Stephen Cotterell

For years I struggled with my photography. Here is a short story about that struggle.

At first, I really did not like the images that I was producing and (mistakenly) thought that I needed to upgrade ALL of my cameras, lenses and lights.

After a while, I realised that, no matter how well I knew my equipment, my manner of interacting with my subjects, especially people like you, was much more important than any equipment that I was carrying.

While this was continuing, I had a series of light-bulb moments (pun intended) about ambient and artificial light (and shadows) which helped me develop my photographic art in ways I had not imagined before.

Yet still I felt I was not good enough as a photographer (and this was despite years of training, practicing, collaborating and doing just about everything I could think of to raise my game).

Perhaps I was missing something else? Aha! Did I need to really understand the ins and outs of (digital) darkroom processing? Just look at the great images that the past masters of photography produced after countless hours in their darkrooms.

So, I embarked on an extended (and quite expensive) learning period to really get to know different types of software to process, edit, enhance and lift my digital images to a higher level. Photoshop was the hardest for me to understand but once the pennies started to drop it became easier and easier to use.

After all of this, I have reached a place where I feel I have integrated an enormous amount of the Art and Science of Photography into the three key phases of preparation, the photoshoot and the post-processing of images.

Yet, and yet, and yet ...............

Of course, you are ahead of me here, the learning journey is endless. The good news is that the creativity flows more freely, decisions become more intuitive and the final images are always improving.

Not surprisingly, most people who want a photograph do not care about any of this because from their point of view photography is about pointing a camera in the direction of their subject and pressing a button.

For people like you who do want a more considered photograph, then I am here for you.

Thank you for reading, thinking and getting in touch.

Stephen

stephen cotterell photography

+44 7990 525 814

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. - Albert Einstein