Embracing our journey
My name is Mike Clarke and I am an amateur photographer who is based in North Wiltshire, United Kingdom.
My photography journey started when I worked overseas in Belize City in 1992. I bought a second hand Canon EOS film camera from a friend at work as I wanted to capture the memories of working in this amazing central american country.
Of course I had no idea how use the camera properly and shot everything in automatic. Typically I had to wait for a trip home before I could get any images developed. The pleasures of film!
Then through the early 2000’s I purchased a series of Olympus digital cameras which were excellent, but again most of my images were family holiday snaps!
In 2017 we travelled to California on a family holiday and I was asked by a tourist if I could I take a picture of them in front of the iconic Golden Gate bridge.
They gave me temporary control of their very posh Nikon camera and I was blown away by what I could see through the viewfinder. Back home, later that same year I purchased my very own Nikon D500 for a trip of a lifetime to Northern Scandinavia and I was hooked. This trip was to be the beginning of my obsession with learning more about photography. But then came covid and I felt like I lost my work-life balance working exclusively from home during this period.
At the beginning of 2023 I joined the excellent Swindon Photographic Society as a way to redress that work life balance and of course to continue learning more about the subject from the very friendly members and regular presenters who talk to us about their excellent work. I never thought I would have the confidence to enter my images into their many competitions, but I took the plunge and have not looked back. The competitions are an excellent way to challenge yourself to improve. Receiving feedback from the judges and members is critical to this process and I have learnt more about how to use my camera properly, photographic composition and some of the many “breakable” photographic rules that help to produce a decent image.
In addition to the process of capturing the image while on location I have also discovered the absolute pleasure of developing the image in Lightroom and then producing my own prints. I never thought printing your own work would be so rewarding. Having a tactile print that you can hold and show friends and family beats an onscreen image every time.
In 2024 traded in the Nikon D500 for a new mirrorless Nikon Z8 and attended a few organised workshops, the most recent of which was in North West Scotland. Now despite a few major health issues at the end of 2024 I cannot wait to continue this amazing journey!