My passion for photography began as a child helping my father enlarge and develop photographs at home in a makeshift darkroom. I have never forgotten the wonder of watching the image appearing on the paper, as if by magic, in the development solution.
 

Since those early days, a keen interest in photography persisted and now landscape photography is a full-time pursuit.  
 

So why landscape photography? I grew up close to the countryside in Somerset which instilled a love of the outdoors and nature, and so photographing the landscape was a natural response, allowing me to record what I was seeing.
 

Photography has enhanced my appreciation of the world around me, whether urban or rural, and has sharpened my visual sense - bringing a new way of ‘seeing’. Other photographers have spoken of how they are always ‘doing photography’ even when they do not have a camera with them. I feel the same way. I find that I am now more finely tuned to the changing of the seasons, noticing how the crops in a familiar field change throughout the year, and how the weather projects its influence on the land.
 

Through photography I can indulge my creative side for the first time after a career that was very technical in nature. I find I am drawn to both the ‘big view’ as well as the detail in the world around us. Ansel Adams said, ‘I prefer the term extract over abstract, since I cannot change the optical realities but only manage them’. I like this distinction since I try to reveal recognisable detail, rather than creating a purely abstract composition.    
 

The camera allows us to capture, hold and examine at leisure those fleeting moments in time that would otherwise slip through our fingers.
 

Right now, I am excited to be finalising my current project - ‘The Colour of Water’. This is a series of images made along the river Thames, from Cricklade to Shoeburyness. These are not typical 'source-to-sea' travelogue images since most are not of instantly recognisable sights. Instead I have sought to convey the character of the river, and the chameleon-like property of water - its ability to take on the colour of its surroundings.

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For my next project I'm moving away from the water and heading for the hills of the North Wessex Downs...