So what inspired me to create this blog? Two things really. Wanting to learn what this blogging business is all about and wanting to share my new found passion for analogue instant photography. I say analogue because that’s what everyone seems to be calling it now. When I learned about photography it was just film. There was no digital. But I got swept up in the digital revolution like everyone else and I have to say it transformed my photography. Having almost no limits to how much you can shoot  and then getting the instant satisfaction of seeing your new picture immediately was intoxicating. It’s a great way to learn. You can make mistakes, see where you went wrong straight away and make adjustments without leaving the location of your shoot. I still love that.

So how did I end up shooting on old instant cameras? I think it was a realisation that it had become too easy. The technology has advanced so much that the photographer has very little to do. I know what you’re thinking. It’s not the camera it’s the photographer that creates great images. But I have to say that having only 8 or 10 or even 36 chances to make a good picture is a very good way to concentrate the mind.

I used to go to jobs working alongside professional photographers with the latest Canon or Nikon DSLRs and all I could hear was the machine gun chatter of shutters firing at 10 frames a second. Where’s the decisive moment?

I don’t think we ever stop learning. I am certainly learning new things every day. But when it comes to photography I’m having a little refresher on what it was like to have to think about my images, see the viewfinder as a little window on life and press the button at just the right time. I’m on a journey, don’t know where it’s going to take me but I’m inviting you along for the ride. I hope you will be inspired and join me in spreading the word. Film is not dead yet!

By the way, in case you were wondering. I’m a professional cameraman. Started at the BBC and was probably one of the last to do what was, looking back, an apprenticeship in television production. I actually did a module on shooting 16mm film for news at a time when ENG (Electronic News Gathering) had taken hold. Once I was assigned to News and Current Affairs I didn’t touch a 16mm film camera again. After the BBC I went to Reuters and stayed for thirteen years. Now I work for a national newspaper and create video for their website.

Ever since I was a kid with a kodak 110 camera and throughout my career in television I’ve always had one consistent passion. Photography.