the difference is that it is not my first thought.
My first thought now is to make the photograph.
DEC
2025
Why the website
A number of people have asked me why I have built the website for my photographs.
I think as I said below, I realised that I am not the best photographer in the world and I won't produce that stunning image that everyone will want to hang on their walls and I am more that happy with that now.
I appreciate at this moment in time in my life that I do not have the time or dedication to be able to go out photographing all the time, which I think you have to, to become a great photographer.
Once I accepted this, I realised that rather than try to take photographs that everyone would like, I would concentrate on taking photographs that I liked and if other people did, that would be an added bonus.
I also realised that I had put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to try and master using the camera on manual settings, so much so that I wasn't enjoying making the photographs.
I am now more than happy to use either the camera (mainly on automatic) or the phone to make photographs and I hope you appreciate them however they have been taken.
NOV 2025
All over the place
Going to college has certainly opened my eyes as to what you can achieve with your camera.
However, I have always struggled with the dials on cameras and their functions and so like many photographers (I think) have always relied on the automatic settings when taking photographs.
Whilst not a 100% happy with all the results I get, I feel that I have achieved some nice photographs that I am happy with.
Over the years, with the introduction of mobile phones and the improvement in the quality of the cameras on them, like most of us, I have been taking more and more photographs on my device.
In class at college there are people at all levels of skill in using the camera and some that produce outstanding photographs.
At the end of one of our lessons the teacher was talking about the next short course and who was going to join it.
One of our classmates said he would join as long as it only included people with proper cameras and not mobile phones.
I didn't say anything, which I now regret, and I think this is why I had become slightly disilusioned with photography and didn't know which way to go.
Someone then pointed out the definition of photography to me:
the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor)
I then realised how wrong they were, it's not what camera you use to make the photograph, but you!
I'll start at the very begining
One of my first photographs.
Taken on my Kodak Instamatic when on holiday in Scotland as a young boy with my parents.
I haven't looked at this for years, but am quite impressed and would be happy if I took this today.
As a young boy, like most people, I was given a camera for a present and started taking photographs. Mainly of family and holiday shots, but never getting overly excited, until the film was developed and I collected the packet of photographs to see what I had captured.
Then later, in my teenage years I went to stay with a friend in Bath who took me to Longleat, which hadn’t long been open, where he lent me his camera to take some photographs of the wild and exotic animals that were running around loose within their compounds.
When we returned to his home, we went into his darkroom to develop and print my pictures, which I thought was amazing and I still have the first photograph that I developed.
Unfortunately, although having an interest, I never developed this further and this is something I have always regretted. Life got in the way and there were a million and one other things that needed to be done.
I have dabbled over the years, like most of us, and have produced a few photographs that I am very happy with, but I have always felt I could do better.
Recently, as many of you will now, I opened the Gallery No1 website and this gave me a kick up the backside to try and spend more time on my own photography and to see if I was capable of producing works that people would like to own.
About 3 years ago, I started to attend Portsmouth City College mature students photography classes to try and improve my skills, dipping in and out of courses that interested me. I'm still there and think I need to try harder and put in a lot more practice.
My main interest was and still is in portraits and street photography. But, over the last year or so, I have noticed that I was losing my way and couldn't find a style or subject that I really liked. I have a large collection of photobooks, some of which are for sale on the Gallery No1 website which I read all the time and I keep finding that I like that style, until I read the next book!
I was recently introduced to books about the Japanese photographer, Daido Moriyama, and I immediately fell in love with the style and quality of his work. I liked the fact there are no rules, just photographs. So, this is the direction I am trying to go in, with a few (many) deviations on the way I expect.
I don't expect to produce that stunning photograph that will reach world acclaim, but I hope that every now and then I produce something that some of you would like enough to buy and hang on your walls.
This website will keep you up to date with my progress and thoughts and I hope you enjoy it.