Updated About Me page
April 19, 2008
I’ve almost completely re-written the About Me page. Copy of it can be found below but will normally be located here:
My name is Kol Tregaskes and I’m 30something guy from the UK. I’m normally a quietsome sole who keeps himself to himself and generally get on with everybody I meet (and have met a wide variety of people along the way). I’m very friendly, helpful and reliable and if I start something then I do it an do it well. I currently looking after my poorly mother, her house and my lively dog, Kaz in Kent while also trying to pursue my huge interest in photography, looking for jobs and hunting for ways to make money to pay the bills. I currently contract for the BBC and my background is more IT-related then art/photography. The details…
Home-life
At the moment live in Kent, in a small town called Edenbridge. It’s my second stint here, first was when I was made redundant and moved out of my Croydon house, the second was when my contract job came to an end and I decided to move back to my parents home to help my Mum out with looking after my very poorly Dad. Sadly my Dad died in January 2008 and now my Mum and I have been left with many things to do and, as always, our lively dog, Kaz. As things stand it’s very likely the house would have to be sold but we’re not sure exactly what will happen yet. In between my two stints I lived in West Berkshire for 3 years. First in a couple of 2 small houses in Newbury then last in a town called Thatcham, just down the road. Previous to all this I lived in Croydon in the Surrey/South London area, where I was born and breed (for over 20 years).
To me Croydon is a typical London suburb, very closely linked to London. I was much happier in West Berkshire which was more rural but at the same time still had some modern touches. Edenbridge is even more rural and I’m only minutes away from big fields and long countryside walks. It’s great for landscape and nature photography but not quite got that town/city feel that I still like. Saying that it can take just 50 minutes direct on the train to London. But I feel my potential home will be closer to the city and one day hope to move to somewhere like Teddington in the Middlesex area, which gives me great access to London but also very easy access to scenic places like Richmond Park. It’s also not too hard to get out of Greater London and to the rest of the country from there.
Work-life
My latest adventure was in West Berkshire while I worked as a contractor on various Vodafone projects. I was actually only supposed to be there for 2/3 weeks but the job just went on and on and I was there for a total of 4 years! I worked as a Systems Integrator for a large engineering company called Bechtel (on a Vodafone railway project) then as a Technical/Project Co-ordinator for Vodafone proper on several projects including one to implement broadband speeds onto Vodafone’s network (so you can now browse the Internet on your Vodafone mobiles much faster thanks to us :-))
I used to work in the computer games industry. My first ever job was as a games tester. It was brilliant, someone paying me to play, er, test games all day. I learnt a lot there, not just about testing but also about computer hardware and customer support. I soon moved into the IT side of things (so I’m a little bit of a techie/nerdy-type). 7-8 years I spent in games; I worked for publishers, Warner Interactive, GT Interactive, Infogrames and then the “godfathers of gaming”, developers, The Bitmap Brothers. I was with them for 3 years as their webmaster (I made their web site by the way) and administration manager before being made redundant. During my time in the games industry I met so many people from various countries and great characters and creative individuals. It was a brilliant, a wonderful experience.
But being made redundant twice in 3 years was a wake up call and left me with no confidence that a job is permanent. After being a contractor for 4 years I kinda like it. OK money at first glance is a lot better but there are many disadvantages, such as higher risk, large tax bills and more responsibility but that doesn’t faze me now and I hope I can contract for a long as possible. I’m glad that I’ve experienced the world outside games. I can’t really say what it’s like now as I’m sure it’s changed a lot but at the time it was a big culture shock when I started at Bechtel as things were perhaps more professionally done and more serious. Again, I learnt a lot with Bechtel and Vodafone and has put me in good stead for future work.
I now start a new adventure for the BBC. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be up to but it all kicks off this Monday (21st April). It’s a data entry/admin role (what I did when I started at Bechtel) so perhaps a little step back. But I’ve been out of work for over 6 months and these things are to be expected. Besides, something else might crop up during my 5 months at the BBC and I’m not too fussed anyway. What it also means is money in the bank and my return to London after a 6 year break. I’m really looking forward to it!
