I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A STORY TELLER, BUT COULD NOT WRITE…
From the age of zero I was dragged along to the local photography club by my father and grandfather (every Tuesday night for the first 15 years of my life in fact) and so photography became my way of telling stories. Secretly I really enjoyed going to the photo club, even on those nights when I found my head dropping uncontollably less than half way through!
So photography is a love. Something discovered early on in life and something that is part of my soul.
When I think of photography there are two things I think of:
The photograph itself – how the image is made up – the light, the lines and shadows, the tones and the physical shape of the photograph in my head, will it be a 4 x 6 or a 5 x 7 or square?
The lens. A good lens is like a good pestle and mortar to a chef or an amazing knife to sushi master. Good equipment makes a differnece.
Photographers argue that it is not the equipment you use, but your eye. This is absolutely right but the better the lens the better the result in the end.
So, I’ve come to realize that stories are what I tell. With my eye and a few lenses in my bag, take me anywhere, put me in the rain or the shine, on a hill or on a beach, the story is aways going to be there waiting to be told. That is the real beauty of photographing – the pure unknown and the excitement of what I might come away with at the end of it.
Slip my memory card into the computer when I get home, clean off the lenses, make a cup of tea and the story starts to unravel. I choose the images that make my heart sing and place them into the content of a book, a slideshow, and a selection of thumbnails that will conjure up memories of a wonderful wonderful day. Pure pure magic.