Born and bred in Nottingham, probably the worst county for butterflies, my only interest in butterflies as a youngster was throwing jumpers over Wall Browns and Orange Tips. I bought my first decent camera, a Canon AE1 program, when I was about 30 years old to photograph scenery when I was on cycling holidays with friends. During a cycling holiday in North Devon I was taken by a photograph of a Small Tortoiseshell on a calendar in a pub and I also was excited to see what turned out to be Marbled Whites on roadside verges and a Silver Washed Fritillary on the edge of woodland. At the end of that week I decided that butterfly photography was the interest for me.
Over the next couple of years I travelled everywhere and photographed every British butterfly species except the Chequered Skipper, and most of the dragonflies and damselflies, which I had got into soon after butterflies. By this time I had bought two Canon T90 cameras and a Canon 100mm macro lens, and used Kodachrome 64 slide film.
An accountant by profession, in 1987 I was transferred to another group company in Brighton from Nottingham and moved to a house in Uckfield, East Sussex with my wife to be, Susan. Moving from a poor insect county to one of the best counties in the country was a great move and I was spoilt for choice of sites to visit at weekends for the next few years. My two children were born and I gradually spent less time photographing insects and spent more time with the family. I joined the committee of Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch as secretary in 1990 and, after a spell as the auditor, I have been the honorary treasurer for the past 18 months.
With the children growing up and pursuing their own interests, I got back to serious insect photography in 2006. I sold my old cameras and lenses and purchased a Canon 5D camera with a compatible Canon 100mm macro lens, as my first venture into digital photography. I subsequently replaced the 5D with a 5D mk2 in January 2009. I have thoroughly enjoyed “starting all over again” my insect photography over the past 4 years with the highlights being two specialist butterfly holidays, Picos de Europa in July 2008 and Bulgaria in July 2009 |
