No two photographers are the same, just as no two artists or musicians are the same.
Also by the very nature of the craft many photographers prefer and even strive for not being known as themselves but for their images.
My training was in general professional photography designed to give me a grounding in all major aspects of the job. From industrial through social to portraits, editorial and specialised.
From this each student went their own way, some artistic, some strictly commercial, others went into the print media or the behind the scenes work as technicians or lecturers.
I went first into camera shops [part time as a student] and this became a major part of my work.
I worked as a freelance which gave me freedom to cover what i wanted, and for local press.
Then through various media related works - as well as lecturing and mentoring on the subject.
I gave up practical picture taking for some years whist living in London and then returned to build up experience in the digital world which it has now become.
I guess it must be said I have always preferred shooting live subjects, and not landscapes or close ups of flowers. This is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with this area of work, but simply it's not where I get the passion to shoot. And I honestly believe it is a passion - without that burning desire to produce an image - the image will not be anything other than average.
Ofcourse the end result depends on the reasons behind the shoot - sometimes in press work just getting the image is in itself the achievement. If your shooting a stunning female model then the final aim could well be different from shooting a female actor in charactor.
It's easy for me because I don't work in hostile environments and tend to work with willing subjects - not all photographers are so lucky.
Also I am quite proud that my style is "dated" - and that is intentional. Today the trend in the studio is to have quite diffuse lighting with little "modelling" effect. My teaching from a tog who could remember flash powder as a young photographers assistant because of missing fingers - taught me to use lights sparingly - even using just one a certainly no more than three.
I tend to stick to this with my studio style work, and it is often that style that gets noticed most.
Working with daylight is fantastic but can be so unpredictable & when shooting people bright light means closed or strained eyes. So it is on brigt summer days I tend to shoot in the shade!
As we move on within this site I will expand on my thoughts on photography - but remember dear reader - they are my thoughts, and can be contradicted or just plain wrong in yours eyes.
If this was not so - how boring we would all become!!
