In 2015 I began my real journey into digital photography. I took a 5 day class in Yosemite with Phil Hawkins and about 10 other students of all different skill sets. I was the least experienced, having stopped shooting many years ago at the end of the film camera era. At the start of the digital age I couldn’t quite get the hang of shooting with the tiny Nikon, 6 pixel camera that felt and looked like a toy after shooting with a Nikon D2 for years. So I gave it up again for other pursuits.

In 2013 I purchased a Nikon D600 and a couple of lenses, determined to get back into photography. I was in over my depth, having no one to show me how to work the camera, the manual might as well have been written in Greek… Basically I knew just enough to shoot in aperture priority, focus, and basic composition. Other than that I knew nothing about the workings of my camera buttons and menus, tripod and lenses. It was awkward, painful and quite stressful, but I learned, and thanks to Phil, somehow, most surprising to me, managed to get a few good images that I have now processed and, hopefully, more to come. It was difficult but it inspired me to learn, grow, and it strengthened my resolve to become a photographer!