[Photographer Profile] #13 Necronomicon

My name is Stephen, or Steve to 99% of the people in my life, and I like to take the occasional photograph.

Photography, as a hobby, has fallen under an umbrella of other creative pursuits I've undertaken throughout my life. I fancied myself as an amateur writer as a child; I swapped type-writer for pencils as I moved into my teens, spending most of those years drawing; I flirted with music in my latter teenage years, picking up the bass guitar, and later it would become a more serious hobby when I fell in love with the cello.

Photography came after all of those, although I always felt that I had a bit of an eye for a photograph and often played with point-and-shoots owned by each of my siblings. I finally decided that I wanted to take up photography as a serious hobby in 2010, prompted by a holiday to Athens I had planned. I felt that if and when I ever got into photography, I'd look back with regret at a holiday spent immersed in some of the most beautiful and historically-rich architecture in the world if I couldn't capture any of it. To this end, I beseeched the help of my elder sister to give me an introductory course in the art of photo-taking. I then jetted off to Greece with her 450D in hand, with an extremely superficial knowledge of its workings. Naturally, I didn't get anything spectacular from that trip, though I retain a soft spot for this particular shot taken beneath the Acropolis:



Upon returning, I had caught the bug; and shortly after I purchased my own DSLR, a 40D, from Adverts.ie and promptly drove to Dublin to collect it from the seller. In February of 2011, I signed up to an 8-week 'improvers' photography course in Cork College of Commerce. I wouldn't say it made me a better photographer, but I did learn some fundamentals that I'd completely missed when I was trying to self-educate with the help of Google (among other things, how to read the light meter). Exactly one year later, in early 2012, I joined the Cork Camera Group. If I could presume to impart some advice on anyone new to the hobby, it would be to join a camera club. If it is half as educational as my own experience has been, you will learn an immeasurable amount.

It's coming up on three years since I picked up the 450D, that portal into the world of this new hobby, and one which I can't conceive of ever turning my back on. I don't think I would go as far as to say that I have any particular style - and I make a conscious effort to occasionally venture out of my comfort zone for educational purposes - but there are undoubtedly a few areas which I pay more attention to than others. If I had to nail my colours to the mass I would say that macro is my primary interest, though my interest diverges across a number of macro pursuits. What I have probably shared the most on the forum are my insect photographs:












I'm also fond of combining photography with another passion: Lego. I'm always humbled by peoples' reaction to these shots - there's no hint of stigma about an adult's interest in what is ostensibly a child's hobby (unless they're just being outwardly polite); rather, they always seem to appreciate seeing something a bit different. I even sold this first image at a recent exhibition I was involved in with the camera club:




Some others:




I think my interest in Lego spawned a broader interest in tabletop photography. I've found myself experimenting with ideas that aren't always completely original but I've found very educating in simply trying to execute:




Outside of macro I'm growing to like portraits, though it is an area still firmly outside of my comfort zone; most of my pursuits in this area has focused on hands, which may be an odd niche but one that I'm fascinated with:




I'll leave you with a link to my photoblog, which I endeavour to keep reasonably updated. I got a bit fed up of simply uploading my images on photo-sharing websites - I ended up using them as image dumps, and I felt that the photos completely lacked context. I figured that if I was forced to write about the photos I wanted to share, I would be more selective about what I put out there. I'm still active on Pix.ie, but first and foremost I tend to direct people to my blog: http://avmode.wordpress.com/