When I’m not photographing the world around me I sometimes write things. Behind The Lens is my my space to share my thoughts with you all, blogging from behind the camera.
click on each article to read the full post.
Nature For Everyone
#NatureForEveryone Anyone who follows my photography knows that it is highly inspired by nature. So when I came across the Wildlife and Countryside Link‘s campaign for #NatureForEveryone, it caught my eye. Although I wouldn’t describe myself as an outdoorsy person, I do love getting close to nature. My first memories of properly connecting with nature was also when I first started dabbling in photography. I would head out with my camera to capture sunsets, this then evolved in to exploring local farmland and natural habitats. Today I love connecting with natural world around us. I feel very privileged to live…
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In Review: 2021
2021 was a tough year for us all, what with the continued pandemic and accompanying lockdowns & ever changing restrictions. Personally, I feel that 2021 was just an extension of 2020. Thankfully, we saw less lockdowns in 2021 compared to 2020 as we all tried get back into “normal” routines. Although a part of me misses the extra spare time that the lockdowns gave us. For me, the time to connect with nature more, as well as more time spent with my wife so we could do activities together. I’m sure I spent more time out with my camera during…
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Prints Available
I have played with the idea of selling my work several times over the years, but I have never found a platform that suits me. My love of photography is my way of expressing myself and sometimes a little bit of escapism. In part my decision to start selling some of my work is to hopefully fund the upkeep of my website so that I can continue to share my love of photography with the world (yes, making a little bit of extra income would be nice). So here we are, a New Year, starting a new endeavour (wish me…
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Word-Ads Trial
I have been debating for some time to activate the Premium Tools that WP has to offer. One of the premium tools that I have decided to trial is WordAds. I have been undecided about WordAds for sometime, as I’m not overly a fan of adverts on websites, as they can be intrusive. I figured the best way to help me decide if this is the right feature for my site/blog is to trial it. I would really appreciate the opinions of my readers / visitors to my site? Have you used WordAds yourself? What was your experience if you’ve…
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Update & Thank You
I would like to say thank you to my followers & readers, your support is really appreciated. Your likes & kind comments encourage me to continue to share my work & keep blogging. I count myself as a photographer first and a blogger second. The blogging part does not come easy to me (as you can probably tell from reading my posts). Knowing what to write often has me staring at the screen as if starring in to the abyss, my mind completely blank. I have lost count the amount of times I have written a paragraph then rewrite it…
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Instagram & Photography
I have had a mixed experience with social media with regards to sharing my photography. My photography & my initial website was born long before the creation of the social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) that we know today. When I first began to use Instagram (October 2010) it appeared to be a platform for photographers & photography lovers (which is what I liked about it), sharing mobile-phone-photography shots. Trying to make creative mobile photography shots. Although I loved this new style of photography I have to admit I was a bit snobbish back then and didn’t deem mobile…
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Early Work
Feeling reminiscent so thought I would revisit and republish some of my early work, which dates back to 2005 and 2007. It is weird revisiting my earlier work as it brings back so many memories of the moments when I first took these photos. A time and place a million miles away from the person that I am today. I think what stands out for me looking back at some of my early photographic work is the change in quality. What I remember being really proud of back then, I now look at, and in some cases cringe at the…
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Lockdown 2.0
So here in the UK (well in England at least) we find ourselves 12 days in to another country wide lockdown. All going well it should only last for a month, ending on the 2nd December 2020. Not to sound pessimistic but we were told that last time, and 3 months later it was still in effect. I’m not going to get all political or get in to my thoughts of what I think will or should happen next on here as its not the place for such ramblings. So moving swiftly on I’m taking each day as it comes…
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Selling Prints Online
So I really want to have a go at selling prints of my photos online, preferably via my own website. I have tried this several times before and never found a platform that I’m completely happy with. Firstly I guess it’s the question of would people be interested to buy my work? I’m trying to ignore the perfectionist in me that doubts the quality of my work and whispers to me that no one would be interested. Secondly which platform do I use. There are so many options out there, that trying to decide what would work best for me…
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Photo Walks
Last month I read the article “How to lose weight & stay in shape while photo-walking” on the Phoblographer and it got me thinking. Although I have not been trying to lose weight, my photography has definitely led me to be more physically active this year. Slightly forced by the COVID-19 pandemic & subsequent lockdown, which limited our time outside to only grocery shopping and time for daily exercise. Now as I’m not a very sporty person (I’ll be honest I’m lazy), to make the most of our daily exercise outside we would go for walks around local parks or…
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Wild June
Throughout June I have been taking part in The Wildlife Trusts annual “30 Days Wild” challenge, which I have modified slightly from taking part in something wildlife/nature related to a wildlife/nature photo challenge. The concept has been the same I have been able to enjoy the nature and wildlife around me. As I predicted, I find committing to daily challenges, well, quite frankly, a challenge! I managed to see the challenge through until the end of June even if I may not have shared photos every day. The extra spare time of being in lockdown has definitely helped, allowing me…
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30 Days Wild
I have signed up to take part in The Wildlife Trusts annual nature challenge: 30 Days Wild 2020. Each day of June 2020 I endeavour to take & share at least one nature / wildlife photo to highlight the beauty of the natural world that we live in. #30DaysWild I feel that this may be a challenge for me in a couple of ways. 1) Partly due to COVID-19 lockdown, & 2) committing to daily challenges is not my strength. I either get distracted by other commitments or loose the motivation to continue. On that note I have been thinking…
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Photo Blogging
As a photographer who blogs to share my work (I guess that means I’m a photo blogger). The one thing that I always struggle with when publishing to my photography blog is knowing what to write. I use my website / blog as more of a portfolio of my work than an actual blog. I am sure there are no right or wrong answers to photo blogging or blogging in general for that matter. Though I always feel when I post a selection of my photography work that I should write some sort of blurb or story to go with…
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Living In Lockdown
As of Monday 23rd March 2020 at 8:30pm GMT the UK went in to lockdown due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As we now find ourselves in these unprecedented times of social distancing and social isolation I want to try and record the effects of lockdown in my local community, while obviously abiding by our government’s social distancing guidelines. #LivingInLockdown #StaySafe
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Nikon School: Free Courses
Stuck for something to do during lockdown while we’re stuck in the house? Why not learn a new skill or add to an existing skill set. One of my good friends brought this to my attention so thought I would share it. Nikon has generously provided their Nikon School: Online classes, free until the end of April. Whether your a beginner or a more advanced photographer I’m sure you can find a course that will interest you. One of my favourite courses available is the “Discovering Macro Photography” by Joey Terrill. Below is just a very small sample of the…
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Photography vs Lockdown
I’ve not been posting to my website as much of late. As for one reason or another I’ve not had the time or the motivation to blog. So I’m going to try and use some of my new found extra spare time to blog more and spend more time on my photography. I’ve previously only posted photo blogs and then only posted when I’ve had some photos that I particularly wanted to share. Going forward I shall try and share some of my thoughts as well. With this in mind I have added the new blog category of “Behind The…
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Ryan Garden Photography 