Hello, I am a self-taught amateur photographer. I started taking photos in my early years, the only thing I knew that beside drawing, photography was the subject I was interested in. I could only afford very cheap cameras back this time. I moved to Canada in 2006 and bought my first professional camera. I could see the difference in the quality of the photos straight away. I only used it mainly for travel photography in automatic mode. A few years went by without pressing the shutter button, I just didn't feel for it. I bought a small compact camera for my travels and used that for many years. I sold all my old gear and invested in a professional camera this year. I learnt how to shot in manual mode and started on my macro journey. I decided to submit photos for competitions this year and my photo became the Grand Winner in the category 'drone/above/below' at B&W awards and one of my other images in IMACRES Awards 2024 was awarded 'Honourable mention in the category Wildlife and Animals'. Two of my other photos were front page covers on the local 'Community Ad' magazine. One of my photo received 'Highly Recommended' mention at Wild Photo Awards. I continue to learn and develop my photography and editing skills.