Photography interest

Like most people I have taken photos of some sort all my life, starting with a Kodak 127 and moving up a little to a Braun 1a 35mm and colour film transparencies but never very high. I could never afford a SLR (single lens reflex) when my enthusiasm was greatest and, when I could possibly have afforded it, I was less interested. In 2002, primarily with the thought of bird photography through a telescope (digiscoping) in mind, I bought a Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera and created here a picture gallery for anyone interested, together with a much more extensive gallery at home.

In October/November 2010 preparatory to a trip to Gdansk in Poland with my son Keith and a friend, I bought a Panasonic TZ8 compact camera with 10x zoom and a higher resolution. This lasted two years before it got damaged and needed repair. I passed it on to Keith and upgraded to a Panasonic TZ30 (with 20x zoom), which I used on trips to Russia, Krakow, Paris and for the following years in England. It is still my favourite, always ready to hand and lives in a pouch on my belt for any excursions.

In the last few years I have become interested in photographing, flowers and insects and found problems with focussing. Finally I bought a Canon EOS 700D DSLR, with the kit 18-55mm lens. Since then I have added a 75-150mm lens and a 60mm macro. Probably OTT and I am still getting to grips with it.