Photography
Hello I am This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I started photography at 18 years or age whilst still at School. In the Sixth form (The main school at North Cestrian was in an old house) we had the run of the attic space for our common rooms. One of the rooms was found to contain some old photographic equipment. Some of us decide to get together and see if we could use the discovery. My love of photography was born.
I started processing my own Black and White negatives and then using the archaic projector to print photographs. Not content with only using the school equipment I slowly built my own dark room. I would buy bulk film and load my own cassettes. It was great to spend the day taking photographs and be able to see the prints later the same evening. I joined Altrincham Photographic Society and progressed to E6 Colour slides and CIBA chrome prints.
I was married in 1985 and soon after somehow managed to damage my camera. I could not afford to replace it and I lost interest in my own processing. (I still have all the old equipment but this has been superseded by digital and I guess it will all go in the skip in our next house move)
I bought my first Digital Camera (a Samsung Digimax 350se) in April 2002 in time for my first Holiday abroad since the honeymoon.
This was a 3.2 megapixel camera with 3x optical and 2x digital zoom. It had a Schneider lens and produced some fantastically clear pictures. It was better than the Sony Cyber shot 5 megapixel.
This camera did not really fire my imagination and was quite bulky for a compact. I did take some good shots with this camera but more on the lines of holiday snaps.
In July 2007 I purchased my first fully digital SLR camera, an Olympus e400 with a twin lens kit, whilst on holiday in Spain. I had always dreamed of owning one since the OM10’s of the 1970’s.
On returning from Holiday I looked at camera clubs near to home and decided to join The Warrington Photographic Society in September 2007. The club has many experienced people and is very friendly. I started entering the monthly competitions as soon as I could. I did not do very well the first year but am having some success now
Unfortunately some 18 months after buying the camera I managed to drop it. The strap came loose and the camera hit the ground before I could catch it. It would then randomly store the photographs upside down and back to front. Maybe not a problem with Photoshop but it meant have to pre-process shots before examining properly. The camera would lock at awkward times and have to be switched off to restore functionality. Not good if you were about to take an action shot.
I looked at sending the camera for repair to Olympus who wanted £75.00 for a guaranteed fix with a six month warranty. I decide to claim on my Insurance. They told me that camera was not worth repairing and offered to replace it with an e420 body only as the e400 was no longer in production. I asked about paying for an upgrade to an e520 but they said they could only get one with a kit lens, that was bound to be dearer. The upgrade price was £68.00 which I decided to take. (I sold the new lens for £75.00 on eBay) What a bargain!
I was very keen to try Macro Photography and purchased a second hand 50mm Sigma (SLR) and an adapter. This meant manual only but that is the mode most used for Macro any way. This lens gave the most fantastic pictures. I managed to knock the lens one day whilst setting up and the adapter broke and dropped a screw into the lens. The lens jammed and would no longer focus. I spoke to Sigma who said they could not repair it so I stripped it my self and found the screw. I could not reassemble it and spoke to Sigma again. The said that there were no diagrams and no one with the knowledge to repair it. As a last resort I emailed Sigma in Japan. They emailed straight back and reiterated that the lens was beyond repair but as a gesture of good will they would part exchange it against their nearest equivalent the 105mm Digital macro. What a result! How nice of the Sigma Company to make the offer.
