About 4 years ago my wife bought me my first DSLR, a Canon 300D. I generally snapped anything and everything on fully automatic settings in JPEG format, and enjoyed my images as they were straight from camera, with very little editing, mainly because I didnt really understand how to use camera or software properly, although I enjoyed it all the same.
However, a couple of years back I was on holiday in the Highlands, and whilst on a trip out to Armadale in Skye, I bumped into a photographer called Grumpy George, who noticed tha tI liked photography and that I used a Canon camera, so he introduced me to an online forum for Canon users called Canon Fodder Forums.
On my return from holiday, I looked up the site, joined and started posting a few images. The thing I liked about this site was I was able to submit an image, get feedback on it, then go away and learn from the feedback and come back with the improvements made. The members advised me that I should invest in a tripod and switch to AV mode, this helped me to understand what my camera was capable of and how to get higher quality photos.
My next major step forward was buying Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, a fantastic book, which simplified everything for me, and very quickly had me taking images in manual mode, correctly exposed, and selecting correct aperture for subject in front of me. This is a book I regularly recommend to anyone who is trying to get to grips with photography.
Last year, on my 40th Birthday, my lovely, and very generous wife bought me a Canon 5DII and 17-40L lens. This to me is my ultimate combination for landscape photography, I know it will be one I will use for many years to come.
My images all start off in RAW format. I find the flexibility of RAW processing to be amazing, it allows me to stamp my own identity into my photographs, by processing them using the same base settings, before fine tuning them using layers in Adobe CS5.
My influences are wide spread, and include renowned photographers such as Charlie Waite and Colin Prior, but also includes many of the photographers who have helped me to mould my photography to where it is now. Photographers such as Adrian Hall, Alex Scott, Alun Davies continue to inspireand encourage me and whom I owe so much to for all their advice.
I enjoy nothing better than exploring my beautiful country, and capturing the sights I see. Scotlands beauty is what currently drives and inspires me, there is still so much for me to see, and in different light/conditions I think nothing ever looks the same twice.
My favourite images to date have been that of Rannoch Moor (Lochan Na H-achlaise in particular), Eilean Donan Castle by night, and my many images of Loch Duich and the Five Sistsers of Kintail, of which I have a couple of stunning panoramas and several beautiful sunrise shots, one of which has already been published in Scottish Field magazine.
I am currently also getting into event photography and have been whetting my appetite for this with a local, and very happening young band from Dundee called Colour-Coded. After doing a trial shoot for them at a recent rehearsal , they have asked me to do some band shots for their website, promo material and for their up and coming EP release. I also have been asked to help out with a few shots for Piping Live later this year for National Piping Center in Glasgow.
All in all exciting times ahead for my photography. My ultimate, long term aim is to be a working photographer. If you are interested in seeing my full Portfolio of landscape and Event Phototography please visit my site at www.stuartblancephotography.com and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook.
Links:
http://www.stuartblancephotography.com
http://www.facebook.com/mrstuartblance
http://twitter.com/stuartblance
Lovely photos. I have no decided on what type of photographer I am yet. I think I like it all.
Beautiful shots 🙂
Some wonderful landscape images there! Really feeling the second one included!