On Saturday 24th November 2018 at the Irish Photographic Federation Distinctions Sitting held at the Institute of Technology, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, I was awarded my Associateship in Photography by the board of assessors all of whom were "Fellows" of the IPF. I presented a Panel of fifteen images combining my two great loves of Macro and Flowers. What follows is the Statement that went with the Panel to give an understanding of my thinking.

STATEMENT
I see in this panel a representation of my own personality, sometimes it is ordered and well defined, other times it is abstract, chaotic and rebellious, but at all times I hope warm and welcoming.
When I am in a flower garden, inevitably I will see something in a particular flower, a colour, a line, a shape, the point or curve of a petal, the intricate detail of the stamens or the entwining of the Anthers and my imagination draws me in, and as I can’t paint or draw, I try to capture with my camera what I see in my minds eye. To do that I use Macro settings, very shallow depth of field which allows me to emphasise the line, the curve, the shape and the blur that appealed to me in the first place. Sometimes it’s the inside of the flower that catches my eye and at other times its the petals. The beauty of macro opens my eyes to the beauty of something we don’t pay attention to… I love the little details, this whole new way of seeing in the world of the small. Photographing flowers in this way is for me Sunshine, Food and Medicine for my Soul.