wwarby's photostream  

I've got into photography in a serious way back in autumn 2007 when I got my first digital SLR, the Olympus E-510, before which I was an avid producer of garden variety point-and-shoot snapshots for a few years. Unlike most things I take an interest in, I've managed to sustain a healthy interest in photography without taking it to the point of obsession.

Today I use an Olympus E-3 body with a compliment of Zuiko lenses ranging from the cheap but exceptionally useful 35mm Macro to the less frequently used and exorbitantly expensive 7-14mm ultra-wide. My favourite subject is wildlide so it is unfortunate that I live in a country where sparrows and squirrels are about as exotic as the local wildlife gets.

As time has passed I am finding it increasingly difficult to motivate myself to go out with my camera alone, so I am planning to get more involved in the London Flickr Meetups group with whom I have had a couple of really great days out.

I am not a purist who likes to achieve all my effects "in camera" - I believe the end result is all that matters and I use software to enhance almost every image that comes off my memory cards.

My technique and composition skills are still some way off where I'd like them to be and to compensate I am over-dependent on volume - I typically keep just 5-10% of my exposures which is something I really need to change over the next couple of years.

I earn my living as an analyst/developer for a local government authority in London my spare time is divided unevenly between photography, software/web development, movies, XBox, and the occasional novel.

I make almost all my photos available under the Creative Commons license, having found that trying to monetise my photography sucked the fun out of the experience. I receive dozens of Flickr mails a year asking for permission to publish my work in books, magazines, websites, art projects and even a BBC TV show once. Knowing that my work is being used and appreciated an incredible motivator for me.

You don't need my permission to use my CC-licensed work but if you ask for it, unless it is to promote hatred or illegality you will get it. I am happy to be credited as "William Warby" or "wwarby" with a link to my Flickr page if possible, but I'm not fussy about the detail of how credit is shown. What I do really like is receiving links to places where my work has been used if at all possible.