This picture is on my wall. I look at it every day and it got me thinking about photography. And which of my pictures gives me the most satisfaction.

This is the one that gets top spot. 

Why?

Well firstly it’s of my mum. Like me; she doesn’t feel comfortable in front of the camera. She looks relaxed. And I think technically it’s good. I’d seen a lot of studio shoots with a white background. I thought they looked dated. So I used black, and was careful not to allow the light to spill onto it.  For this shot I just had a beauty dish with a grid to control the spread. 

Taken during a studio session with my sister and family. I’d been steadily improving over a wide range of subjects. 

Taking pictures started when my wife bought be a point and shoot digital camera. This lead to more sophisticated versions. The first subject was motorsport, then cycling became the focus. For a while I hired models to gain some experience of portraiture. It meant I could concentrate on everything else except motivating the subject. I got more at ease and moved to normal people. I felt confident of success. 

Another from that session that I’m proud of is the group shot.

I was looking for natural expressions. So I asked everyone to not look at me or the camera. 

The instructions were to wait for me to say smile. Then look towards me. I took the first shot then said the magic word. I think it worked

almost perfectly. They all laughed at my surprise.

I even produced two wedding sets; hats off to full time photographers. They were very stressful, I haven’t done anymore. 

Landscapes are a genre I’ve struggled with. I tend to need a focus point. Without that I have trouble with composition. Gradually this hobby tapered and two years ago I sold most of my equipment. It was loosing value quickly as the technology progressed. The money went into a new bicycle. 

I do now own a second hand film camera and without the worry of massive depreciation I’ve relaxed back into this pastime. 

To look at more of my work please click here to read my old posts.