MY STORY
From a really young age I’ve loved Motorsport, and with it came the love of cars in general. This love stemmed from spending a lot of time with my Dad, Grandad & Uncle; whether it be watching the F1 on TV with my Grandad, going to Donington to watch the British Superbikes and MotoGP with my Uncle or going to Donington & Silverstone with my Dad to watch the Renault World Series races.
As I’ve grown older I still watch F1 and have become a big fan of Rally, BTCC, British GT and Blancpain GT and I've been going to watch the races whenever I can with friends, even travelling to Belgium in 2016 and going again in 2018 for the 24 Hours of Spa for the Blancpain GT series in our own cars and visiting the Nurburgring whilst out there.
I’ve always taken a camera with me to the events, a point and shoot or even phone but it wasn’t until 2016 that I really took an interest in capturing the events with my camera properly. I went to the WRC in Wales with my point and shoot and first started panning there which instantly inspired me to delve deeper into my newfound addiction.
For Christmas 2016 I got my first DSLR, an entry-level Nikon D3400, perfect for honing my skills and learning the basics. My first ever outing with the camera was to the NEC in Birmingham for the Autosport Show to help me get the basics of my new camera sorted ready for my first proper Motorsport event, the Malcolm Wilson Rally. I came away with a ton of photos that were awful, terribly underexposed and no software to be able to rectify the mistakes, but amongst the abundance of awful photos were a few that, at the time, I thought looked good. Now, not so much, though I do look upon them with fondness and it allows me to see how far I’ve come in such a short space of time. https://www.flickr.com/photos/t18photography/albums/72157679333751565
But this ultimately planted the seed that would later grow into a passion for automotive photography.
A month later at the Malcolm Wilson Rally I was trying my first time panning with a proper DSLR where I could control the variables, many photos were out of focus but I was so proud of the first one I got nailed that I had it printed off and I still have it framed at the side of my TV.
I think the swiftness that I have picked up photography is helped by always been quite good at art when I was younger so composing the photo comes semi-naturally to me. I still have to step back and take a minute in some situations but most of the time I’m able to let me creative juices flow and I know which shot I want to get before I’m on location trying to get it. I’m equally able to see a unique photo opportunity on the spot but of course I’m always working to improve and have a long way to go before I hit the levels of some of the photographers out there, but I’m determined to get there!
I also love the serenity of going off into the countryside and capturing stunning wildlife encounters with my camera. Again, this passion comes with spending time with my Grandad. I hear many stories of people's parents and grandparents being Professor's, Doctors & the likes and how they have passed their knowledge down but my Grandad doesn't need any of those things. He is simply a loving, caring, quick learning and wise man filled with an abundance of knowledge and who I'm proud to call my Grandad.
My gear so far is only basic and but I am a strong believer of, it is the photographer, not the gear that makes the image. And I have the gear I need to get the types of photos that I want, however, I do have to stave off the so-called 'GAS' every so often and luckily my low budget does help that. Who doesn't like the idea of new gadgets and gizmos?
IN CASE YOU WERE CURIOS
My Gear
Body – Nikon D3400
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Wide Angle – Nikkor 35mm f1.8 DX
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Telephoto – Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 Macro
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Super-Tele - Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3
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Camera Bag - Lowepro Flipside 500AW
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Monopod - Oben CTM-2500 Carbon Fiber