Dan Tidswell
Commercial
photographerBased in Essex, Dan divides his time
between a commercial photography
business (photoengineers.co.uk)
and educating others, via one-to-one
tuition and group workshops in the
UK and abroad. dantidswell.co.ukorking out how to turn a prolonged love
of photography into a successful career
is something that many a keen amateur
mulls over. There are opportunities to
be found if your photographic niche is
in demand, while social media means
that it has never been easier for somone to find you.
This month’s leading pro earns his living as a
commercial photographer – shooting a wide range
of work under that umbrella – and utilises old and
new marketing techniques to bring in commissions.
Yet Dan Tidswell didn’t take a conventional route into
photography – if indeed there is one these days. His
previous career as an IT security consultant involved
travelling to places all over the world, which he started
chronicling through photography. Over time, he built
up a considerable collection of diverse images, so
when he decided that the time had come for a career
change, he already had a photography portfolio, so
turning pro was the obvious, and natural, progression.
Today, Dan has a varied client roster and runs his
own studio, The Loft, in Essex. He’s also an educator,
conducting photography workshops for small groups
and individuals, plus tuition on Adobe software. He
shoots images for stock libraries and is also working
on a book. In amongst all this, he maintains an active
Instagram presence (@dan_tidswell_photographer).
So when Dan invited Digital Camera on one of his
recent assignments, to the Big Apple to shoot some
street fashion images, we booked our tickets quicker
than you could say New York, New York...
A day after arriving, it seemed that we had brought
the UK weather with us. Heavy rain meant Dan had
to rethink some of his intended locations. One shot
he wanted to get involved his model, Erin Williams,
crossing East 42nd St outside Grand CentralW
Dan’s commercial portfolio
includes architecture,
sportswear and portraiture.one
to
one
10 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019