Hmm, so what do I put in the “About Me” section ? You know who I am, my name is the domain name.
During the week I work in IT looking after the IT Operations team for a large omni-channel retailer. Prior to that I was the IT Security and Compliance Manager with special focus on PCI-DSS and Data Protection regulations.
At the weekends I can usually be found either coaching Ice Hockey and Para Ice Hockey, or wandering around with my camera taking photos of whatever inspires me. At the moment a recurring theme of reflections seems to be ever present in my photography.
People say i’m a good photographer – personally I don’t think I am. I have a good eye for photography, and will go out of my way to find a good photo opportunity, but ask me about F-Stops and the controls on my DLSR and I don’t have a clue !
One thing I remember is from a photography exhibition a few years ago, when the photographer spoke about the scatter gun approach that DSLR’s and mobile phones had introduced. In the old days of film, you had to set the shot up, get everything ready then take the photo – a while later you would discover if the shot was successful. Nowadays people will take hundreds of photos and then delete the bad ones. I try to work on taking no more that 2 or 3 shots if I can’t get the 1st image correct. Look for the shot, don’t take a postcard image – you can buy those, and every tourist takes those photos – try to be different, wait for the moment then….Click !
With regards to the Ice Hockey, I currently coach one of the Para Ice Hockey club teams, as well as the Great Britain National team. Para Ice Hockey (also known as Sledge Hockey) is the Paralympic version of Ice Hockey.
Coaching sports is something I enjoy doing. Helping people develop and seeing people improve week after week. It also aids confidence, and helps me in my day job where I will now happily present to a room full of people without any nerves. As a child I was very shy around strangers and would never do the things I do today !!
So, this blog/website, what’s it all about? After years of running websites for clubs and organisations, I decided it’s time to do a site just for me. My plan is to use it to highlight my photography, and the different things i’m interested in photographing. It won’t be a site with every single photo I’ve ever taken (I don’t have enough space for that!), but it will show selected images.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel to a lot of different countries on holiday, with Ice Hockey or with work, so hopefully there will be some images you like! I’ll also include a few CyberSecurity bits and bobs on the site, explaining how to stay safe online and explain, in laymans terms, what the bad guys are doing on the internet to try to get your information, and how you can spot their tactics and stay safe online.
If there’s anything you want to see me cover, or if you have some ideas for photography challenges, please drop me an email.
Ian