Photography Student of the Month – September 2014 – Rose Atkinson

Aged 3

My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic and for a long time I was only allowed to use black & white film as colour was ‘far too expensive to waste on a child’ ! Since then, I’ve never been without a camera so I’ve been taking photographs for a very long time, but I have only recently started thinking of myself as a photographer.

Swish

As a child I was sometimes chastised for ‘wasting film’ on images which fascinated me but which others didn’t see the point of. Converting to digital was a watershed. Not only could I finally indulge myself but every image I took became a learning experience as I was able to review and adjust my camera settings to improve the result. I spent 30 minutes taking repeated shots (missing several trains in the process) before I achieved what I wanted with this image of commuters on Charing Cross station, which was taken blind with the camera resting on a ledge and the shutter set on self timer…

A moment of calm

In 2006 I started a photo-a-day project and kept it up for over 3 years. It was this, more than anything that has helped develop my skills and my confidence as a photographer. I learned to see images everywhere and my PAD project gave me even more scope to experiment with new perspectives.

Fractured

My photographic interests range from wildlife to vintage aviation…

Spitfire

…but I’m most passionate about photographing people in their environment.

Busker

The street is my theatre, I can spend hours watching people walking in and out of a ‘set’ waiting for the right image to happen. I look for something that makes me smile, the extraordinary in the everyday.

City of shadows

Working in the heart of London provides plenty of opportunities and whilst most of my photography is firmly SLR based (I use a Canon 5D MKii and Canon 7D, plus a bunch of lenses)

I prefer using a compact camera (Panasonic Lumix LX3) on the street as it’s easier to carry, less intrusive and I can get away with more, pretending to be a tourist !

Stop the war

I’m a civil servant working in Whitehall and for the last few years I’ve also been doing some photography in addition to my day job, covering internal and external events, including receptions in Downing Street. Corporate photography is a genre I really enjoy as it exposes me to people, places and events I would never otherwise experience. I don’t have nearly as much time for photography as I would like and so I’m looking forward to being able to do a lot more after I retire next year.

This is what prompted me to do PhotoIon’s Speedlite course recently. Ion is a fantastic tutor and he moved me out of my comfort zone into new territory – I always said I could never work in a studio or do portrait photography… until I tried it!

Cheryl

After the course I immediately bought a reflector and am now considering purchasing a small studio lighting set-up. Ion has opened my eyes and my horizons for the future, so who knows where my camera will take me next ? One thing for sure, I’ll be enrolling on more courses… I have so much more to learn!