Photographer's background, family and Korat info

I have been interested in photography since my first engineering position at the National Engineering Laboratory in Scotland where I developed and printed photographs as part of a research project. My father was also an amateur photographer who processed his own black and white film back in the 1930's. His hobby no doubt contributed to my interest in the subject.

Later on in life I attended De Anza College in Cupertino, California completing several photographic processing courses enabling me to set up my own darkroom and do my own colour and black/white printing. Several workshops also contributed to my interest. Colour has always been the most important element of my photographs. I've never considered myself to have much skill in composing well balanced images although I have fun trying. The black and white medium which I've always considered to be more artistic, provided many challenges but is still a very rewarding pastime.

I am now retired and finding more time to pursue this hobby. In the past I only used professional slide film because I loved the intense colours of Fujichrome Velvia. However, with all the advances in technology, I've been experimenting recently with a digital camera. As an amateur the instant replay has really helped to improve my photographs and today's photographic software has added another dimension to the hobby for me. However, I'm not ready to give up my SLR film camera yet.

Since photography is only a hobby of mine I've never considered purchasing a top-of-the-line camera. However, my Canon Rebel has served me well over the years. Combined with some good to excellent lenses I've been happy with the quality of photographs produced. I own a Leica M3 which I use from time to time exclusively for black and white photography. The quality of the images is still impressive but the manual operation is a drawback.

I photograph for my own pleasure and enjoy selling small format photo montages at our local craft fairs on the island. Having a web site allows me to share some of my better images with others.

Bowen Island, 10 miles from the city of Vancouver, has been my home for 17 years. The population has increased steadily during that time but most of the island still maintains a rural atmosphere. There are many opportunities to take good photographs with the island being located within Howe Sound, one of British Columbia's most scenic inlets.

I share our home here with my husband, Peter, whose pastimes are home renovations and stained glass and our two Korat cats. I have two charming and talented daughters; an assistant professor at York University working on research projects at Fermilab and CERN, and a software and web page designer, who unfortunately have not inherited my passion for photography.

Before settling here in British Columbia my husband and I took several years cruising in our 34 foot sailboat from Scotland to the United States via the Mediterranean, Madeira, Canary Islands, and the Caribbean. Prior to that I lived in Scotland, Montreal, Vancouver and Los Altos, California. I hope to include images from our sailboat cruising years and world travels in future gallery pages.

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