Peter Matcham carries a camera with him at all times because, like all savvy photographers, he knows that that special, "in the moment" shot could happen at any second, and disappear just as quickly, so he needs to be ready.

Just how ready can be seen when his first solo exhibition, 'In a Different Light', opens in the Bermuda Society of Arts Onions Gallery at City Hall this evening.

While Mr. Matcham has been snapping away for years, it is the images he has captured in the last nine months or so which viewers of this exhibition will enjoy.

As the creative director, designer and photographer for the local advertising and design agency, Matcham and Matcham, for more than 20 years, Peter Matcham is naturally meticulous about the quality of his work, so it was not until recently that he felt he had finally assembled a collection of images "worthy" of inclusion to hold a solo show.

"There are a lot of great Bermudian photographers out there who have already done Bermuda really well, so it is quite daunting to do a 'Bermuda' photographic show that you feel is going to be fresh, and that people can relate to, or find interesting," he says.

Nonetheless, Mr. Matcham feels he has assembled a broad enough range of subject matter to appeal to all tastes, and while he admits to being excited and "a bit nervous" about his first solo show, he is also buoyed by the positive feedback he has received from those who have already seen his work.

Regarding the title of his exhibition, he explains: "What I am trying to do is recreate the Bermuda of our not-so-distant past in these pictures. It wasn't something that I did consciously, but there are very few people or objects that can date the images. It is really the Bermuda I wish we still had in many ways. I just hear tree frogs, or the sounds of the shore, or of children playing at the water's edge — you know, nice and peaceful, like it used to be. All of the 'outside' sounds and intrusions melt away when I look at many of my pictures."

Small wonder, then, that Mr. Matcham's favourite subjects are nature and the environment, with Hungry Bay a favourite landscape location, being right on his doorstep.

"It is one of those few places where you get that really romantic, old Bermuda feel — great palm trees, boats, wildlife, beach, tide pools and mangroves, all in one place," he says. "I especially like the moonlit, long time exposure shots from there on a series of different nights. It is interesting to see how the slightest change in weather conditions and lighting alters the mood of the image. With some of the night images it can take a second to realise that you are looking at a night shot. You think it's a day shot, but then you see stars in the sky."

Longtails are another favourite subject, and the exhibition will include some of the many images he has shot over the years.

"There is one I really like, of a mother whose three-week-old chick has just popped its head out from under her wing to see what is happening at the mouth of the nest."

Bermudian architecture also provides "an endless source of wonderful material" for this photographer.

In all, there will be 65 images in the exhibition, all of them in colour.