[Home] [About Me] [Web Gallery]
|
|
|
[Home] [About Me] [Web Gallery] |
|
|
|
|
 |
|||
|
David Gibbins ARPS AFIAP BPE3 . |
|||
|
|
|
I am not a professional photographer; it is a hobby that acts as a release mechanism to the stresses of work. It is also not just about "taking pictures" but also includes the administrative side of photography:-
How I Got Involved in Photography My first recollection of photography was when I was about 7 (a long time ago) when I used to help my father. He converted the kitchen into a darkroom to develop and print his pictures (all in black and white). My first camera was an old Brownie and I graduated to a Kodak Instamatic for my 18th birthday. (110mm film, those were the days!) In 1978 I invested in my first SLR – a Pentax K1000 and went to evening class for two years where I learnt a lot of the basic principles of photography and encouraged me to progress further. At the time I was working for East Midlands Electricity at their Head Office in Arnold and in 1981 the Chairman of the Sports and Social Club asked if I could form a Photographic Section. This I did and for the next 10 years I was Chairman and Programme Secretary. The Club joined N&EMPF and in our short history we represented N&EMPF once at Warwick and also won the prestigious Derwent Trophy for a slide panel in the annual Federation exhibition. It was as a result of inviting judges and lecturers to visit our society that I decided to give something back. So I went on the lecture list and the Federation Supplementary Judges List. Two years later I was then appointed onto the N&EMPF Executive. This leads me nicely in to what I call the administrative side of Photography. Administrative side of Photography One of the main facets of my photography for the last 24 years has been my involvement with the N&EMPF Executive. During my time on the Executive I have been:
It has been an honour and a pleasure to serve on the Federation and hopefully help the Clubs within N&EMPF. Photographic Judging Judging is one of my real passions; I absolutely love judging, whether it is a club competition or a major exhibition. I have been a photographic judge since 1983, starting as a Supplementary judge and graduating to the N&EMPF senior list and finally to the PAGB Alliance List. Judging can be a challenge but at the same time I feel honoured and humble at being invited to comment on somebody else's work. I would like to hope that I also provide encouragement to the photographer. When I started judging I felt it was important that I at least achieved a standard in photography that people could recognise. To this end I decided to apply to the RPS and also enter exhibitions. I was delighted to become an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS) and gain my AFIAP through international exhibitions. The challenge to achieve these distinctions forced me to review the way I took photographs – another inspiration to my photography. Cliff Steer (Nottingham & Notts) was a major influence when I started entering exhibitions. He taught me an awful lot in the darkroom and with slide copying and gave me great encouragement. It has given me enormous pleasure over the years visiting clubs, sharing ideas and meeting people. Without doubt my proudest moment in photography was being awarded the APAGB for services to Photography. My Photography I used to be a keen walker and once I started taking pictures seriously I used my new found enthusiasm to illustrate walks in the Lake District, Derbyshire and Scotland. My work-horse lens was a 75-200mm zoom and I evolved a style whereby the majority of images excluded the sky. This approach gained me my ARPS and early Exhibition successes. There are many incredible landscape photographers but the inspiration of much of my early work was Colin Baxter who was as well known for his postcards as for his books. There was a period in the late nineties and early millennium when family duties and work commitments took over, I stopped entering exhibitions and my picture taking became stale and family oriented. My daughters were active swimmers and I ended up acting as a taxi service to training and Gala's. As with my photography I got involved with running the Swimming Club, teaching and I was a qualified Judge. Although still heavily involved with the Photographic Federation I needed some inspiration, this came with the advent of digital and the purchase of my first PC. My initial dabbling was enhancing my images, as if I was in the darkroom. After a period when I tried to run a digital camera and a film camera I eventually succumbed and now just use digital cameras. My own work has changed too, I still love landscapes but I now do more creative and illustrative work and I certainly take more images! I still love seeing images, even when I am not judging them. I recently went to the Wildlife Photography Exhibition at the National Museum which was truly inspirational. It is not just photographs that inspire me but also art and I enjoy going around art galleries. When looking at pictures what attracts me most are:
Having regained my enthusiasm I have started entering the British Exhibition circuit again and there is still the buzz of excitement when the report card is back and an image, or more, has been accepted or even won an award. The next major influence came in January 2008. Jim Hartje gave a lecture on ProShow Gold at my club (Beeston). I could see countless possibilities with my photographs so the first thing I did when I got home was download the software. I am sure I am not the only person who has lots of pictures that are rarely, if ever, seen by anybody. A few get sent off to Exhibition or entered in a club competition and the family may quickly look at the digital images as soon as they were downloaded from the camera but most digital images were just stored in folders and I can't remember when I last got my slide projector out of the loft. So out came ProShow Gold. My initial foray was the conversion of some of my landscape pictures and then I put images from Italy, Seville, New Zealand and Hong Kong to appropriate music. I gained as much enjoyment finding the right music as I did to sorting the slides. Friends who had not seen my work enjoyed these travelogue shows. Also, going through the photographs I unearthed more images that I have successfully used in exhibitions. I then decided to produce "family" based shows going back to images taken in the early fifties all the way up to 2008. My close and extended family really enjoyed the family shows which I also put onto DVD, they brought back many memories and provided something positive to do with the many family pictures that had been taken, both by me and other family members over the years. Positive feedback goes along way in providing the encouragement to progress in whatever we do. We don't all have to be master photographers but we should enjoy our hobby. Recently I have really enjoyed bringing back memories to a wider audience to my work than previously. Now that my enthusiasm is back I shall be looking at other projects to do. A photograph is the capture of a moment in time that triggers the recollection of memories and feelings. It is a wonderful mechanism for communication. Going through my photographs and putting the shows together has brought back many memories, not just for me but for family, friends and camera clubs. "I have a photograph, preserve your memories they're all that's left you" (Paul Simon 1968)
|
|
|
|
© 2009 David Gibbins |