About Me

Photos by Barry Finlay

How it all started

To be totally honest I do not recall when I first picked up a camera. As far back as I can remember I always loved having cameras with me when I was a child. Every holiday I would be asking to use the camera because I wanted to take photographs. When I was 11 I remember doing my Photography badge in the scouts and it was the first time that I processed my own photographs in a dark room. From then on I was hooked.

Many years passed and although I always had a camera it was always just a point and shoot to capture a memory, it was never a serious hobby.

Welcome to adulthood

Close to the arrival of my son (2007) I had started to get more into photography and take it a bit more serious. It was always just a hobby and I had zero intentions of making a career with my camera. I only ever had entry level point and shoot cameras but still managed to get some great shots and capture amazing memories. 90% of the photographs I was taking was of my newborn son and that was pretty much the case for the next 10 years. I had always wanted to get myself a DSLR but I just couldn’t justify the cost for what I would be using it for.

And here we are today

In 2018 I finally got my first DSLR (still an entry level one) and I was totally hooked. The first thing I noticed with the DSLR was that my photographs were not as great as I was expecting. Initially I was blaming the camera because it wasn’t good enough but soon realised it was me that was not good enough. So I spent the next 12 months getting out into the field and shooting as much as I could to improve my photography.

I love being outside in nature and getting out to shoot was a great way to help keep me fit as well. My first blog post explains this a little more. I am still using that first DSLR and I am getting much better results now that I know more about photography and have a better understanding of how to actually use the camera and get the best from it.

The future…

Would I like to be a full-time photographer? That is a question I am still pondering but I would like to share my images with the world in the meantime and who knows… maybe one day someone will want to buy a print or use one of my photographs for their magazine or website. Who really knows what the future holds.