A Retrospective

With a new website, I thought I would start with a long and blathering look back at the last few years. Don’t panic! I’m hoping my next blog post will be about some adventurous trip I have been on complete with the pictures I took.

For a good portion of the last two months I must admit that I haven’t thought an awful lot about photography. There are big things happening in the world, and a hobby that had once been all-consuming, didn’t really seem that important.

Recently, however, I decided to sit back down and have a look at some of my past photographs and reflect on what has been an enjoyable few years.

When asked how long I have been into photography, I often say that it has only been the last few years but I remember being 7 or 8 years old and loving the plastic camera that I had. As I got a bit older, I enjoyed taking film to be processed at Boots and when I finished university, I was inspired by the Ansel Adams gallery in Yosemite to go and buy a roll of black and white film. The picture to the right is one of those shots. I clearly had no technique, but it was fun.

After that, it was mainly for holiday shots. My first DSLR was because I was going on safari in Africa - the trip of a lifetime, and I wanted to be able to look back on fond memories. My holiday shots started to get a little more serious - I took pictures in RAW and bought some filters. They were still, however, holiday shots. My weekends were mainly spent kayaking, climbing, walking or more often than not, working.

I began to look at photography books. My favourite was the Landscape Photographer of the Year collections. I think it was the diverse range of photography that interested me. Everyone clearly had their own unique perspectives and artistic representation of a scene. One of the many photographers who inspired me was Mark Littlejohn. He always seemed to be able to create drama in an image.

I began to visit some of the more popular locations: the lone tree at Llanberis, the Peak District and Penmon Point. I have always loved the outdoors, and now I was learning to capture it.

My friends and wife kept suggesting I enter competitions, but I always insisted that my images were not good enough, but after some persuasion I entered Landscape Photographer of the Year myself - it would be a dream to be included amongst some of the very talented people I had seen included.

Much to my surprise, I had an image included. It was a shot of Fairy Glen, and although it may not have been the most technical shot, it was a proud moment for me and inspired me to continue. The shot even made it onto the front cover of the Times Literary Supplement.

From that point on, I started going out almost every weekend. No longer would I turn up on location at midday - I would be there before sunrise: setting off to the Peak District at 4am. I was mad, but enjoying it.

I joined Twitter and suddenly realised that some of the photographers that were inspiring me were suddenly reachable -people like Neil Burnell and Rachael Talibart even put positive comments on my photos. I discovered a large group of photographers and could literally be inspired and motivated each day. There were even Twitter competitions I could take part in: Wex Mondays, FSPrintMonday and the community-driven Sharemondays. Although many people dislike the competitive element of photography, I enjoyed the fact that these weekly competitions gave me a push to go out and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors even more.

There were other competitions I entered and I have been lucky with some of the prizes. I won a £250 cheque, a spotting scope, a fantastic Sigma lens worth over £1000 and even a Canon 5D Mark IV - although I actually received a monetary prize instead and bought myself a new lens and tripod. It’s been a privilege to have been commended in a number of competitions as well as Landscape Photographer of the Year. I was a finalist in Weather Photographer of the Year, commended in Bird Photographer of the Year, Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year, runner up in the Small World Category of Outdoor Photographer of the Year and even had a trip to London in my tux as runner up in the British Photography Awards.

I have been extremely fortunate to have the most patient and supportive wife one could ask for. She has been out with me on most of my photography jaunts and has many, many times put up with, “Just one more shot.” Including one last shot in the freezing cold in Glencoe that took 45 minutes. I really am grateful to have her in my life.

As fun as the competitions were, the part I was really enjoying was the photographic community. I also had made a conscious decision that as a photographer, I needed to know about printing. I thus decided to join a group. Fortunately, Tamworth Photographic met just around the corner. I hadn’t joined a club since I was a child, and was a little nervous about joining - especially since I had seen some beautiful photographs on their website. I knew that there were print competitions and I had never printed any of my images. I knew that it was going to be a steep learning curve. I got in contact and went to my first meeting. I just happened to have arrived on a print competition night. I was in awe of the beautiful prints on offer and proceeded to try and read everything I could about printing. I had recently bought a printer, but it was quickly joined by a mount cutter and I started selecting papers carefully, eventually deciding that some of the Fotospeed papers were my favourite. The club were welcoming and gave me more ideas. Pete - the Chairman - was very good in sharing some of his secrets and even showed me how to mount an image properly.

I naturally thought I would have to start off in the beginner classification and work my way up (well - I was brand new to printing and had only properly been taking photos for two years), but they suggested I have a look at the Advanced category. I was terrified of what the judges would make of my efforts, but glad of the motivation. In my first competition (projected images) I came second and much to my surprise, the judge didn’t tear my image apart as I suspected he would. I learnt lots - making sure that there were no blown out areas and no distracting elements. I tried to make sure that lighter areas didn’t drag the eye away from the subject too much and all the while I kept practising my printing - sheet after sheet. I haven’t even been at the club two years and already there are 60 mounted prints on my shelf and many many more that didn't make the cut. In my first print competition I came first in the monochrome section and second in the colour. I was delighted and embarrassed, but it was more the learning and inspiration that I was taking from it. The competitions were merely a push to go out and do things whether it be take the photographs or practise printing them out.

And so this takes me to now. For two years, I have been out constantly to many parts of the UK. I have camped up mountains, waded through winter streams and driven through the early morning darkness to be on location, but the Coronavirus pandemic has just stopped me in my tracks. It certainly has made me appreciate the landscape I am surrounded by, despite the lack of sea and mountains. But more importantly, it has given me time to reflect on an enjoyable hobby that I will hopefully enjoy for many years to come…