The real me:

My name is Jay. I was born in Leicester in the midlands of England. At age 7, after various moves throughout Leicestershire, to Cornwall, and back to Leicester, I moved down to Brighton, where I settled for 14 years. In October 2010, I moved to Poznań in Poland after my 2nd visit to this charming city. I live here with my long-term partner, Lena, who I'm very fortunate to have in my life.

My passions include photography, scuba-diving (I'm a certified PADI Rescue Diver), swimming, cycling and sharing thoughts, ideas, philosophies and perspectives.

I have been shooting since I was 14, however I was 17 when I got my first SLR - a Canon EOS 500N 35mm with a Sigma 28-90mm APO. When I was 18, I upgraded to a Canon EOS 400D with an EF-S 18-55mm and Tamron 55-200 f/4 - 5.6 Di II. I have since added various filters, a grip, tripod, speedlite, bags and other small accessories to my collection. My original intent was to shoot for fun; whatever interests me and whatever sparks curiosity. This hobby developed quite rapidly and I became more interested and involved in the technical aspects of photography. I began reading articles, magazines, forums and every other photography-related resource I could find.

I really wanted to do something with photography as a living - maybe combine my study of sociology/psychology/economics/politics at university with photography and become a photojournalist? Maybe teach short-courses? or shoot weddings or social events? Life didn't quite turn out as expected, and since living in Poland, it's not really a reality for me right now.

I currently teach English as a profession, both privately and for various schools and companies. It's very rewarding, and I love to see the progress students show and know that I had played a part, instrumentally or not, in their development and consequently their future.

This blog is my attempt to document my evolving knowledge of photography, and to share and showcase different topics with people by narrating photographic images with illuminating back stories.