A bit about me: I first started taking photographs when my father gave me his 2¼ inch square Agfa bellows camera in the 1960's. I think he used it in India. Certainly it was insect eaten and light metering was hit and miss. Then I had a succession of cameras including a Practika L, Canon Read more...

A bit about me: I first started taking photographs when my father gave me his 2¼ inch square Agfa bellows camera in the 1960's. I think he used it in India. Certainly it was insect eaten and light metering was hit and miss. Then I had a succession of cameras including a Practika L, Canon Epoca, my favourite Minolta Minox - it went everywhere with me - and eventually a Leica M6 which I used till 2010. I would wander round Dublin during my time at university there, aiming to capture life in the streets then Practika strapped to my hand in an imitation of Cartier-Bresson (I wonder what he would have made of today's auto-focussing cameras!?).
I did most of my own monochrome processing then in a dark room I built at home. But when I left Ireland for London and my parents sold their house the darkroom went - leaving the negatives and pleasant memories to linger.

I used a number of film and print processors after that but in the last 5 years it has become harder to find them. And in 2010 I relented and bought a Canon G11 - and loved it, although some features are infuriating, the ability to click-look-click again was a revelation.

After our first child was born Mrs HG and I moved to Switzerland. To the French speaking area between Geneva and Lausanne and eventually into the mountains above Ollon. Life there was wonderful - endless places to explore walking or climbing or ski-tours into lost winter valleys. We stayed 15 years until a new line of work brought me to London. Now the former Mrs HG lives again near Ollon; our eldest daughter, Movana, lives nearby with her family and a very new baby; our middle daughter, Gioia, lives near the lake between Geneva and Lausanne; and Milo and I live in Battersea. We both love living in London and being able to stay with family when we feel like time out in the mountains is a privilege.

Photography helps me to reduce pace and observe more closely the detail and flow of people and things around me.

So now am starting to learn about digital processing and find the tips in your journals most helpful - thank you.