The Face of Covid Lockdown

Blip Community - Introduce Yourself

I finally decided to participate but you should make the most of it because this is the first and last selfie you will see from me.

I am 73 and have been interested in photography for 63 of them, starting with my mother's box brownie.

I learned how to develop and print my own images in my teens. I joined a photographic society (Kirkcaldy) in 1974.
Even back then I was experimenting to produce something 'different' (eg posterisations, solarisation, toning, lith film).

In 1987 I joined the local art club which helped me develop a better sense of composition and colour which has carried over into my photography - so much so that blippers often comment "Looks just like a painting".

Since I retired, I embraced the digital revolution and my photography blossomed.  I taught myself to process them on a computer using firstly 'Color-It', followed by 'PaintShop Pro, and then GIMP which I currently use. I don't like using gimmicky filters that someone else has produced, preferring to create all the effects myself - often using overlays of one or more separate images. I have had some success with images accepted into international salons as well as at club level.

My familiarity with processing on a computer stems from my interest in computers and programming starting with a BBC-B back in 1981. That led me to change from being a biology teacher to being a computing teacher.

What about my user-name?
I chose to use an online pseudonym in order to keep my private life private and separate from my work life.
So why Gen2?
Before taking up a teaching post, I took a break and worked abroad for two and a half years as a meteorological observer for the British Antarctic Survey, running a met station for 15 months on South Georgia and then 15 months on Adelaide Island.

Currently, my photography has become restricted because my wife has a progressively degenerative condition and needs full-time care. Two carers come 4-times a day to assist and I get a sitter some afternoons allowing me to get out for a couple of hours. In order to protect my wife from Covid, I keep well away from people when I go out, and that incudes barber shops. That explains the Old English Sheepdog look.