I retired from full time work two years ago. My wife, Linda, retired at the same time. We live in Portishead, North Somerset, UK and keep ourselves busy with all the usual things retirees get up to.
I’ve always had a keen interest in photography but that had to take a back seat for a long time, as family and work commitments took priority. However, back in 2005, a friend loaned me a digital SLR for a trip to New York, USA. I was instantly hooked again and bought my own digital SLR on my return to the UK.
I wanted to learn how to use the camera properly so I signed up, and completed, an Open University Digital Photography Course. I haven’t stopped taking pictures since.
I’m not sure if you can judge your photography skills by entering competitions as it’s very subjective. However, it was nice to be shortlisted in the 2022 British Photography Awards with this image. I didn’t win but we did enjoy a night out at The Dorchester Hotel, London where the awards ceremony was held.
I nearly made it full time as a Wedding Photographer (my blog here explains why I didn’t). Since 2015 I’ve concentrated on taking and selling stock images through my stock agency, Alamy. Here’s a link to my Alamy portfolio here.
I’ve recently started blogging as I enjoy writing, but I’d also found myself drifting into a mindset of taking images only for Stock. You end up viewing everything as a potential sale and ignoring anything else. I want to get away from that and get back to taking photographs to record our travels and other things we get up to. Blogging fits the bill perfectly.
Me, my daughter Zoe and Jodie Kidd, in London, at the The Time’s Newspaper – A Great British Summer – Photo Awards
I’ve really enjoyed reading others blogs here on WordPress, and entering some of the photography challenges, so I’ve made my blog available to public view. Hopefully you might find some of my posts interesting and helpful. If I can help with anything and you’d liked to message me, you can contact me via the form below.
Steve Hyde
Please Note: All the images used throughout my blog are Copyrighted to ©Stephen Hyde with All Rights Reserved. If you would like to re-use any images from these pages please contact me using the form below.
All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.
Steve Hyde 