I've decided to start writing a blog as part of my new venture into the world of photography. I'm hoping this will accompany my new website and give possible future clients an insight in to me as a person and also why I love doing what I do.
So what better place to start than... Where it all began!
Up until 2010, the hobby of photography hadn't even registered on my radar. All I cared about is "does my camera (a sony cybershot at the time) zoom?", "if so, how far?", "does it flash?", "how many pictures can I get on this memory card?", "will it take a good picture of me jumping into a pool?". All pretty important stuff. It was basically a case of nipping down to Currys and seeing what was the smartest looking compact camera I could stretch my budget to.
Even 2010 being the year I got married, I wasn't even that concerned about the photographer we had booked for the day (he's style of photography, he's editing techniques and so on). Basically we booked the first one we'd spoken to (which isn't always a bad thing, especially if you speak to me first ;-) ).
But looking back now, it seems bizarre how little an interest I took in the art of capturing great images.
So what lead me away form the light, compact, cheap, digital, "point and shoot" cameras. To saving to spend a small fortune on heavy DSLR bodies and lenses I hear you cry?
Well like I've already mentioned 2010 was the year I got married and going out all day taking photos seemed like a great excuse to get away from my wife (only joking). In fact it was on our honeymoon where I developed my love of photography.
For our honeymoon we were lucky enough to have gone on a 2 week twin destination holiday to Sri-Lanka and the beautiful Maldives, spending one week at each destination.
So it was in Sri-Lanka whilst sitting down enjoying a local beverage (Lion Lager, very nice) that I began to look at the settings of my little compact camera and discovered a little mode called "macro".
Being as my camera was a very user friendly Sony, as turned my dial round a little description would flash up on the screen telling me what kind of shot I can expect from this mode. So when I dialled round to the little picture of a flower (macro), something along the lines of "Macro mode will focus on objects close up, leaving a blurred and out of focus background", flashed up on the screen. OOOOOH! I thought and pointed the camera at the top of my beer bottle, pushed the button and in a split second created this image....
I then went in to a macro frenzy, searching for absolutely anything I could find to take a picture of with a blurry back ground.
I went for a stroll on the beach and found a washed up bottle covered in some kind of crustacean. I thought OMG!!! This picture is going to win me some kind of award. Surely I would come back to Sri-Lanka in years to come and see this image being sold as a postcard in the gift shops.
In my mind, I was already selling photos to National Geo. But it didn't stop there, I began to realise if I tilted my camera slightly it made my pictures look different (not always better but different), like the this one I'd taken of the propeller of the sea plane in the Maldives.
I was like.. WOW! I turned the camera slightly (probably more to do with the fact I'm 6'3" and those sea planes aren't exactly jumbo jets, so I had to contort myself to get the camera pointing out of the window behind me) whacked on the macro setting and hey-presto, a work of art (no really, I was thinking this at the time).
We then arrived at our island and I was like a dog with a bone, there wasn't an object on that island that wasn't "paparazzied".
There wasn't much to do on the island (which might not sound that appealing to most people, including me at the time, but given the option to go back there, I'd do it in a heartbeat) so whilst the new Mrs. Power would spend time reading and sunning herself, myself, my little Sony and my new obsession would take me on walks around the small paradise island stalking my photographic prey.
I found dried up pieces of coral against beautiful sunsets.
Coconuts... Just wonderful coconuts
Even the posts holding up the pier wasn't safe from a snap-happy Mr. Power
Macro was becoming my best friend
All of a sudden books were no longer for reading
Fences and life-rings became more and more interesting to me
Lines leading to a point, made my very spine tingle
Like I said before, these may not be the most jaw dropping photographs you're ever likely to see, but for me, at that moment in time, it unlocked a door of discovery, one which I still haven't looked back on to close yet.
The only downside to all of this, is when we returned home, all our family and friends were looking forward to seeing pictures of a newly wed couple all loved up on their once in a lifetime honeymoon, only to get a load of bottles and coconuts (trust me there was a lot more, these are just the ones that turned out ok).
What I have realised since, is that with photography, there is always new discoveries. You can never stop learning. If someone tells you that they know everything about photography, then they're probably lying. If they feel they do know it all, then I believe that they don't enjoy it anymore. Its the learning of new techniques and different ways to compose and edit my pictures is why I love doing it so much.
Well thats the end of my first blog. I really hope that someone has taken the time to read it and if they did I hope you enjoyed it.
I'd love some feed back and any idea's about any further blogs you'd like me to write.
Every day is a school day for me and I'd love to keep writing about my progression in the world of photography for you all to read and hopefully enjoy.
All the best
Pete xxx
