I bought my first SLR in 1984 - it was a Minolta X-300 and was the most expensive camera I could afford at the time. Manual focus, centre-weighted TTL metering, and the choice of manual or aperture-priority exposure. It was built like a brick and served me very well for fifteen years. The biggest improvement in my photography during this period was switching from negative to slide film - especially when I discovered Fuji Velvia.

In 1999 I traded the Minolta in on a Canon EOS 50E. This was a very highly-specified camera and I took some very satisfying pictures with it, but it felt a little bit flimsy. So after three years I upgraded to a professional-standard Canon EOS 3, which feels satisfyingly brick-like.

A few years ago I was wondering where to take my photography next. I did not feel like joining the rush to digital, so I took the plunge and bought a Hasselblad 500C/M. This is a fully manual mechanical camera - there is nowhere to put any batteries, as there is nothing for batteries to do. It is a "medium format" camera, taking 6x6cm images on 120 roll film. The quality is far better than can be achieved even by the very best 35mm cameras, due to the size of the image. And operating in fully manual mode the whole time really gives you a better understanding of exposure. Recently I replaced the 500C/M body with a 501CM which is not very different, just newer.

But be warned. Once you start pursuing better and better image quality, there is only one place you can end up, and that is with large format cameras. I now have a Horseman 45FA. This takes 4x5" sheet film, and I also have roll-film backs that take 6x12cm and 6x17cm panoramic images.

My current film scanner is a Nikon Coolscan 9000ED which is capable of scanning medium format (but not large format).

Sometimes I create "digital panoramas". While proper panoramic cameras are better, one can achieve similar results by merging scanned images (or pictures from a digital camera) using special software. Some of my results can be seen on this site. Click here for more discussion on digital panoramas.

I have received a good deal of positive feedback since I first started my web site. Some people actually ask me for advice, so after a while I decided to compile this advice into my top ten tips for amateurs. If you know much about photography you probably won't need to read this.

People often ask to buy prints of my photographs. Click here to read about ordering prints.