I’ve been a keen amateur photographer since the late 70’s, and being an engineer I guess I have always found mechanical things to be interesting, lets just think what the camera is - a unique electro-mechanical device designed to capture and preserve moments in life for you. My first proper camera was a Zenit EM brought by my wife as a present; this gave me a good apprenticeship in the subject. The realisation that a photo taken at f2 and 1/500 of a second was sharp with just the subject is in focus. I had not really understood before that how apertures and shutter speeds had dramatic effects on a photo until I joined a photographic evening class.
Naturally my camera skills have progressed over the years, I still take an interest in the “device” and the accessories but realise it is the recorded image that is the part that really matters. If money was no object I would love to own a Leica M (digital choice) or a Contax G2 (35mm choice), but I cannot complain about the quality of the photos that I get out of my Nikon Coolpix S9100 or Minox 35EL (or Olympus XA2). With any of these small dimension electro-mechanical wonders I can concentrate more on the composition and they are “at the ready” in my pocket (plus I may have a Canon EOS round my neck!).
I really do like to use my old 35mm SLR manual focus lenses on my Canon DSLR, but I still enjoy the anticipation of waiting to get a film back from being developed when I slip back into "analogue mode". So the combination of 35mm and digital photography makes me a hybrid photographer; as I like to shoot everyday objects in both formats I guess that makes me a Hybrid Lomographer!
