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I thought I'd create some web pages, in the hope that they'll do two things. Well, three things. OK, four things.

I took my first black-and-white photo in 1964 when I was twelve, and my first landscape a couple of years later. I'd had handed down to me a twin lens reflex of indeterminate origin, with no metering and some out-of-date film made by (I think) Adox. I asked my father about all the knobs and dials - none of which made any sense to me - and he told me "If the sun's out use 1/100 at f8, if it's dull 1/100 at 5.6". It seemed to work pretty well. Since then I've been a dedicated black-and-white photographer, mainly of the landscape, processing my way through some 30-40 rolls of FP4 a year, without ever really straying into colour. And I plan to continue, unworried by what is now an almost total lack of anyone else in the locality who shares my interest. It was always a hobby for those who were happy in their own company, so I'm not complaining.

But clouds are gathering on the horizon for us "wet darkroom" types. Several of the manufacturers whose products I've depended on for decades have stopped production, or are having a hard time. Even those companies still in business are rationalising their lines to the top-selling items only. Up until a few months ago I could walk into town and buy a bottle of developer but those days have gone. Expectations at work and socially are changing too. If I'm asked to take some photos of a function, people are no longer content to let weeks go by while I fiddle about with multigrade filters and preflashing and so on. Minutes after I've pressed the shutter they're pressing around asking "Can we see the photos?" So I've committed the Most Heinous Sin Recognised by the Sacred Brotherhood of The Monochrome Landscape.....

......I've bought a Digital Camera. Readers who are aghast should hit Back without delay.

Herein lies the first of my hopes. Having the new machine (an Olympus C5060W?) won't stop my film cameras from working. I know them well. I've used them for years and I understand them. I'm intimate with their strengths and foibles, I know what they can and can't do. I know when I can let them dictate events and when I need to step in and turn the dial off Auto. I don't have any affection for them (I'm a bloke after all, so when they bust I just get new ones) but I do trust them. They are basically contraptions with lenses and shutters that allow light to fall on film, which is a process I understand.

The process for making a digital image, however, is something I'm absolutely sure I DON'T understand. By setting myself up to produce this set of pages I intend to put myself under some gentle pressure to produce a regular supply of digitally-captured photos, and hopefully as a consequence figure out what's going on behind all the baffling buttons and icons on the camera. Without such an incentive I might just carry on with my 35mm equipment.

Secondly, I thought I'd find out how a website worked, and thirdly I want to contribute some content to Maidenhead CC's new site. Wisely the club has resisted putting up its own website until the right technology and expertise were in place - well they are now, and I think it'll be a big asset in future as long as we keep feeding it.

Finally, many of you will know that I'm enthusiastic about the countryside around us. There are fantastic photos waiting to be taken (though I doubt if you'll see many in my pages) but in general people are strangely reluctant to get out of their homes and cars and see the photographic potential that's on our doorstep.

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RodBird - 28 Dec 2004