I was born at the early dawn of the home computer and grew up using the BBC Micro (half my friends had Spectrums though). Yep, I lived through the computer revolution - when I started it was definitely not ‘cool’ to be a geek. We didn’t even have proper computer games, instead we went outside or typed in thousands of lines of code from magazines to get a new ‘app’ (they never worked, you always made a mistake).

Having a father who built computers for a living, lead me (perhaps inevitably) to working is software engineering. I went from hobby coding, to a university degree and eventually into computer games development.

There I stayed for many years, until I got tired of the instability of the ‘industry’ and decided to try something else. I did some freelance website work for Derby and Nottingham Universities, which didn’t last because the contracts dried up. Next, as I’d always loved photography, I gave wedding and stock work a go. I managed to successfully document a number of couple’s “happiest days” and sell some images for books and magazines.

So why stop? Well, my son was born and my wife and I decided that looking after him should become my ‘job’. Everything else stopped and I spent many happy years bring him up. Once he started school though, I had the majority of the day to myself.

I filled the time with learning the guitar, learning to shoot, walking our dogs and running. I’d also remained a keen photographer, building a collection filled with images of my son, landscapses, abstracts, reportage and holiday pics. I’ve stopped using a ‘real’ camera and now exclusively use my iPhone, after all “the best camera is the one you have with you.” I do miss the quality of a proper camera, just not the weight and size. My old Leica M (now sadly in the hands of another photographer) produced beautiful images the iPhone simply cannot match.

As my son has grown, our family has started to walk and cycle around the various paths and trails of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. He’s now in ‘big school’ which resulted in yet more time on my hands.

I’ve spent that extra time returning to programming. Partly because I missed it and partly as re-training. To have an outlet and target for this work, I started my own company, Bit Loopy Games.

Think you know me? Drop me a line and have chat.