Andrew James
A bit about me
At a small rural primary school (old fashioned even for the 1970's), a teacher inspired me to learn about wild flowers, trees and other wildlife! During the rest of the year, geography, history and maths were thrown in and that was it - brilliant for children, can you imagine that today?!
At secondary school, we could name many wild flowers, trees and other wildlife. We knew about sticklebacks, roman baths, different habitats, Saxon villages and could draw decent maps of the local area! These good foundations and early introductions are entirely missing in schools today; instinctive experiences, knowledge and appreciation of the natural world are lost.
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When my friends were watching films and cartoons, I was watching wildlife documentaries, astronomy programs and historical biographies of Charles Darwin and others. "Before the Ark" was a favourite at 6am-ish just after the Open University, I'd have been about 7 years old. I wasn't a nerd though, I did watch Swap Shop and Tarzan! Getting up quietly at around 3am to creep out and listen to the dawn chorus, watching trees change character during sunrise and just seeing this undisturbed - how many have tried it?
Aims and activities
No matter how often you see a familiar scene, many elements can make it different. The sound of the wind, light on swaying grasses, textures on water, the constantly changing sky or something else subliminal even before simple differences of the seasons.
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Capture all the elements which define and add feel & atmosphere to an image is what makes an image work, it's all about describing a scene and putting the viewer there.
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This natural world focus does not exclude people or their interactions within it as they are a part of our environment. From small quiet rural activities, walks with family to historical structures and the people themselves - are all a part of this. I hope this does not become only memories and that we preserve, not destroy our planet's environment.
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Too much AI around us and automatic software is literalylosing the natural record of where we are and what we do, I ope we can save "natural".
Photography
Which comes first the camera or the scene?
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Just wanting to take photos won't do. You have to want to be out there in the first place on its own merits, have a passion for the subject, then the image building will follow.
Taking appreciated and admired photos is linked to the place and activities, if you don't like it, it shows. What changes is how high you set the bar for the photos, the higher the bar the more dedication is required - all times, all weathers all subjects.
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I don't like excessive post-editing, the photos here are true to the view and subject, no composites or sky replacements. These are Nature Scapes.
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