Since I'm one of the administrators of the site, it seems only fair I kick off this section. You should understand that I don't particularly want to do this, but I can't grumble at people to write something in it if I haven't done so myself. So here goes.


I am the son of a "one pound pom" and was exported to Australia in 1964. At that time I was a very young member of the RSPB, having been introduced to a love of wild things and places (if there are any real wild places in Britain) through watching a TV show called "Look" which was hosted by Peter Scott; and by the kind interest of an Aunt who would take me on walks in the country.


If you are born in a land of green and grow up sounding like one of the Beatles, Australia took a bit of getting used to. Early errors made by our family include going to the Flinders Ranges in late December, where we more or less melted; and standing near trees where Australian Magpies were nesting. A good thump on the head soon teaches you it's not a good idea. My accent was largely unintelligible to everyone I met until the Beatles actually visited Australia. Then for a very short while my accent was the height of fashion. But these things never last of course.


I got my first SLR in the 1970's but gave up photography in the pursuit of recording live classical music. This was a result of realizing you shouldn't have two expensive hobbies under way at the same time. My first camera was an Olympus OM2.


I resumed an interest in photography when I purchased a Panasonic FX30 not so very long ago. Relatively soon after that I moved on to A Nikon D300 which I decided to buy because you could buy relatively cheap but brilliant old Nikkor lenses to use with it, starting with a 25 year old 300mm F4 with which I took the image below. Currently I most often find myself using a D800E with a Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VRI with one of the Nikkor teleconverters.


I have a taste for photographing small bush birds "Not because it is easy but because it is hard." I hope you enjoy your photography as much as I do.