Throughout the 1980’s my hobby photography grew, alongside my career as a Quantity Surveyor; the ebb and flow of life mirroring the tidal flow of the Usk, alongside which I lived for a time. The decade began with a new job offering great potential for career development (although maybe a different career than the obvious one at the time), I bought my first house, met a partner who would change the course of my life, and indulged my hobby, which was a window on the wider world for me. Through contacts at work I was encouraged to attend some local orienteering events they were developing; they hoped for photographic coverage for their fledgeling group in the national magazine, The Orienteer. The response was enthusiastic and I was soon supplying the magazine with regular coverage in the region, and although the financial rewards weren’t great they paid something towards my material and travel costs and gave invaluable experience. With growing confidence I dropped in on or was invited to other regional events (archery, motocross, F3 motor racing) and had a growing collection of press cuttings from local and national publications. I also began providing the write-up for motocross – my morning would be spent getting photos at the event, I’d leave early afternoon to process the (black and white) films and select likely shots from the contact sheets. The club chairman would phone through results at the close of the event with a summary of events for me to write up and put together a package of photos and copy for delivery to two local newspapers and their national paper the following day. I learned a lot (and made mistakes) about the nuts and bolts of freelancing and gained a lot of confidence which would be invaluable in later years.