Each week we focus on a different member of the Telegraph & Argus Camera Club. This week, it is the turn of STEVE DAVEY, of Otley

How did you get into photography?

My uncle was a keen photographer and I was able to use his Agfa camera, under his supervision with a manual lightmeter.

He always took slides so the excitement of waiting for the box of 24 or 36 slides to drop through the letterbox was always a highlight.

The downside was having to either have a handheld viewer or setting up a projector and screen to look at them. I then progressed via the compact Kodak 110 and 126 type cartridge cameras to an Olympus Trip and then onward to a Zenith kit with a zoom lens and 28mm wide angled. This was used for many years until we bought a compact zoom with 35mm film.

It wasn’t until about 2005 that my wife bought me a small digital camera, which was used a little but not seriously.

I started photography seriously when I got my first phone with a decent camera and internet access. Since then I’ve had a Fuji and Panasonic Bridge camera, which I use now.

Who or what inspires you most?

I live in Otley so my inspiration comes from the countryside around me. Wharfedale is the perfect place for sunrises and sunsets at all times of year. I don’t have to go far from my doorstep for all the inspiration I need. Everywhere I go I always have a camera with me as you never know what you may come across.

What’s your favourite kit at the moment?

I don’t know much about the technical side of cameras, so my favourite kit is whatever I am using at the moment. It can be my Lumix, my Samsung phone or my new Sony compact – I have had pictures I am more than proud of from all these. The beauty of the digital age is that you can freely experiment without having to worry if the shot will work.

What would be your advice for any new photographers?

My advice to new photographers would be just to go out into the great outdoors and snap away – look for angles you like or views that you hope haven’t been seen before.

At certain locations like Fountains Abbey it can be difficult to find a new perspective, but its all part of the wonderful challenge that keeps me carrying my camera.

  • Steve has some of his images printed on greetings cards and sold in aid of a local initiative providing free TV access, drinks and snacks to patients and visitors in the Bexley Wing of St James Hospital in Leeds. Visit facebook.com/goldringcards.
  • See more of Steve's photographs at wharfephotos.co.uk.