Knowing Where to Stand

The great American landscape photographer Ansel Adams once said that a good photograph is knowing where to stand. How true.

I've been taking photos for more years than I care to think about really, an interest that started in an art lesson at school. I had an art teacher who taught me the rudiments of composition, perspective and angles, as well as how to look beyond the obvious. Although I have had no formal training in photography, those early lessons have stayed with me and I have always tried to apply them when I have a camera in my hands. And yes, part of the art of photography is exactly as Adams says: knowing where to stand. But then his pallete was immense, being in most cases the national parks of North America. Most of us are somewhat more constrained, especially if like me you enjoy taking photos of the more urban environment, which is not so easy in our increasingly crowded towns and cities. That said, if you take your time to look, and choose your lighting well (which I suppose is pretty fundamental), interesting photos are easily achievable. I try not to use any artificial lighting in my photographs. And if I can do it, anybody can.

Anyway, this is in way of a somewhat wordy introduction to some of the photos I don't think I have featured here before. As ever, any comments are always welcome, but be polite! Use the comments box at the bottom of this page.

Thank you.