Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

52 PracticalPhotograPhy

nga classicalaPProachto

scapephotographyandinfusingit with

centuryinnovation,JayBirmingham’s

geryis thevisualoutpouringof a curious

d anda criticaleye.Fromsnapshotsto

or exhibitionsin a littleovera decade,

Jay’shighly-polishedpicturesarenowgaining

in ternationalrecognitionandseeinghim

rub shoulderswithgenuinea-listers.notbadfor

a primaryschoolteacherfromtamworth...

Whendidyourphotographyadventuresbegin?

i re memberhavinga plasticcameraas a childand

ta kingpicturesof theneedleson theisle of Wight,

thenbeingdisappointedthatthephotographshad

a bl uetintwheni gotthefilmback.

thefirsttimei tri edto do anythingbeyond

holidaysnapswaswheni wastravellingaroundthe

Unitedstatesafteruniversityin 2004.My friendand

i campedin yosemitenationalParkandvisitedthe

anseladamsgallery.Despiteonlyhavinga compact

camera,i boughta rollof black&whitefilmand

st artedtakingpicturesof thelandscape.they weren’t

amazing,butit sparkedmy interest.Wheni came

home,i boughta secondhandslrand startedto

le arnaboutapertureandshutterspeed.i’vealways

lovedlearningnewthings– partlywhy i’ma teacher

• and photographygaveme theopportunityto be
  constantlylearning.
  havingthebackingof my wife,Mim,hasbeen
  importantto me.she’s recentlybecomeinterestedin
  photographytooandi’ve lo stcountof thenumberof
  sunrisesandsunsetswe’vewatched.she’s alsomy
  bi ggestfan,andwhilei cansometimescritiquemy
  worka littletoonegatively,she’sconstantlymy most
  positiveinspiration.

Whatis it aboutthenaturalworldthatinspiresyou?

Wheni was youngeri was in thescoutsandso i

re gularlywentoutcamping,climbingandhiking,and

i was alsopartof thersPB’syoung ornithologists’

clu b,so i spentmuchof my timeoutsidewitnessing

manybeautifulscenes.it was a naturalprogression

totryandcapturesomeof thosemomentson camera.

to behonest,i used to thinkif i was goingto be a

photographeri’dbe a bi rdphotographeras i was

je alousof thepeoplethatusedto walkintothehides

withhugelensesandcameraswheni was outwith

theyoc, but thethingi love aboutlandscapesis that

youcanspendtimevisualisinghowyouwantthe

finalimageto look.if i tr iedto do thatwithbirds,

i wouldmisstheshots!

the thing i love about

landscapes is you can spend

ti mevisualising the final image