I bought my first digital compact camera in 2005; however it languished in a drawer for about a year, only emerging for holidays, until I completed my Open University BA (Honours) degree at the end of 2006. I had already decided how to celebrate this achievement; I signed up for yet another Open University course!

On this new course there were no textbooks to read and no essays to write – instead for 10 weeks I took digital photographs and learned how to manipulate them in Photoshop Elements. The course was internet based and weekly assignments were uploaded to a website and shared online with other course students. From that moment on I was hooked. I was finally realising a long held dream, to learn about photography, and with the advent of digital cameras, I was able to experiment & practice my skills at a reasonable price. I’ve now upgraded to my first ever SLR camera (digital of course) and it is great to have so much more versatility and scope when setting up my shots. However my compact camera still commutes to work with me on a daily basis just in case a perfect photo opportunity happens to come my way.

I joined Dorking Camera Club as I came to the end of my digital photography course – I did not want to lose the momentum and the discipline of taking photos of something, anything, on a regular basis. I’ve enjoyed the experience of sharing the enthusiasm that other club members have for their art, and there is always something to be learned, and shared. I now plan to further my studies in photography and am investigating the courses offered by the Open College of the Arts.