My equipment’s worth thousands, but my pictures are worth even more…!
Hard at work in Botswana…!
Every now and then, people tell me they recognise my photographic ‘style’, but I’m never sure what that means. I guess I just do what comes naturally, so it seems strange to think of myself as having a particular ‘style’, but I guess I do.
I buy the best equipment I can afford and spend a lot of time on safari in Africa, trying to capture animals hunting—or at least taking as many action shots as I can. I try to bring out the power, beauty, cuteness and humour of the natural world, and I’m a great believer in using Lightroom and Topaz Sharpen AI to provide the icing on the cake.
I guess there are a lot of different ways of looking at your own personal style of photography:
Amateur vs professional
Auto vs manual
iPhone vs mirrorless monster
By vehicle vs on foot
Holidays vs bespoke photography ‘expeditions’
General vs wildlife
Record shots vs award-winners
Here are my quick thoughts on each.
Amateur vs Professional
I ended up as a professional photographer quite by accident. I loved photography as a kid and wanted to do a course at the London College of Printing and make a career out of it. However, I also had the chance of going to Oxford, so I let myself be persuaded that was the better option!
After 30 years during which I hardly took a single picture (even on my iPhone!), I received an email one day from a social group I belonged to. It was advertising the chance to climb Mount Kenya and go on a week’s safari.
I jumped at the chance! I signed up for the trip and went out and bought a Sony bridge camera. I had a great time, took thousands of shots and pretty much decided there and then to become a wildlife photographer!
I signed up to a few stock agencies, bought a better camera, entered competitions, created a website, started selling prints and generally built a photography business from scratch.
I was lucky enough to have other sources of income, so I didn’t have to rely on my photographic earnings to pay the bills—which would never have worked! However, the whole process was pretty easy and could be done little by little, depending on how much time and money I had.
If you consider yourself an ‘amateur’, all I’d say is that it’s an easy path to getting paid for your work. From a standing start, it only took me a couple of years to earn thousands of pounds. If you’re interested in getting a few tips, I suggest reading my blog post on how to make money from photography.
Auto vs Manual
A lot of photographers are trapped in an Auto prison, and I totally get it. Cameras are complicated things, and you might as well just let them get on with it. Besides, learning how to shoot properly takes time, and who has enough of that these days?!
All I’d say is that shooting in Manual mode is not as scary as it seems. As long as you use Auto ISO, you’ll hardly ever have to worry about getting the wrong exposure. That leaves you free to concentrate on the things that matter most, such as controlling motion blur with your shutter speed and depth of field with your aperture.
The rules of composition are guidelines to help you along the way, and many entry-level cameras have ‘guide modes’ to hold your hand and explain what needs to be done. There are also plenty of resources online. I subscribed to various photography newsletters and YouTube channels and experimented with different techniques based on their recommendations. It was all part of ‘growing up’ as a photographer, learning what kind of pictures I liked most and how best to get the results I wanted.
I guess it depends on your personality type, too. I love learning something new, and I liked the intellectual challenge of finding out how to take certain shots. If you’re up for it, you can do the same…
iPhone vs Mirrorless Monster
I’ve been on plenty of safaris over the years with people who only took a smartphone with them. They’d always be a little shame-faced about admitting it, and I always thought it was a bit of a shame. Here you are in one of the most wonderful environments for photographing the natural world, and all you have is a lousy iPhone…!
I realise, of course, that people have different priorities, and I’ve met a few who are just happy to watch the world go by with a pair of binoculars rather than try to take a picture to go above the mantelpiece!
However, modern mirrorless cameras are pretty cheap and easy to operate these days, and I have the feeling that people are missing out on more than they realise. I’ve spent thousands of pounds on cameras and lenses over the years, and I now have a range of equipment that helps me take far better pictures than I could with my iPhone. Just sayin’…
By Vehicle vs On Foot
My friend Andy Skillen is a professional wildlife photographer, and he goes on a lot of very uncomfortable and even dangerous treks in Africa and the Arctic to take shots of bears, elephants and other wildlife.
He gets paid for them, of course, and even I’ve never had a client who’d do that for me! However, it’s useful to know what professionals do and why they do it. They want to be on foot because they can capture images that just wouldn’t be possible any other way.
I still haven’t quite graduated to Andy’s kind of trips, but I take his point, and I did actually ask him to help me put together a trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile to photograph the puma. That didn’t quite come off, but I’m sure I’ll be asking his advice in future on where to go and how to get there on foot for a unique perspective.
Holidays vs ‘Expeditions’
I’m sure the vast majority of photographs these days are taken by holidaymakers. Almost everyone has a camera (even if it’s only a smartphone), so it’s easy to whip it out and record the moment. Whether you’re taking pictures of your kids at the pool or the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it doesn’t really matter. They all go into your phone for posterity—if posterity can be bothered to look at them!
However, there is another way. These days, there are a large number of tour operators who lay on ‘photographic trips’ or ‘expeditions’ for budding photographers. I regularly accompany Paul Goldstein on Exodus trips to Africa, India and Svalbard, and he reliably gets me exactly where I need to be to capture the action. The first time I went to Kicheche Bush Camp in Kenya, for example, I saw five cheetah kills!
All I’m saying is that it’s not that hard to dip your toe in the water and book a trip that’s specifically geared toward photographers. It may be a little bit more expensive, but at least you know that your needs will be catered for. As Paul always says about his Arctic expeditions, he’s happy to get on the PA to let passengers know about a polar bear sighting at any time of the day or night—and I can testify to that!
General vs Wildlife
When I was a kid and when I was just starting out as a professional photographer, I took pictures of all kinds of things, from weddings to bookcases. When I bought my first film SLR camera aged 15, I remember being so excited that I shot two 36-exposure colour and black and white rolls of film in about 20 minutes!
In the last few years, I’ve also done a few ‘gigs’ for friends, taking pictures at parties and weddings, but I’ve learned to specialise. It doesn’t work as well commercially if you don’t find your niche. Mine is wildlife photography, and I’ve gradually stopped taking other kinds of pictures—except if a client asks me to!
Whatever your specialty is, you’ll learn more and make more money if you stick to the knitting. Don’t try and spread yourself too thinly, or you won’t be able to do yourself justice.
Record Shots vs Award-winners
I always tell my students that you don’t have to be a professional photographer to take a professional picture. However, I’m not sure most of them believe me. Maybe it’s just that very British habit of self-deprecation that gets in the way, but it’s a shame if it is. It’s easy to talk yourself out of taking a risk and doing what you want to do, so it’s important to be ambitious.
Sometimes, you have a clear choice: do you want to play it safe and get a good shot or take a risk and maybe get a great one? You only need one, as they say, and modern mirrorless cameras give you 20 or 30 chances every second!
Verdict
I don’t really know what style of photographer I am, but it’s worth asking the question. What do you want from your photography? Is it worth taking a risk to get more out of it? Will you be happier spending more time and money on your hobby to try and turn it into a profession?
It’s obviously up to you, but I can say from personal experience that it’s easier than you might think…!
If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.
If you’d like to book a lesson or order an online photography course, please visit my Lessons and Courses pages.