The images that I create are based on 2 rather different processes.
1. I use an image from the thousands that I have taken since I took up photography during the late 1950's - using so many different cameras from a basic Kodak Instamatic to the latest digital SLR brands.
During that time my images were used worldwide through many outlets and agents, with colour slides being the exclusive medium used.
I was fortunate to have many images included in International Colour Slide Exhibitions and represented England in those Exhibitions. I am a former Licentiate of The Royal Photographic Society.
2. As "seniority" begins to creep into my life, the opportunities to travel to distant lands taking photographs no longer exist.
So - enter stage left an amazing feature that enables us to continue exploring places far and wide - Google Street View.
This allows me to wander streets, roads, and even alleyways, as if I was actually there. When I see a potential opportunity for a photograph then I can zoom in and out and move around to compose my shot just as I would do if I had my camera in my hand.
The talents of composition and a "seeing eye" that I have employed for many years can still be utilised to get my photograph.
The Windows 10 programs that I can use to convert my original image into a finished photograph are many and varied.
The main ones are ARCSOFT PHOTOSTUDIO, SMART PHOTO STUDIO, TOPAZ IMPRESSION, ACDSee PHOTO EDITOR, ARTISTA IMPRESSO and FotoSketcher.
Since the advent of digital photography I have employed a few basic rules - which I do not deviate from.
1. I never ever sell any of my work - it is all given away and I only produce low-resolution images for Internet usage only.
2. I have no inclination to spend time fiddling with those endless menus on digital cameras, where is the fun in that ! My camera is set on automatic and that is that.
3. When I work on an image I have a time limit of 20 minutes - if I do not come up with something acceptable to me in that time then it is binned and I move on to another image - end of story.
I now look upon my work as creative within the realms of art rather than as photography. I no longer think of myself as a photographer - but simply as just an entertainer.
