Bill Forsyth
Moogerah photographer, Bill Forsyth, bought his first SLR camera in 1979 in Windsor (UK) for 30 pounds secondhand. (A lot of money for a traveller.) It was a Pentax manual 35mm.
With camera in hand, Bill travelled overland from London to Calcutta recording the people, landscapes and highlights, honing the art of reading light to get the best images, good depth of field and focus with a manual camera. The Pentax was stolen in Goa, India, with frames of a total eclipse on the film inside. Some time elasped before a good camera was once again a prized possession.
This Olympus OM2 died several years ago, after surviving trips to Europe, Nepal, a Simpson Desert crossing and numerous off-the-beaten-track journeys. Even though it had "auto", Bill continued to shoot in manual, flicking sometimes to auto to check exposures.
In recent years, Bill "weakened and went digital". A Nikon is now his weapon of choice. "I still shoot in manual, but now I can review...ah, technology."
Bill, who lives on a hill overlooking Lake Moogerah, Mt Greville and the Great Dividing Range, finds inspiration in the local landscape, its ever-changing weather patterns and the different colours and moods the weather lends to these iconic Fassifern landmarks.