I caught the photo bug at 9, but soon outgrew the little camera I was given for Christmas. I saved my pocket money for the next year to buy an old Practika SLR (from the wonderful and sadly closed Peter Martin Photographic in Lisburn).
Seeing Simon King on telly and living in the country, many pictures of sunsets and “find the little bird among the branches” followed.
My composition was always quite good but my technical understanding improved through my teens, and my gear progressed to an automatic Nikon F60 with 2 zooms. Slide film was discovered, as was Jim Brandenburg and his “Chased by the Light” project: 1 photo a day for 90 days, by a National Geographic pro used to shooting hundreds of rolls on assignment. The range of subjects and the overall quality of the series has been my biggest photographic inspiration.
Always preferring natural light, and growing weary of the infinite compositions offered by zooms, I took note of another Nat. Geo. photographer: Sam Abell. Abell never used flash and employed only 2 prime lenses. Soon after, I found myself with an old FM2n and a handful of primes. It felt like home: I haven’t looked back since. I tried also using a D300 over the past few years. It is fantastic but my heart is not in it. (for sale soon!)
A lot of contemporary images seem too bright to me. Old oil paintings hold more intrigue: dark, with the image melting out of the shadows. My D300 was usually set -0.7 stops as this lit up the colours, but its dynamic range was huge and I always had to clip the levels. Revealing everything is never as much fun – it’s our art to edit the EM spectrum (although, cropping and clipping are all I am bothered with in post).
A favourite challenge is hand holding super-slow shutter speeds. Panning a 400mm at 1/60th is pretty much saying goodbye to perfection, but it is a very evocative way to express a dynamic subject. Allowing the viewer to complete their own story from your photograph, from the bits that are unresolved by lens and dye (or pixel), brings a deeper engagement.
I approach photography as I try to most things in life – with awareness; of what is possible and what I want to achieve. If the two don’t agree, I won’t press the shutter. We all too often sacrifice experience to get our shot: The ability to accept when you will be denied is a chance to savour a moment for yourself.
My work is mostly natural world and documentary. The hope is to do more expedition photography, but this is a journey as worthy as the destination. Small steps. This year, I aim to sell 3 prints and hold an exhibition in order to move this train along. You may see more of it, or you may be out there; seeing more moments of your own. f8 will decide 😉
Links:
flickr: flickr.com/photos/twentyclicks
twitter: @twentyclicks
blog: www.twentyclicks.co.uk
Nice story! I love reading how everyone got started and the eclectic photographs from each photographer. Beautiful photography.
Love both your philosophy and your photos. A photo reflects what is
on the inside as well as the physical of the outside.
You shoot with heart and it shows.
I agree with Suzie’s comment – it’s easy to see that you take interest in your subject. The images are strong but there’s a lot of mystery underneath the surface of the images…another story waiting to be told.
All three images are lovely but my favorite is the first image at the top of the page by the post title.
I love your comment about the 400mm, as I enjoy that very same challenge.
I am not sure I really understand your comment about not taking the photo when awareness of what’s possible and what you want to achieve do not agree. While I agree with the overall idea and teach the concept of being aware of what you want to achieve before taking the photo, I can’t see not taking the picture just because what’s possible and what you want to achieve aren’t in agreement. To me, that simply means that I have to try something different, to see if I can push what I know is possible to actually achieve what I see the photo as. How else, after all, can we push our limits and expand them? So, rather than not taking the photo, I am more likely to try and push myself and my equipment to see if there might be a way to do it that I’m perhaps just not yet aware of.
If I know absolutely that it’s an impossible combination, then yes I will not take the photo but will just enjoy the scene. And see if I can maybe re-visualize the desired picture somehow so that I can take it. 🙂
Compelling story. Love your simplicity in telling your approach to photography. Will be sure to follow your career.
Very nice story Craig, and that first image is simply STUNNING.
Very interesting – both your photos and the story.
Thank you all for the kind and encouraging words. It’s heartening to read after a long day in work.
The 1st photo was spying out on the bustle of Friday evening in Beni-Mellal (Morocco). Suffice to say, I was soon out in it, and found myself outside a sports-cafe eating sheep head soup. There are a lot of memories attached to it – some of them quite chewy!
Gorgeous reds in the second shot. I look forward to the exhibition. Look up John O’Neill Sperrins Photography on Facebook – he’s currently doing an exhibition.
I enjoy playing with a handheld 400mm, too. If you can hold that steady…anything else will be rock steady in comparison! 🙂
I’m curious about one part of your writeup, though. You wrote “…with awareness; of what is possible and what I want to achieve. If the two don’t agree, I won’t press the shutter. We all too often sacrifice experience to get our shot: The ability to accept when you will be denied is a chance to savour a moment for yourself.”
While I agree with the last sentence, I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at with the first part of that. To me, if the two don’t agree the attempt might teach me how to adjust my camera or the setting more to actually achieve the intended shot so I will try some setting changes anyway, to learn more. If I don’t take the picture because I can’t see how do do it with my current knowledge, then I’m not pushing myself to try things to see if maybe this or that tweak to a setting or setup might work. To not take the photo because, as I read it, you just know it’s impossible, implies accepting your limits.
I’m pretty sure that’s not your intent, so there must be something to that statement that I’m missing.
magnificent shot of the mountains 🙂
Hi Bill, I am only seeing your comment now, so shall try to clarify.
The main focus of the comment was subject/composition based. There are many beautiful scenes in the world that do not translate successfully to a still image. Our eyes scan the scene and hold collective points of interest in our ‘mind’s eye’. We feel the air, smell the environment and react within our physiological state at the time (we may have hiked for hours to find this vista). Sounds / lack thereof, and dynamic elements like waves, birds, clouds all add to the first hand imagery. To create a still image we have to choose what the viewer will focus on, capture it in an aesthetic manner and hope that, devoid of the other elements, it is enough.
Awareness comes both from experience and deduction. Yes, there are times when I have an experimental session, but this is usually with new equipment or in a new environment. Keeping my equipment simple, the physical capabilities are known. On the other side of the comment, some styles / subjects just don’t appeal to me.
We all push ourselves, perhaps in 20% of situations, but for that other 80% my methods prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the clarification.
I had trouble posting, hence the two near-identical comments from me.
It is much more understandable now, and to rephrase so that I’m sure I understand: you’re talking about the entire experience and the desire to pass on to the viewer the total experience rather than just a pretty photo.
From that perspective, I have to admit I’ve also done that often enough, but never by consciously thinking that it’s not worth the time and effort. Usually I just can’t see the photo showing the emotion I see so I don’t take it. I’m glad you took the time to clarify that, as it’s opened my eyes to something I could perhaps do more of.
Thank you again for the clarification.