This is a photo from my archive, taken back in 2005. How time flies! I can still remember the day I made this photograph and it certainly does not seem like it was more than a decade ago.

This is one of the reasons that I love photography. When we look at photos we have taken, or feature in, we are often transported right back to that moment and quickly start to recall other details too. Photos can be so evocative.

I’ve always been fond of this photo. It represented an important turning point for me in terms of photography. I had bought a Nikon D70 the year before and using a digital SLR was a revelation for me. It suddenly opened up a whole world of possibilities without worrying about the cost of film and processing. I began to experiment a lot more than I had with my film SLR. The first year with the camera was a lot of fun but involved me mostly walking around trying to find interesting things to photograph with my kit lens.

The year after, I decided to invest in a couple of prime lenses; one was a 50mm lens and the other was a macro lens. I soon realised these new lenses offered great potential for more creative approaches to photography.

I think this was probably also the first image that I was really proud of. I know images of flowers are ten-a-penny online, and I know there are many superb images of flowers out there. So, I wasn’t proud of the photo because I believed it was particularly special compared to others. I was proud because it was the first time I felt that I took control of the image: the position of the flower; the lighting, the background. It felt as though I was making a photograph, rather than taking one, which seemed an important distinction.

Eleven years on, while I can see the image could be technically better, my fondness for it hasn’t diminished. I hope you like it too.