Interests
I guess I have quite a few interests. Of course my main interest is photography (see below) but I also love:
Music:
My interest covers many genres; dance, trance, trip-hop/downtempo, indie and rock. My only genres I generally don’t like are country, opera (not including classical) and blues/jazz. I don’t tend to centre on particular artists or bands, I find it very rare that I like a whole album or the majority of songs from one particular place. I’m always searching and listening to new music. But for a list of my top 12 bands and a selection of the rest of my favourites head over to my iLike page here (the first 12 are actually in order, Radiohead being my favourite band, beyond that it’s all a bit random). Also, if you are interested you can keep up to date on what I’m listening to on my last.fm page here.
Movies:
I rarely go to the cinema now, too expensive, but have an annual subscription to the DVD rental site, Lovefilm. So I get to watch 3 or more movies a week. I like plenty of genres, horror, science-fiction, action, thriller and comedy and especially like movies with a twist or a great ending. I generally hate bad acting or a poor storyline but that occasionally is ignored for some spectacular special affects movies. For a list of my favourite movies check my Flixster page here.
TV:
OK not a big interest as most of it is trash nowadays but I though I’d list what type of things I do watch on the box. I mainly watch documentaries. It doesn’t really matter what, so long as it’s not too dumbed down. I also watch the odd comedy show like Have I Got News for You and dramas like Waking the Dead and Messiah. I don’t watch any reality TV apart from the Apprentice, which is great and extremely well created. I also watch boring things like Newsnight and Question Time, oh and any England, Liverpool or rugby matches that are lucky to be shown on terrestrial TV.
Sport:
My favourite sports are rugby, football (I’ve been a supporter of Liverpool FC since I was 4 years old), tennis (I hope to get to Wimbledon every year), motorsport (Formula one but mainly rally car which I would love to see a lot more of). In the past I was good at athletics and ran for my school in a county championship. But was a pretty fit then and also cycled a lot and played football every weekend. In the last few years I’ve started cycling again (mainly to get around and get to work) but I don’t do enough exercise but want to combine cycling with photography in some way. I can be tempted to play the odd snooker or pool game and I guess if you pushed me I could play squash but have done neither for a looong time.
Computing:
I’ve used a computer in some form since I was little and now that computers are everywhere there isn’t a way to get away from them. I’m always finding new software to try and use and I’ve been involved in technical support and PC building at work.
Computer games:
Since I’ve worked in the games industry it probably goes without saying I like games. But saying that I’ve not played a game in any shape or form for several years and don’t have and don’t plan to have any of the new consoles. I find that you could lose so much time with games, time I don’t really have now. I still keep one eye on things though and have many friends still working in the industry.
Web development:
Perhaps it’s evident but I’ve created this site myself (well with the help from services on the web and friends). I do enjoy it though and spent a long time producing and editing sites for work. I’m no expert, don’t really know much about HTML, but pick things up very easily and generally work it out in the end.
The Internet:
Well of course; there is so much on the net! I’m always browsing for new sites and keeping up to date with news. Always downloading and trying out new software and ways to make things more efficient and easier. It’s a great resource and a lot people take it for granted now. There is a lot of articles and tutorials to be had on the Internet and it’s constantly evolving.
Art:
I have been known to draw in my time. Well I was a very keen artist when I was young. I drew all the time during my school years. But after school I stopped. I’m not sure why, though I feel it was something to do with feeling I had reached my best and finding it wasn’t that good. I can happily draw with a pencil, the problem is I’m pretty awful with every other media and so decided against art for college. Instead I went for a more technical drawing course but it turned out to be not at all what I was expecting. I failed this course and have never drawn since. But I feel it will come back and plan to combine my pencil drawing skills with my potential photography skills. As with photography I would like to take a course so it’s just a matter of time (and money). In both I feel I need to be learn the techniques better than I was ever taught at school. As an observer I of course browse photography but I’m also interested in digital/computer art and used to browsing CG sites every day. Luckily I have a few friends from the computer games industry who are great artists.
