james butterworth photography
Discovering early in my life that I wasn't very talented in drawing or painting and wanting to try something artistic I turned to Photography so that I could create something with light.
I involve myself in my photography to please and satisfy myself. If what I produce pleases other people then that is a bonus and satisfying in itself.
I take photographs of almost any subject but like to think I specialise in Landscapes, Nature and Wildlife. South Africa has afforded me plenty of opportunity to photograph Birds and Butterflies as well as landscapes and other wild life. I have spent some years in the Sultanate of Oman and whilst there took quite a few portraits of Omanis.
Equipment. I have used many cameras in the course of my journey through photography. I particularly enjoyed using a Zeiss Contaflex Rapid, Minolta 7000 and 9000. In 2000 I switched to digital starting off with Sony and then a Sony Alpha which enabled me to use my Minolta lenses. I found the Sony Alpha a bit too cumbersome to travel around with especially as I was travelling between the UK and South Africa frequently. As a result I switched to something more manageable in the form of a Panasonic Lumix FZ5 followed by an FZ50, both with Leica lenses. Although the FZ50 produced excellent results the sensor wasn't large enough for my liking so I switched to a Lumix G1 and a GF3. This enabled me to use my Minolta lenses again although in manual focus mode. I have more recently changed to a Lumix TZ40 a TZ60 and a TZ100 which all give excellent results without them being a burden to carry.
I have gradually been working my way through the digitising of my 35mm slides and negatives and for this I use a Konica-Minolta Dimage 5400 II which does the job very well.
I use Adobe Lightroom Classic to catalogue and maintain my collection of photographs. I also use Serif Affinity Photo occasionally.
I admire the photography of Ansel Adams and the explorer Wilfred Thesiger. Eyesight Problems has prevented more recent updates.