phild91

I have a BSc(Eng) from Imperial College in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and have been working in France in Telecommunications for the last 20 years. I decided to take voluntary redundancy after we closed the department I came to France to set up. I have been interested in photography since my schooldays: we had a very good Physics teacher who set up a photography club and taught us how to make pictures and to develop and print them. Colour photography only interested me insofar as composing and taking pictures for slides: for me it lacked the challenge of expression we got from manipulating the image in the b&w darkroom. I still use a Mamiya 645 and a Pentax ME super for b&w work, developing at home. Our village has an active photo club with a well-equipped darkroom which I use from time to time. I exhibit with them at various local events. I got into digital photography with a Canon S45, then moved on to Nikon D70, D300 and now D610. I use Lightroom and Photoshop CC now for processing on a macbook, although I have also used Gimp, Darktable, Lightzone and other open source programs fairly extensively. I also act as an informal teacher on Lightroom/Photoshop at the photo club. I decided to take the course because I want to develop my artistic side in photography. I am also interested in painting in watercolour and acrylics: I want to extend this interest into photography. Although at my age I am not looking to develop a career in photography, I want to develop my expertise so that I can feel confident enough to exhibit my work and maybe sell in the future: I am not interested in becoming a wedding photographer or commercial photographer. Having said that, I am up for any challenge!