About

My Photography

Sometimes a photo conveys a meaning. Sometimes a photo makes you laugh or cry. Sometimes a photo is just a nice picture. Depending on the subject that I am shooting I try and stick to at least one of these three possibilities. Photography, for me, is an act of preservation of those single moments in time that would otherwise be lost forever. I don’t like the thought that things will be forgotten… so this may explain my unquenchable thirst for taking photos.

I like strong, vibrant and saturated colours in my photographs. If I shoot black and white I like high contrast tones, not washed out greys. I spend as little time editing photos as possible, and I prefer to stick basic, honest adjustments. Photography reflects the personality of the photographer. My portrait photography is about fun and capturing those moments you want to see again and again. Life passes by in the blink of an eye, but many precious memories deserve to be recorded and treasured. My approach is always friendly and relaxed because I believe that allows for natural, stress-free and memorable photographs that will become your own treasured works of art. I consider myself to be a perfectionist with regards to photography and this inspires me to try new things and strive to improve with every shoot.

I am a macro addict. I don’t like selective de-saturation (in fact it ought to be banned).

My Equipment

In 2004 I bought a Minolta Dimage (3mp) and started thinking that I might enjoy taking some photographs. A little while later, I felt it was time for an upgrade and went for a Nikon Coolpix 8700 (8mp) with a funky flip out screen. After some initial fun, I somewhat lost interest in photography – the camera was fairly good quality-wise, but I found it quite slow to use. The auto focus was limiting at best and the whole experience put me off for a while.

During this period of ambivalence my dad purchased a Nikon D50 (6mp) dSLR, so I tried it out. 2 weeks later I ordered one for my 30th birthday. The step up from compact/bridge cam to dSLR was a revelation. The camera actually did what I wanted it to do, and quickly. The camera came with the standard Nikkor 18-55mm kit lens which wasn’t bad for certain things – the sharpness is pretty good for a non-pro lens. I also bought the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro and my passion for shooting bugs was born. This lens is superb – easily as sharp as the Nikkor equivalent by all accounts. If you can live with the fact that the barrel can extend another 10-20cms to focus, I strongly recommend it. This lens really proved to me how sharp primes can be and it was only a matter of time before I bought the lens that every dSLR should have – a 50mm prime. At the time I went for the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D as this was retailing for a ridiculously cheap £80. The sharpness of this lens is staggering and for two years it is the only lens I took any portraits with. I have since upgraded this lens to the f/1.4 version, which has a slightly better build quality and that extra bit of speed. Buy either of these lenses and you won’t regret it.

After two tears with the Nikon D50, I upgraded and currently shoot with the Nikon D200 (10mp). The image quality is stunning, as is the build quality of the camera with weather sealing provided all over. This is coupled with… the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro, the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and the Tokina 10-17mm fish eye zoom… yes… fish eye zoom. They are crazy folk at Tokina.