THE WESSEX MUSE MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2007 (Article)
"What makes a good image?
Photographs have been in my family since as far back as I can remember.
Images of the world’s great photographs and how to capture that image armed me with perhaps more information than my tiny brain knew how to process.
Whilst living in Portugal friends would often suggest I visit one of their favourite locations, with the comment that it was ‘So photogenic.’ It rarely was.
During 13 years I drove the entire length and breadth of Portugal many times and perhaps still only saw a fraction of what was to be seen. But I made sure I shot everything that had the slightest potential.
What makes a great shot is something that means different things to different people. I took the ideals of Ansel Adams with me everywhere I went, then added my own vision of perspective, composition and subject. But it didn’t end there, because my days of advertising taught me another great lesson - make it strong, or don’t bother.
That was back in the bad days of film when everything was developed, contacted and filed away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Working as a locations scout I was told in no uncertain terms that everything had to be digital. Clients were demanding people and wanted everything yesterday. I had to find the location, download it onto my laptop and email it to the clients, no matter where they were.
Digital puts every image at your disposal, to pore over and manipulate. Thanks also to the advances that had been made in digital printing, I began to print for myself and was quickly rewarded. When I was using a lab for printing I was often complimented on the quality of my negatives and obviously that habit had followed me along the road.
Someday soon (perhaps in those long, gloomy English winter days) I will invest in a good scanner and revisit all those strips of 35mm filed away in boxes."
"What makes a good image?
Photographs have been in my family since as far back as I can remember.
Images of the world’s great photographs and how to capture that image armed me with perhaps more information than my tiny brain knew how to process.
Whilst living in Portugal friends would often suggest I visit one of their favourite locations, with the comment that it was ‘So photogenic.’ It rarely was.
During 13 years I drove the entire length and breadth of Portugal many times and perhaps still only saw a fraction of what was to be seen. But I made sure I shot everything that had the slightest potential.
What makes a great shot is something that means different things to different people. I took the ideals of Ansel Adams with me everywhere I went, then added my own vision of perspective, composition and subject. But it didn’t end there, because my days of advertising taught me another great lesson - make it strong, or don’t bother.
That was back in the bad days of film when everything was developed, contacted and filed away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Working as a locations scout I was told in no uncertain terms that everything had to be digital. Clients were demanding people and wanted everything yesterday. I had to find the location, download it onto my laptop and email it to the clients, no matter where they were.
Digital puts every image at your disposal, to pore over and manipulate. Thanks also to the advances that had been made in digital printing, I began to print for myself and was quickly rewarded. When I was using a lab for printing I was often complimented on the quality of my negatives and obviously that habit had followed me along the road.
Someday soon (perhaps in those long, gloomy English winter days) I will invest in a good scanner and revisit all those strips of 35mm filed away in boxes."
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