I fell in love with photography when I joined an online photo journal website in 2014.   I initially took photos with my mobile phone before moving on to my first Nikon camera - a D3100.   I now own a D7500 and various lenses but my favourite two lenses are my 16-80mm f2.8 and my 105mm macro lens - both Nikon's.  I live on the edge of Dartmoor and love it! I love getting out into nature and taking photos of the landscape and I absolutely love gardens and flowers.  I don't like to restrict myself to any one genre of photography but I  I tend towards nature photography.    I volunteer at a local garden called Wildside which gives me access to the garden all year round and Keith Wiley, the owner and creator of the garden, is happy for me to spend time photographing the garden. I work in the Devon Air Ambulance charity shop in Tavistock on a part-time basis and in my spare time I'm either at Wildside, walking on Dartmoor, exploring the coast and wider countryside of Devon and Cornwall or tracking down gardens to visit around the South West of England.I love photography and am continually learning and hope to continue to improve as time goes on.I'm married, have two cats and a Jack Russell -  I love cake and cheese!  Life is good.

I've never had any formal training in photography but I have attended some workshops which I've found hugely beneficial.  For me, getting out with the camera every day (especially when I first started) really helped me learn how to use the camera and get some experience.  I love to see what other photographers are up to and love to look at photography books and soak up all the lovely images I see.  I'm hugely inspired by the mass of talent out in the world.I have been lucky enough to have achieved some success with my photography including the following:  featured in the Practical Photography Magazine (2014),  BBC Countryfile Calendar finalist (2016 - February), featured twice in the Dartmoor Magazine,  featured as a 'Local Person of Interest" in the Tavy and Moor Links magazines (2022) , won a Bronze medal for a portfolio I entered in the RHS Photographic Competition (2021) which was subsequently part of an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London.  I have also had two solo exhibitions of black and white images of the People of Dartmoor - one at Home Farm Cafe in at Parke, nr Bovey Tracey  (Sept-Oct 2019) and a larger exhibition at the Dartmoor National Park Visitor Centre in Princetown (Jan - Mar 2020).

Professional roles: Photographer, None of the above

Location: United Kingdom