Practical Photography - UK (2020-02)

62 PracticalPhotograPhy

pointi beginto seeandunderstandwhatit is i’m

lo okingat. i sta rtto seecompositionsthati would

haveotherwisewalkedpastor disregardedas being

to o busy.Peripheralvisioncanplayan importantpart

to o,guidingyoureyeto lightfallingon a particular

areaor object.

What’syourattitudeto editing?

i havea ten-minutepost-captureprocessingrule.

after29 yearsworkingas a graphicdesigner,thelast

thingi wantto do is spendall my freetimein frontof

a computerscreen,so thelesstimespentprocessing

imagesthebetter,as faras i’mconcerned.i do

mostof my initialeditingin lightroom,thenuse

Photoshopto adda fewfinaltweaksandapplyany

fil e formatchoices.But themostimportantpartof

myworkflow,andtheonethatsavesthemosttime,

isto tryto getit rightin camera.

Whatpurposedoesphotographyplayin yourlife?

Photographyis botha creativeoutletandan

invaluableaidto my physicalandmentalwell-being.

i spendmy daysin thestudioconcoctingideasthat

fo llowa specificbrieffroma client.Whenoutand

aboutwithmy camera,thebriefandfinalresultare

determinedby me.landscapephotographycanalso

bephysicallydemanding,typicallywalkingbetween

five andtenmileson an averageramble.

Doesyourworkinfluenceyourphotography?

therehasalwaysbeena strongsynergybetween

graphicdesignandphotography– indeedi wanted

tobecomea professionalphotographeratan early

age,butalashavinga mortgageto payanda familyto

fe edputpaidto that!thecreativeprinciplesarevery

si milarthough.as a designeri have to startoffwith

a bl ankpieceof paper,whichi thenpopulatewith

id eas.Wheni revertto photographymode,i tre at

the viewfinderas my blankpage.

You oftenlectureat cameraclubs– whatquestions

ar e youaskedthemost?

i verymuchlookforwardto theQ&a sessionatthe

end of a lecture– youneverknowwhatyou’regoing

toget.Sufficeto saythati’vebeenasked,andhave

answered,manyquestionsovertheyears.here’sthe

onlyonei couldn’t – andstillcan’t– answer:youcall

yourselfa landscapephotographer,butwhy aresome

ofyourimagesin portraitmode?

Whatkit couldn’tyoulivewithout,photographic

orot herwise?

i supposetheoneconstantis theneedof a tripod.

therearealsomanybitsandbobsi keepin my

camerabag,someobvious,somenotso.i nevergo

anywherewithoutblackplasticbinbags– they’re

AboveNothing
sa ysmysterylike
a dark avenueof
tr eesshroudedin
thickfog.

RightPaul likesto
sh oottowardsthe
li ghtas theresults
ca n bemagical.

FarrightAnold
oaktreestands
ta ll in Savernake
Forestin Wiltshire.

i have a ten-minute post-

capture processing rule, so

i try to get it right in camera