I am an amateur photographer who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

My photography focuses on landscapes and seascapes of my home state of California, but when the opportunity arises, I also like to photograph wildlife, especially birds. Living near the marshlands of the south of San Francisco Bay gives me access to a large array of both native and migratory species.

Also, as someone who was born and raised in the UK, and is a frequent visitor back “home” to the beautiful Cotswolds, I take every opportunity to photograph its countryside and villages, as well as the wonderful country estates and ancient churches found around every corner.

I bought my first camera when I was an undergraduate in college - a strange Russian-made 35mm model but with a high quality Leica lens from East Germany. I was shooting on black and white film, some of which I processed myself in the darkroom of the chemical engineering laboratory.

Later, much of my early photography was of my four children as they were growing up. Even though my children would sigh when I pointed a camera at them, they were at a complete loss when I started pointing elsewhere and was shooting "scenic" photos; I was hooked on photographing landscapes and capturing memories of the scenery around us.

None of those old scenic photographs were much good, but since I retired in 2014, I have been able to devote much more time to learning and practicing with much better results - at least, I think so.

But judge for yourself… .