My Background

I had always wanted to be a television cameraman. Even when I was in short trousers, I used to make TV cameras out of cardboard boxes.

My parents took to me to see a live lunchtime show at STV when I was about 10 and I was hooked. Watching those cameras move silently around the studio floor from one scene to the next, I wanted that job. So after leaving school, I went to work in a photographic outlet in Glasgow selling cameras. This place also had a Film Hire Library(this is long before video, remember) and has I had an aversion to selling things, I quickly moved away from the shop front into running the Film Library. This was a good move, because a few years later at the tender age of 20, I secured a job in Scottish Television working in….….the Film Library.

It did not happen overnight, but in 1979 two things happened. I finally was made a trainee camera operator…. and the whole ITV Network went on strike the same week. So I had to wait a few extra months before finally moving into my dream job in the camera department at STV.

I knew this was the only job I had ever wanted to do and I loved those years at Scottish. Drama, L.E., Live OBs, Soap. I worked on every type of programme. It was a good grounding.

Over the years, since leaving STV in 1987, I have always challenged myself and moved into other areas like Lighting Cameraman and Directing. These jobs bring their own rewards, but I always enjoy the feeling of getting behind a camera and creating images seen by millions. It is an exciting and challenging industry to work in and I enjoy every minute of it.

Credits including….

River City BBC Scotland
T In The Park 1998 -2008 BBC Scotland
World Cup football 2002 2006 HBS
Champions League Sky ITV
Bon Voyage Stray Cat Motion Pictures
Taggart STV
Golf ESPN/NBC
Bank of Scotland Corporates
Sky Sports football 1994 to present day
Live 8 BBC
Question Time BBC

And more…..