France 1

I got an unexpected offer of a fortnight in a farmhouse in the Dordogne in the early summer of 2002. I’d been before with a film camera, but this was a few months after I’d bought a Nikon Coolpix 5000. I agonised about what camera or cameras to take. Digital plus film back-up? In the end I crossed my fingers and took the Coolpix and an old laptop to download files. I have to admit that when I got home and began to produce A3 prints from the Coolpix files I was amazed and totally sold on the idea of digital photography.

I’m always a bit hesitant about photographing places I’m just visiting after hearing John Blakemore say that you can’t really photograph a landscape unless you know it well. Nevertheless, like everyone else, I try. My son who knows this part of France quite well reckons my pictures convey a good sense of place.