A Brief Autobiography

Hello, first let me introduce myself.

I'm Chris Pooley and I've been a member of the club for what seems a very long time. I joined the club when I bought my first SLR camera, a new Pentax ME Super, so that shows how long ago it was.

I joined the club in order to learn a bit about photography and for my photos to reach a wider audience than my family. I also wanted something to keep my interest alive so I wouldn't end up by putting the camera away in a drawer after a few months (which had been the fate of previous hobbies).

Firstly I found the club very friendly and welcoming to a new member, just as it is today. However, in other respects it was very different. Remember, this was before the days of home computers, printers and digital cameras. To enter a competition you had to enter a slide or a "home produced" print, ie a print produced in your own darkroom. At that time "trade processed" (or produced in a commercial lab) prints were not permitted at all.

Over the years the club has moved with the times, firstly by permitting "trade processed" prints in a separate category, then alongside "home produced" ones and now, of course, there is no distinction between the various methods of producing a print, be it digital, home or trade processed. It's the quality of the image that matters now, not how it was produced.

When I joined the club all the members were free with their advice about how to produce a good picture, and how to print and display it. Although the methods of producing a print have changed, I am sure any new members find as much help and encouragement is given to them today as was the case twenty odd years ago.

Anyway, I am still a member of the club, I have had a few successes with some of my pictures and I even gained a Distinction as a member of the Royal Photographic Society. Now I'm getting to grips with this Web site, I might even display some of the pictures that I used for my Distinction (if I can find them).

Well, that's a bit about me (and the club).

Just to show how clever I am, and in case you don't recognize me, here's what I look like.

:A self portrait taken with a Canon G3 camera

-- ChrisPooley - 07 Jan 2006