I have added a new category called “Getting Down and Dirty”.  This by know means, means I have veered off into the land of pornography – sorry to disappoint.

One of the things I love about my ever growing photography skill, is the ability to use it creatively. It’s my new found medium to express what I see and feel. When I see things that I admire or love in visual form, like a child, I have a burning desire to explore it. I can get quite excited, but often can be very disappointed by my efforts.

Macro photography has always fascinated me, possibly due to my days in a Lab with microscopes…when you see an atom on an electron microscope, you can only ever be in awe.

Although I have no formal training in photography, when I have seen something that sparks my interest, off I will go with gusto with my tools at hand and try and reproduce it.  Until recently it was very hit and miss!

What’s this got to do with getting down and dirty?
Well, a lovely man came into my life, who’s work I truly admire, he is a fellow photographer  one who can only be described as an artist of the flower world. I can’t say that I had a favourite photographer, like so many will often reel off the likes of  Ansel Adams, until I saw  his images and I fell in love.

I love the beauty of flowers, their colours, shapes, their smells and well, to get a good shot of them you have to get down on your knees on the dirt. Whether you can get up again is another thing!

Now, you might think it’s easy taking a photo of a flower, yes it is, very easy, but to make it look and feel alive with that  je ne sais quoi  that makes you go oooh, it takes a special kind of eye.

After seeing one of his photos that made me quiver with such excitement, I decided that I would try it for myself! Oh, hell ain’t that easy at all!  Out I went into my garden in search for something that looked like moss with long seedy pods. There I was nose to ground checking all my moss…nothing!    I wondered where they had been found? Miffed I gave up, I didn’t have a macro lens anyway…

I don’t like to be defeated by something so simple and I think the Universe heard my kerfuffle so decided to give a helping hand.  As luck would have it, my brother-in-laws birthday was coming up and my sister wanted to buy him a camera. It turns out that a DSLR bundle pack,  had what she wanted for less and what I wanted, a telescopic lens with macro (bonus) and nearly £70 cheaper for me!  Awesome! So glad my son works in Jessops!

Ashridge Moss Attempt 1
Fstop F5/6

At this point you maybe wondering why I didn’t have a tripod, well, I just sold mine to a friend to get the cash to buy a Manfrotto. Which I have now but not at the time.  My friend and I only realised when we got there that we could have used hers! Duh…we did improvise quite a bit with various fork like sticks tho!

My efforts were I have to say extremely dirty.  As I navigated around the base of this tree to get a clear shot, there was a slight problem…I was getting covered in mud, and I couldn’t focus in on the moss. I needed to be a least a metre away! Arrgh, I ended up reverting to my 18-55mm lens. It was a bit better.

Ashridge Moss Attempt 2
Fstop F5/6

Ashridge Moss Attempt 3
Fstop F/8

So, as a result of this new wonder in my life, I went out again in my garden and found that the moss by now had pods on them. Seeing some on a step, I tried with the macro on a tripod, but still had to be so far away, I would have needed a ladder just to see through the lens. There were more horizontally so yes, you guessed it…laid flat on the ground using the 18-55mm lens. Not brilliant or majorly in focus, but I did shoot something that looked pretty much close to my mentors work.  For me that was enough. I had conquered the world of dirt and all it’s amazing delights!

Home Moss Attempt 4
Fstop F/8

So, hopefully now, my new category will start to grow and I will develop the eye of an artist.

Thankfully, I fixed the washing machine to be able to cope with the dirty clothes (without a manual i might add! ).

Of course in them days the 110 cartridge film was expensive to process, so developing and getting new film was very few and far between.  I can’t even remember the camera name but it was an oblong shaped and sleek with a shiny chrome button on the top.

I have one photo that I can find which I took with this camera…I love it even though it’s out of focus and over exposed. It was the Seventies and boy the fashion back then!

So that was my beginning to photography, over the years I have taken snaps like most people with various different film cameras but it wasn’t until I got my first digital that I really became interested.  I bought a casio QV-10A Digital Camera off ebay, 2 mega pixels, swivel lens,  and real time display!

I remember taking my Mum who by now was suffering with dementia to pick it up, I was over joyed…I could snap away to my hearts content, then just ditch them if I didn’t like them…well that was 1999, I have to say, I still have a lot of the snaps and really they were just that, snaps! Looking back at the quality it was like photos taken with a web cam, course that could have just been my crappy photographing skills! lol

In 2001 by now really keen to get into photography, I splashed out! OMG…the best camera in the world…Nikon 990 3.1 Mega pixels and I have to say, I still have it and it’s as good today as it was back then, in ease and quality.  I also signed up with the BFP British Freelance Photography course, alas that was wasted money, as life changed and I never submitted anything.  They did say I could take my time…do you think it’s too late after 11 years?

During that time I developed my web design business so graphical work and coding became the forefront and I originally designed this site with a very basic gallery layout.  I had put up a few pics over the years but my time was spent on other web design projects and my business.

In 2008 I got my Canon 400D a lovely digital SLR, that’s when I really started to take photos and actually spend some time on what I was shooting.  It’s taking me time to get used to all the functions, because even though I have loved taking photos I could never get my head around all the F stops, aperture, exposure etc.

Even today when I use manual I go with feel and intuition, like a person who plays music by ear.  Although saying this, I am learning quickly.  Of course this will all change as I develop my skills and eye, seems odd writing this and recalling a history of over 3o years of taking snaps and I am only just getting into my passion! Better late than never I guess : )