I live and work in London, work in Kensal Green and live in Islington. I’ve been a still life product photographer for 35 yrs, with the odd corporate portrait and location shoot. Most of my work is for catalogue, brochure and advertising - of course these days a lot is used on the web.

I started my photographic career at the age of 15, going to nightschool with my uncle. Till then I was going to be a farmer like him and my dad.

I did a 2 yr Institute of Incorporated Photographers course in Leeds, worked for a year as a colour printer, then completed a 3 yr course in Fashion and Advertising photography at Medway College of Art. After that I came to London to work as an assistant in a Covent Garden studio, and went from there.

I work more or less continuously at my day job and most weekends on my model work. I began to shoot people seriously about 6 yrs ago as a creative alternative to my commercial work. I started with portraits and glamour, but soon moved on to art nude and fetishy work.

I like the work of Helmut Newton, but try not to imitate. I like to try to develop my own images as fresh and new ideas. I tend to rely on my still life lighting skills in a lot in my model work. The bandaged theme is an ongoing favourite of mine, although I do need rather special models who can perform whilst their heads are completely wrapped - some girls don’t like it at all. More recently I’ve shot a few tearing and ripping of clothes and underwear shots. The models seem to enjoy these, maybe it gives them chance to fantasize a little.

A lot of people say I must enjoy the nude work more than my day job, but I get the same satisfaction from a good product shot as a perfect nude study, it’s just a picture of an object, albeit a little more interactive. The composition, crop and light can make or break the shot. I do feel good when models leave the studio happy with the shots we’ve done and wanting to expand their horizons.

I think erotica in photography has to be well shot and lit, I usually show my work in B&W and often the erotica is as much left to the imagination as not. It’s down to the style, mood and detail of the image.

I usually have an idea to start the shoot for each model, trying to suit the individual, then improvise as the shoot progresses. It’s very interesting to see how a model performs and looks in differing situations, the trick is in finding the best one for each model. A lot of the girls I shoot are new to nude work, and getting the best out of them is a thrill.

I shoot with studio flash, softboxes, strips, snoots etc. but would like to shoot more interior location work. I think the location of a shot can add so much to the mood of the image.

I have shot several times with a number of girls, but do enjoy the challenge of new models. I usually get good work from every shoot, but not necessarily the shots I was aiming for. I see adapting the direction of the shoot to get the best shots as part of the skill.

I use the internet a lot to get exposure for my work, I’m on a lot of showcase sites, and seem to be getting invited on to more on a regular basis.

I’m a member of both the Association and the Guild of erotic artists, and exhibit my work through both of them. I’m also a regular contributor to Jade magazine, having had several front covers and centre spreads as well as being featured in their “through the lens” section and being photographer of the month.

I am hoping to shoot more location work in the future, when I retire from my day job I’ll have much more time to devote to this.

I am giving seriuos thought to putting a book together when time permits, it should be fun choosing the images and putting it together, if a little time consuming.