Part 2
A lifetime of taking photos
This seems to be a common pattern for photographers!
I bought a "Practica" 35mm film camera in 1975 to take photos of rally cars. I adored driving over to the forests of Wales to watch the RAC rally, the sounds and smells of high speed rally cars in the November weather was mesmorising!
After Mount St Helens exploded in 1980, there were the most incredible sunrise/sunsets and I fell in love with them. I still love getting up at the crack of dawn, waking the dog up and climbing up the hill to shoot the sunrise!
40 years of holidays, birthdays, parties, wedding and whatever, many different cameras, going digital in 2001. In 2015 I was sitting in a field, being paid to watch people fall off their horses, when it occured to me, that I could buy a decent camera. There had been a recent family wedding, where I had taken a lot of photos, some of them I was pleased with.
My brother-in-law had always had Nikons and I loved them, I bought a D5500. I was hooked and this began my new adventure into photography. I quickly outgrew the D5500, so at huge expense I bought a D500. What a fabulous camera, I only sold it in 2022!. Then I got one of the best cameras ever made, the D850. I also bought some beautiful glass to go with it.
I now have the complete setup, the full range of portrait lenses. Some lovely backdrops and a full lighting setup.I have designed this so that I can make a portrait in someones kitchen, their lounge or wherever, with full studio quality lighting.
I still love to take landscapes, sunrise/sunset images. But my main passion is portraits. Getting the setup done, the backdrop, lighting and all the other bits. Meeting and getting to know the client.
It takes a lot of courage for some people to sit in front of the camera. Nearly 40 years of dealing with people, sometimes in their darkest moments, has given me the skills and confidence to get them (the client) relaxed and comfortable in front of my lens. I have learned how to direct people to get the very best image possible. How they might hold themsleves, the look on their face, and then in a fraction of a second, the exquisite moment of releasing the shutter, and the image is made.
All this takes quite some time, effort and a lot of coffee. Practicing, rehearsing, moving around, to make the most perfect image the they have ever seen of themsleves!
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