Photo Envy

Steve is 45 and lives and works in Camden. He describes his photographic skills as “keen interest but definitely still a beginner”. When I see some of his photos I realise he has been very modest in his description.
As soon as we start talking about photography he shows me his latest “toy”, a Nikon D40. He bought it last November and is enjoying learning how to use all the functions. For the first few months when he had it he kept it on manual a lot of the time but now he is gradually learning how to use all the automatic functions. He clearly enjoys the challenge and satisfaction of learning how to use the camera and being rewarded with some great photos. He will often go out for an afternoon or a weekend to take lots of photos of whatever catches his eye. He deletes nearly two thirds of his photos as most of them are just experiments.
When I ask him why he went for the Nikon he just shrugs and says that it was either a Nikon or a Canon and at the time the Nikon was £100 cheaper.
He also has a Pentax camera which he was given after he became interested in photography about 15 years ago. He tells me the story of how he spent a year travelling in-between jobs going round India, Asia and Australia. He took a cheap point and shoot camera with him. When he came back he looked at the photos others had taken of the same places and was upset at how terrible his looked in comparison.
“The people and faces remind me of where I was but I would have liked the photos to have been as special as those places were.”
I ask him about what makes a great photo. For him the photo must be striking so that “you just want to stand there and look at it.” He appreciates the technical side but he always tries to make his photos a bit different and “something you wouldn’t think of”. He shows me some of his photos as examples. In Paris he avoided the classic Eiffel Tower shot and went instead for an interesting Metro sign because it caught his eye. Sat on a beach he was taking photos of the horizon and then noticed how clear the water was and so took a picture of the pebbles beneath the water’s surface. He claims his best photos are “taken on a whim” and “most are accidents”. My favourite of the photos he has brought is of a pair of sandals each with a glass of beer in them. He tells me the story of a festival he was at in Brazil and how “beer and sandals” captured the mood exactly.

Insights:
• It is disappointing when a photo does not do the moment justice. Simply capturing the moment is not enough. A special moment deserves a special photo.
• Being envious of someone else’s photos is motivation to start taking photography more seriously.
• Many of the best photos are accidents taken on a whim.