Here is my Alcholics Anonymous moment: I’m a Cornishman and I was born in Redruth!
I spent my early childhood living on a farm at Awbridge, near Trysull in Staffordshire where our front garden was a lock on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, which may perhaps explain my passion for dragonflies! Here I am casting my eye over an early insect find in the palm of my hand, between the farm & our cottage circa 1966 with the canal in the background. Obviously I'd put the cardboard box lid down to attract Grass Snakes, and of course, if it was summer I'd be closer to the canal looking for dragons!
For thirty years of my life I lived along the Red River Valley at Brea, near Camborne, another hot bed of dragonfly activity, so from that you might be able to detect a pattern emerging!
In 1980 I bought my first SLR, a Praktica MTL5 and started to take photos of literally anything and everything, including dragons & damsels, and it was at this stage that I wanted to identify the species that I was photographing. To that end I bought a copy of the Worcestershire Nature Conservation Trust’s Information Leaflet No.3 Dragonflies by R.Kemp which didn’t have any plates or photographs but did include a reproduction of Cynthia Longfield’s 1937 key to British dragonflies. So I learnt my ID skills the hard way!
In 1983 I became one of the first members of the fledgling British Dragonfly Society, and in 1987 I became the county recorder for dragonflies. At this stage I was taking photographs as a record of what I’d seen, and in the early 90’s I traded up to a second hand Canon AV1 which was later joined by an AE1. One or other of them was frequently being repaired for water damage as a result of having taken an unexpected bath at various pools on the Lizard peninsula where I spent most 
of my waking hours at the time.
At the end of 2000 my family and I moved to the little village of Godolphin Cross, near Helston, a great place for walking with hills, woods & pools on the doorstep.
In the spring of 2006, after a long period of “if & aming” I finally decided I could justify buying a brand new digital camera, and on a limited budget went for the Canon 350D.
However it wasn’t until July 2007, when I visited an exhibition at Townshend by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group, that photography really “took off” as a serious interest for me.
I left the exhibition truly inspired by what I had seen and the fact that the 18 x 10” prints on display cost just 70p via the internet company DSCL! They looked fantastic and I quickly found that my own images benefited from the high quality standard of printing.
My family and I have fallen in love with the Iberian peninsula over the last 15 years or so and in 2008 stayed in the Sierra Grazalema with Clive & Sue of Natural Images. It was through the never ending enthusiasm of Clive that I was prompted to start this website in October 2008 as a vehicle for sharing some of my photographs and wildlife adventures with a wider audience.
During the wet summer of 2009 I spent as much time as I could travelling around the county photographing as many insects as possible for my first book on the Insects of Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly which should be published in Summer 2010. Having read through the proofs I'm pleased to say that it will be going to the printers very shortly. For further details visit http://www.alisonhodge.co.uk/ForthcomingShowDetails.asp?id=140
In October 2009 I was fortunate in having the opportunity of joining respected wildlife photographer David Chapman for my first major exhibition at Geevor Tin Mine's Hard Rock Gallery entitled "Wildlife on the Edge." The exhibition is a celebration, through photographs, of the diverse wildlife that clings to the industrial landscape of this iconic mine perched on the cliff tops of West Penwith. The exhibition has been so popular that it will now run for a whole year until September 2010.
I hope you find something of interest on these pages.
All photographs on this site were taken by Steve Jones unless otherwise credited & are the copyright of Steve Jones.
My current camera gear:
Canon 350D
Canon 400D
Canon 40D
Tamron SP AF 90mm f2.8 Di Macro
Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di Macro
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 (the kit lens that came with the 350D, not as bad as it sounds!)
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM
Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a Manfrotto 488RC2 ballhead
Manfrotto 676B monopod with a Manfrotto 234RC tilthead
Top quality Fuji Professional prints can be ordered from DSCL at: http://www.dscolourlabs.co.uk/index.cfm
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