Other Interests Page

binaryleigh FOR BLOG

Hi and thanks for stopping by,

We live in a digital age and, one-by-one, over the years, my interests have all gone digital. Ever since I bought my first computer many years ago I’ve been absorbed in discovering new ways in which they further and promote my interests in Photography/graphics, Amateur Radio and Music. My computer has every-increasingly become my “nerve center” for all my hobbies and interests.

I’ve been a licensed UK Amateur Radio operator since 1988. I am very limited on antennas in my QTH and use a N9TAX 2/70cm dual band slim jim/j-pole indoor antenna fed from an Icom CS-2730 2M/70cm dual band transceiver. I also occasionally operate handheld mobile on 2M, 6M or 70cm using my Yaesu VX-3 or VX-7 handheld radios and I sometimes frequent the M0HOLY-L HUBnet Echolink node.

I have a DMR Tytera MD-380 rig and DVMega+Bluestack hotspot plus BlueDV software. I operate an Inrico TM-7 network radio on Teamspeak, Zello and Echolink and have it connected to the PC via USB and I’m using an app named Vysor which allows me to remote control the TM-7 and provides a much larger and easier to read screen display.

QRZ DRUMS GREEN

Last but by no means least, another of my long term passions is playing the drums. Music has played a huge part of my life. I got my first drum kit in my teens and played with several local bands.

A while back I got a very basic digital kit and an Alesis PERCPAD which I use with a Midiman MIDI interface triggering EZ-Drummer 2 software and for recording Reaper digital audio workstation software, Virtual Audio Cable, Voice Meeter Banana Virtual Audio Mixer, ASIO4ALL low latency codec, LoopBe1 virtual midi port plus eDrum midi mapper (pad re-mapping) software.

Nowadays I just play for relaxation, to escape life’s stresses, to “keep my hand in” and occasionally I’m asked to record a drum track for some of my musician friends.

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Built in the fifties, original and unrestored with some parts still in working order and living in London UK I am a self-taught photographer and digital artist. My late mother was very artistic and my father’s very musical so it’s perhaps no surprise that my interest has always been in the arts and music.I think that creating a piece of art is like experimental cooking, add a pinch of this, a dash of that, until one is satisfied with the result. I don’t think that I have a particular “style”. I love experimentation and like to switch subjects and techniques and every work is different in its way.

If I have any style at all it is that I have a fascination with producing “painterly” works. Landscapes and portraits are probably my favourite subjects and I love to travel whenever I get the opportunity to do so. I am a “one man band”, apart from my artwork I design and manage all my own marketing and promotional materials for my website, blogs and social media pages. 2015 was a very tough year trying to get established and promote my art and I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. I am extremely tenacious and passionate about my art and I won’t be beaten so I’m looking forward optimistically to whatever challenges the future has in store.

I really like monochrome, it was mostly all I could afford back in my film days as it was cheaper to buy and process and I grew up with black and white television and newspapers so it didn’t seem strange to me at all. A friend said to me once that he couldn’t understand why anyone would work in black and white well here’s my take on it. It removes a layer of information (colour) and I think it concentrates the eye on other aspects such as subject, geometry, perspective and composition.

I think the thing that I’ve learned the most is that my work doesn’t really fit easily in any ready made pigeon holes. If I describe myself as an artist then a lot of people’s expectations are that I carry brushes and and an easel around with me on my travels. If I describe my work as Fine Art Photography then people expect pure unadulterated photography. I guess I like to blur these preconceived lines and do whatever takes my fancy in whatever style that I wish. Maybe my work falls between two stools so as to speak but it’s what drives me on

Commission a work from me or purchase one of my works and you are receiving something different, something eye-catching and unique.

Hope you enjoy my work,

Kind regards

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