story behind the still
It was great to be asked by Digital Photographer to talk through the lighting techniques behind some of my still images.
I don’t think of myself as a technical so much as an instinctive photographer. I love watching the play of light and how it shapes, highlights and contrasts things. I think I have more of a feel for photography than a desire to analyse it. When I compose a shot it’s like having a band playing in my head and I arrange the lighting like a man who knows his music but isn’t interested in how the notes are formed.
I’m in awe of the whole gear head thing but I’m more of a ‘get out there and just do it’ guy so see if you can guess how I took this shot and then click on the image to find out for real.
converge film festival 2011
delighted to say that I made the top 3 films with ‘The Hardest Fight’ as shown at the Converge Film Festival held at the British Film Institute down on South Bank, 1st & 2nd March 2011.
Gutted I couldn’t be there to see it in person but apparently it was very well received by the audience and held up well on the big screen…Still can’t quite believe that this, my very first short film, is getting such great feedback from the HDDSLR community. Thanks so much guys – really appreciate it!!!!
Overall winner went to Jason Wingrove for his short 10/10/10 about the all year round open air swimming pool at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.
Congrats to all and I feel honoured to have been included in such highly respected company!!!
Special thanks to James Stoneley for keeping me updated. Cheers mate!!!
digital photographer
the challenge
I actually started out as a photojournalist with a Canon AE1 and a selection of fixed wide angle lenses that I still have to this day. My heroes were ( and still are) Don McCullin, Bruce Davidson and Josef Koudelka among others and I loved the high contrast, black and white worlds of Bill Brandt, David Bailey and Richard Avedon.
My own personal journey took me on the road to exploring other avenues of photography like sports, fashion, and advertising but I’ve always loved portraiture and the telling of a story.
In September 2010 I photographed quad amputee Ray Edwards on assignment for The Guardian.
We got on great and I was fortunate enough to be asked to document his incredible attempt to summit the highest freestanding mountain in the world Mount Kilimanjaro with Charity Challenge.
These images say it better than I ever could….
I’m indebted to Ray for his courage, lack of vanity and dedication to this project and also to the porters and guides of Kilimanjaro who made this such a humbling and memorable trip for me.