Comics:
This relates to my art interest. Sure I read them if I can get my hands on any but it’s the artwork that interests me the most. I mainly read big-name US comics (which are not so easy to get hold of in the UK unfortunately). I think if I had any spare money it would be spent on buying comics. As I don’t have any spare cash and don’t think I will for a few years comics are firmly sitting on the backseat for the moment.
Science-fiction:
Love it, this and futurism or whatever you want to call it. I love reading it, I used to love drawing it and I love watching it (TV shows and movies). I guess I wish I could live in some of these worlds or be able to experience the future but, of course, this is not possible and I’m content with the fiction. 
Reading:
Perhaps not as interested in reading as I was, it’s still an interest nevertheless. As mentioned above I tend to read science-fiction but I guess I’d mention I read newspapers, science magazines and of course anything relating to my interests (mainly photography). I do have a dream I will be writer when I’m old and wrinkly but I haven’t the first clue about writing so doubt it will happen.
Sci-tech:
I really like science and technology. I used to subscribe to a science magazine and it become my favourite mag. Science documentaries are perhaps one of only a few reasons why I still watch TV. And there is tonnes of it on the net.
Space (Exploration):
Did I dream of being an astronaut? No, not really. But I’ve always been interested in space - I read lots of books when I was young and always watch documentaries on the TV.
Dogs:
Well Golden Retrievers definitely. I love my dog, Kaz and my previous dog, Max. They are just fantastic! I will miss it when I won’t be able to take Kaz out every day when I’m back in work. I’m sure I’ll make up for it over weekends though. I do dream of being a breeder at some point. It’s expensive initially and time-consuming but it looks very enjoyable and I always signed up to be a dog boarder this year.
Walking:
I’m a keen walker (well I don’t have and don’t want a car), but I’m no rambler. I’ve walked plenty round Edenbridge and can walk for hours and hours. It’s great being outside and you can capture some good photos along the way.
Cycling:
I used to cycle to work every day when I lived in West Berkshire. While I was living in Thatcham I could cycle along the canal from my house all the way to the Newbury high street - it was great! I’m a beginner but would love to go out trekking in the future.
Social media:
At the bottom for a reason, I’m putting this down to it being a fad. I started digging and stumbling only recently but I’m kind of hooked. I mainly use it for finding interesting articles (e.g. for photography) but I get to see some fun sites and pics along the way. Including all my interests above I also look out for world news stories, big events, fun/viral sites and pictures, and any kind of list or graph (yeah a strange one I know). I have to say that I’ve tried out a load of other sites and updated all my profiles recently but I don’t really use them as they are very time-consuming, But where can you find me, well check any or all my main pages below (full list is here):
Photography
Oh yeah I’m interested in photography too.
I don’t think I need to go into too much detail as the pages here and posts on my blog have explained it but I’ve had a camera for eons. I decided to upgrade from my compact in August 2006 when I got my first digital SLR camera. I’ve not looked back since and my interest ahs grown and grown. I upgraded again to a semi-pro camera in December 2007 and are slowly making the jump from happy snappy. I’m always looking on the net for articles and tutorials to read and got tons to learn. I subscribe to several photography/Photshop magazines and get out and photograph as much as I can. I have no particular main genre(s) so will try anything at the moment. But I would like to go professional one day and hope this site demonstrates what I’ve done so far. I nearly got a temporary job photographing for the Edenbridge Town website but alas nothing really materialised. I would like to try being a photographer’s assistant, I think that would be a good step to take first.
For more information check the web site as I’ve added bags of info.
1. Up on the farm (no border), 2. Winter leaves, 3. A morning walk in Kent (no border), 4. Rural scrawl, 5. Into the light, 6. Fence post, 7. Web strings on branch, 8. Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2007 (Brandon’s Painting Tool), 9. City Hall (revisited), 10. Kaz at sunrise revisited, 11. Le Tour de France London Urban Acid, 12. Wimbledon 2007, 13. New Forest donkeys
.kol tregaskes.photography site: squashyfrog.com
.photography blog: blog.squashyfrog.com
.flickr photostream: flickr.com/photos/koltregaskes
.deviantart gallery: koltregaskes.deviantart.com
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