Dave Lockwood

I’m Dave and I live in the UK, well southern England near to London. I’m lucky enough to live not far from Biggin Hill and hear the roar of merlin powered Spitfire’s daily.

I started to take photography seriously after my 16th Birthday, when I received a basic Praktica MTL-5 kit as a present. That old clunky camera taught me a fair bit and I was able to upgrade to my first Nikon (an F-301) a few years later with some Tamron lenses. I’d often go to the local Airfield, or an airshow armed with rolls of Fujifilm, hoping for at least one shot to be in focus and look ok! How times have changed with Digital equipment, it’s so much better.

My passion is military jets, well anything in military markings – I’m not a huge civil aviation fan but I’m getting to appreciate them better, especially after losing so many variants from the skies recently. We’re lucky in the UK that we have such a great Warbird scene and I’m lucky enough to have seen and photographed many different types.

In the 90’s I got married and had kids so missed all the fun that was had in Europe with the old Eastern Bloc aircraft, I never got to see a Nighthawk sadly and I never made it to the Star Wars canyon. Recently I’ve been able to travel a fair bit more. I love to visit the States and marvel at the stuff that’s so accessible.

I’ve been using digital SLRs for just over 10 years, learning and experimenting. I’m not brilliant, but I think I’m getting better.

My kit is Nikon, I’ve just gone mirrorless as well with a Z6 and a Z6ii! It’s the future apparently. My main “go to” lens is the Sigma 60-600 Sport, which is an absolute beast of a lens but is so heavy! I still pack a D500 in the bag, just in case.

I’ve been part of the BYS crew for just over a year and love the chats and joking that goes on amongst us all. It’s an absolute privilege to be the only Brit on the crew and highlight to the world what goes on here in the UK.