About Richard Olpin

So, introductions. I’m Richard Olpin, just recently reached that age when life is supposed to begin. I’ve lived all my life in a sleepy little town called Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. Yes that’s the same Dursley as in ‘the Dursleys’ from Harry Potter, probably it’s only real claim to fame.

That was then…

Many moons ago I graduated in computer science and found myself working for nearly 13 years as a general dogsbody (ok, I was technically a software engineer but also did everything from writing technical documentation and running training courses through to building the company website) in the rather interesting field of industrial automation (what most people would probably call ‘robots’). That did have some interesting perks, including a fair bit of travel to the four corners of the globe but it wasn’t nearly as exciting as my schoolboy dreams of becoming a ‘computer programmer’ and so a few years ago I had something of an epiphany and following an ‘interesting’ parting of the ways with my former employers I decided that the only path which would really work for me would be to follow my heart and be my own boss. That I did, but it was nothing to do with photography, I decided to persue my lifetime hobby as a martial artist full time and that I did in the form of my Martial Arts school. That’s still going well and I’ve no intention of giving up any time soon but I do now also have a renewed interest in photography which is taking ever increasing amounts of my free time!

Photography

I’ve always enjoyed taking photos, inspired in part by my father Keith who was an excellent photographer, semi professional for years shooting everything from sports events, portraits, weddings and acting as the official publicity photographer for my Mum’s local dramatic society. As a young lad I’d often accompany my dad, assisting at weddings and messing around in the darkroom at home, though as I grew up I got into other things such as music and the martial arts which meant I didn’t do any serious photography for years other than odd snaps with my compact.

Anyway, having given up on the ‘rat race’ I now have rather more time on my hands and as my Martial Arts has become my day job, I really wanted a new hobby so I took the plunge and bought myself a nice digital SLR. The results are the currently a work-in-progress, but it’s been a pretty serious persuit for the past few years now and over the past year or so I’ve been involved in loads of interesting photography projects, mainly concentrating on writing the first of a series of books and running photography training courses.

I’m really enjoying my photography these days. In April 2011 I was awarded a Licentiate distinction from the Royal Photographic Society  (more on that here) and I’m now also looking into some other qualifications including the Royal Society’s ARPS and maybe also the BIPP too.

This site is still very new and very much work-in-progress but my intention is to keep it up to date with what I’m up to photography-wise and to provide some tip and information which others may find interesting, along with a selection of my photos which I hope may be of interest to others.  I’m always happy to network with other photographers and very much enjoy getting out there to share photographic projects etc.  I would encourage you to drop by my forum and get involved in some of the discussions. You might feel inspired to join in with some of our little projects too!