Daily, I receive many requests from photography students asking me all manner of questions and thought it might be an idea to collect the answers in one place. So here it is. A collection of Q&A for photography students.

Biography

Born? Where did you grow up?

Oldham, England. 1977. I lived here until University.

Education?

Manchester Univesity.

How long have you been taking pictures?

I have been taking pictures for as long as I can remember. As a child, I used a 50mm 1.4 lens on a Praktica and 35mm film. I have been using digital since 2003. I shoot with a number of different DSLRs and use Sigma EX line professional lenses currently.

I set up this website to showcase my work to a larger audience and been selling via the web since 2002. The site has helped me achieve my original objective. I have customers from USA, Singapore, Russia, China, Australia, Canada and UK

Do you use any photo-editing software?

These days, I mainly use Lightroom. It allows images to be edited quickly and in bulk. Black and white toning, cropping etc. I don’t generally do massive amounts of manipulations. I like my photography to look like photography

When shooting, how do you work?

I tend to shoot fairly slowly. I set my camera to the RAW setting and generally think through the shot before I take it. Waiting for the right light and anticipating it helps. A lot of DSLR cameras today come with a many different settings. I tend to think many of these are gimicks. I shoot mostly in Aperture and Manual modes. This allows you more control of the camera as a tool.

What advice would you give to apsiring photographers?

Learn the basics. Many cameras today have features that make photographers lazy. Learn how to use your DSLR like an old analogue SLR. i.e Shooting in M, A and S modes. Think through your shots and anticipate them. Think about what effect you are trying to achieve.

What lenses do you use and why?

As I said, I mainly use Sigma EX lenses. Good glass is fundamental. Typically, I carry 3 lenses.

10-20mm wide angle

28-70 Zoom

70-200 Telephoto

These allow me to cover most eventualities. I sometimes shoot with a 30mm 1.4 EX lens when situations such as low light, very shallow depth of field etc present themselves.

What/Who are your photographic influences?

There are a number of photographers whose work I admire a great deal. I suppose they are quite obvious really but to someone starting off, they are well worth studying in detail.

1) Ansel Adams. The great American Photographer was meticulous in his approach. His  landscapes are so powerful in the American psyche event today.

2) Robert Capa. This man founded Magnum photos and took some of the bravest, most candid photography the world has ever seen. He died in pursuit of capturing that moment.

3) Robert Doisneau. The idea that a photographer can capture the spirit of the time is something many long to achieve and Doisneau did more than perhaps anyone else to describe the romance, the quirks and the excitment of modern Paris.