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The countryside and photography have been lifelong passions for me.  I was lucky enough to spend almost 20 years dairy farming in Somerset and this fuelled my photography to include the wonderful characters of the farming world. I was inspired by the work of James Ravilious who documented the people, activities and landscapes of North Devon for a period of time.

Whilst farming, again I was very fortunate to be able to spend 5 years under the expert tuition of Ron Frampton FRPS whose inspirational teaching touched so many around the West Country. I leant to print in the darkroom to a very high level and obtained my Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society, ARPS.

Since leaving the farming, I have had more time for photography and whilst initially resisting the change to digital imaging, I have now fully embraced the ‘lightroom ‘, though it is heavily influenced by my years in the ‘darkroom’.   Black and white photography is still my first love.  it is an artistic interpretation which emphasizes form and texture.  I still love to produce high quality prints of my work and these are on display at the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen Gallery in Broad St, Wells.

My principle passion continues to be working in the rural community in which I live, I have spent a lot of time roaming the Blackdown Hills nearby.   I built up a photographic archive for them when they were a newly designated AONB and this relatively under populated region of small farms and many lanes continues to fascinate and delight me.  I love to include farm animals in my pictures and my years of having my own flock of sheep come in handy.

At the moment, I have found a rather different voice in the form of Infra-Red photography, using a specially adapted camera to capture reality beyond the visible spectrum.  This has the effect of rendering anything that emits infrared radiation like the greens of trees and grass light, on the sensor and things like sky that don’t, dark . Hence dramatic differences between land and sky.  England being such a green and pleasant land will render almost entirely white in the heat of summer foliage and so needs using carefully.

This year’s online Somerset Arts week, I plan to major on my new Infra-red work.