Re: Roll call.

[Simon Ogilvie <simon_ogilvie@ionica.co.uk>]

OK, this is me:

Simon Ogilvie - 31 years old.
Married for 10 years (this week!) with a 2yr old boy.

Born and lived in the UK for most of my life, but in New Zealand
for some of the early years.  Now live in Cambridge, England.

Degree in Electronic Engineering, now work as a computer
consultant (yawn!) which pays the bills but doesn't excite me
very much any more...  I've only ever been an amateur photographer
with the occasional (dreaded) wedding thrown in.  It's just not
possible to make a decent living out of it in the UK unless you
are exceptionally good, which I am most definitely not!

Been fascinated by photography (and cameras) since I first
discovered it as a child, and managed to persuade my parents
to give me my first camera.  Since then I've been on a "quest"
for better quality results and have owned and used every format
from 110 to 4x5 (or 5x4 as we call it over here!).  This quest has
meant that, almost by accident, I now have a collection of 40 or
so cameras from early Zeiss Ikons to modern Japanese.

My main user cameras are a Mamiya 7 with a pair of lenses,
two Canon EOS bodies with 6 lenses, a Graflex Century Graphic
and a Leica CL with two lenses.  The others have all been used at
some point but are generally left on the shelf when I go out to shoot.

I'm very new to Leica, having originally been put off by the snobish
attitude of some collectors, and the fact that Leica is almost totally
ignored by the UK photo press.  I am now on a steep learning curve
and have picked up most of my information from this list.

Wants:  I'm planning on a Leica M6 and some more lenses, but
the main thing I really yearn for is a better eye for composition!
Too many times an eagerly awaited roll of film has returned from
the lab, and has been a total disappointment.  I ache to be a better
photographer, and I've fallen into the trap of thinking better equipment
will help, but I know in my heart that it's my own failings that are
holding me back.

Simon.