Where do I start?
I love taking pictures!
I got my first camera when I was 11 but was already grabbing my dad’s camera way before that. Of course in those days there was no such thing as digital but my first point and click camera was certainly useful and managed to capture some great memories on school trips, family holidays, day outings and family gatherings.
For my 18th birthday my dad took me shopping for an SLR and from that day the cost of holidays went up quite dramatically as I would return from a typical 1 week trip with about 15 rolls of film… you could say I was well and truly hooked!
My dream job was always to become a photographer for the National Geographic but somehow I ended up at Leuven Catholic University in Belgium studying Geology followed my an MSc at Keele University, Staffordshire, England. I had only planned to be in the UK for a year but here over 10 years later and I’m still here. Summers and Winters came and went but my SLR (Canon Eos500) stayed!
I had always been an enthusiastic photographer but had never really been on any courses or had any training. Most of my pictures were taken on automatic or using one of the pre-set options. But when I decided I was going to treat myself to a trip to Canada to see polarbears for my 30th birthday, I also decided I was going to leave nothing to chance and booked myself on a weekend course to make sure I understood the camera and my polar bear shots would come out the way I intended. My Eos 500 had never let me down before but somehow I was not going to take any chances with the polarbears. The course was great and I got my first taste of developing my own black and white pictures and although I had a much better understanding of the camera, about 3 weeks before the actual trip I got totally paranoid and bought myself a digital SLR (Canon Eos 300D). At least that way I could see my pictures straight away. The trip was great a to cut the rest of the story short, I came back from Canada and enrolled in another photography course and ended up doing City&Guilds photography courses for 3 years. I’ve learned so much and there is still so much that I need to learn. I also became a member of my local Camera Club, first in Bracknell and later in Richmond& Twickenham and i made the switch from canon SLRs to Panasonic Lumix superzooms and I haven’t looked back.
I hope you enjoy my pictures as much I have enjoyed taking them!
Cheers!
Ingrid.
Ingrid's photo blog 