A Bit About Photography - September 2025

I think I have always preferred to be behind the camera rather than in-front of it. Looking back at photos from my childhood photo albums (when they were a think) there is a definitive shift from me being in the photo to me taking the photo in my teenage years.

Me on the other side of the Camera as a young boy!

It was a GCSE Geography field trip to Swanage in the late early 2000s that prompted my first camera purchase (a cheap disposable camera) and generated my first landscape photographs (see below) - although I clearly had no idea what I was doing at the time.

Throughout my years at University, I mostly continued to use disposable cameras or relatively cheap basic digital cameras to take photographs. At the time for the memories and keepsakes, never with the thought that they were particularly good or that someday I might even taking photography a bit more seriously.

In 2006/7 I participated studied abroad in Canada and took with me a Fujifilm FinePix A510 - my first digital camera - mostly to continue what I was already enjoying - taking photos of my experiences for sharing memories - but also for sending photos back home to keep my family and friends updated on my travels!

A picture of Niagara Falls taken in September 2006 with my Fujifilm FinePix A510.

In the early days of Smartphones, I had a Sony Ericson which had a fantastic (for the time) Camera - better than the Fujifilm I had been using so far - so for a long time when I finished University and entered into the workplace, I switched away from a separate camera holding the view that just one device to take with my on my travels was 'the way to go'.

For the last decade or so, I have mostly used iPhones (as early as the iPhone 4s, which had a 8 MegaPixel Camera in 2012) and in my own opinion taken some fantastic photographs in that time, some of which I have been happy enough with to have printed on canvas for the walls at home. My phone has been a trusty companion on trips throughout Europe, the US and the UK.

In 2024, I moved to a new house and a joined a Photography Club in the new village - I was nervous, as a phone photographer it felt odd walking into a room with people using DSLR and Mirrorless Camera; I wondered if my photos would be any good by comparison. I knew I wanted to take photography a little bit more seriously and this was my reason for joining - but would I be out of place.

The answer was very firmly 'no' my iPhone photos were praised equally to those taken by others and I even came first in a couple of the monthly competitions!

A perfect sunrise between the trees, captured on my iPhone 15 in January 2025; which won the photo of the month in the Photography Club.

This was encouragement enough - time to start taking things seriously then. In February 2025, I had an unexpected windfall, I won a prize at work and I had some vouchers to spend - time to venture into the world of getting a separate camera again!

It took me a month of research, reading up on modern DSLR Cameras vs. Mirrorless - Full Frame vs. Crop Sensor etc. - it was information overload and frankly overwhelming. It was difficult to know where to start with purchasing a camera and then learning how to use it. In my searching, I came across The School of Photography; thanks to their fantastic video on YouTube about choosing a camera for beginners in 2025. Marc's fantastic video and explanations persuaded me to join up as a member and start their beginner's course - these have completely demystified my journey into Photography so far and I have enjoyed both the beginner's and Lightroom course and am currently making my way slowly through the Photoshop Course, with plans to do more in the future.

I eventually settled on the Nikon Z50ii; this had universally good reviews and write ups and came with two fantastic lenses in the package I went with. 6 months on, I am enjoying the learning journey, picking up little tips and tricks along the way - experimenting and just having fun. I can't believe in 6 months how many great photos I have been able to take as I have continued my learning journey.

I set up this website in July 2025 to share my ongoing photography journey, share stories of my photography outings and share my pictures - with friends, family and maybe more.

Thank you for reading, until next month!