1. Who are you? Please give a brief background information.
39 years old male living in the South of England, no previous camera knowledge, but a passion for capturing moments in time.

2. How long have you been doing photography?
3 years

3. How did you start doing photography? What got you interested in it?
I got a cheap digital camera and started capturing the local area for my own memories.

4. Do you earn living from photography or you do photography as your hobby/ your half time job?
I dont at the moment, however it is something i have been asked to do.

5. What’s your day job?
I am Field service engineer.

6. Do you have special education? Did you take courses or go to a school learn photography?
No just been in right place at right time. and had some good results

7. Are you specializing in a particular area of photography? What are your favorite places/objects to shoot?
I have taken a wide range, and not specialized in any really area. I live near the sea and it holds my thoughts and imagination. So a few ocean based shots seem to be more prevalent.

8. Who are your big photographic influences?
I dont really have any. Sorry to say

9. How do you educate yourself? Do you read special literature, visit photography galleries? What photo books/magazines do you have on your bookshelf?
Nothing photographic, i am new to this so just stumbling through it, and not drawing on others.

10. What equipment and software do you use (camera(s), lenses, film, etc.)?
I have a canon d400, with its standard lens, plus a 70-300 and a 2x converter, which i keep with me all the time just in case. and dare i say a nokia n95 which for a camera phone takes a great pic.

11. What is your opinion on post-processing, especially enhancing pictures?
I try to keep photos as natural as possible, giving it to others as it is. I think that good editing and framing of the subject matter keeps it real, although some great results can be achieved with a little tweaking.

12. What advice would you give someone who is interested in photography and wants to improve their photography skills?
Look at everything, and observe all details, most people look but dont see. A grey sky is not just one colour grey its is many different shades. And try shooting one subject in various different settings, and stick to the order. Learn what your camera deos! Play with it have fun, and you will soon start to see the results for yourself

13. What’s the most challenging aspect of photography for you? What’s the best part of it?
I love to snap pics! So i guess this site helps me to find the challenges in its competion ideas. This for me is a passion, mainly because photography holds lifes images, captured snippets in time. I love to look back over them, plus i really enjoy others seeing my work.

1. Who are you? Please give a brief background information.

I have lived most of my life in Philadelphia, Pa. I have worked as a college professor of English most of my working life.

2. How long have you been doing photography?

On and off for over 25 years. Recently I have become more serious about it. Though I previously worked in a darkroom, I never enjoyed it. My interest in photography was revitalized with the advent of digital photography.

3. How did you start doing photography? What got you interested in it?

My father was an enthusiast.

4. Do you earn living from photography or you do photography as your hobby/ your half time job?

Photography is hobby at this time; however, I am looking at the possibility of generating some income from it when I retire. This would serve to justify the traveling I intend to do.

6. Do you have special education? Did you take courses or go to a school learn photography?

No special education in photography, though I do hold an advanced degree in Art History.

7. Are you specializing in a particular area of photography? What are your favorite places/objects to shoot?

I most enjoy shooting macro but also like other wildlife photography. I enjoy urban photography as well, particularly as it relates to political themes.

9. How do you educate yourself? Do you read special literature, visit photography galleries? What photo books/magazines do you have on your bookshelf?

Mostly, I observe the works of others at various photography websites. I have the usual collection of coffee table photography books and several Photoshop instructional books. I am a frequent visitor of regional art museums for exhibits not only of photos but paintings as well.

10. What equipment and software do you use (camera(s), lenses, film, etc.)?

I am currently using Canon equipment: Canon 40d, Canon 5d, Canon XTi and a pretty full assortment of Canon “L” lenses. For macro, I’m using a Tamron 180mm and Sigma 105mm since I see better results from them than from any of the Canon macro lenses.

11. What is your opinion on post-processing, especially enhancing pictures?

Post processing is equivalent to dark room manipulation. There is, however, an integrity to any photo that should not be violated. A photo must be honest. Any enhancement should serve to reinforce a photo’s thesis, not produce results that are inauthentic.

12. What advice would you give someone who is interested in photography and wants to improve their photography skills?

In a word, observe. And know that when you point your camera at something, you are making a statement. Know what you want to say. Know why you are taking the picture. This will lead you to logical technical and proper artistic decisions.

13. What’s the most challenging aspect of photography for you? What’s the best part of it?

The most challenging aspect is achieving technical perfection in my photos. I am very demanding of myself in terms of achieving the effects I want. In macros, for example, I want perfect focus and the closest possible perspective.

1. Who are you? Please give a brief background information.

My names is Pete West and I am now living in Valencia, Spain, after emigrating from the UK 2 years ago. I live a very full life and try to do as many things as time allows. I have a lovely wife who supports me in all I do, as I support her. After a very successful career as an amateur athlete I now utilise the time I spent training on a variety of activities. At 52 I still play football regularly and keep myself fit playing all sorts of sports. I play the Saxophone when I can and enjoy all types of music. I am currently eating and drinking my way around Valencia as well as enjoying the countryside and seeing the different wildlife here.

2. How long have you been doing photography?

I have only been into serious photography for about three years, after buying a digital SLR for a trip of a lifetime to Brazil.

3. How did you start doing photography? What got you interested in it?

I always liked the idea of taking close up shots of wildlife but could never afford the reams and reams of film I would have needed to perfect the skill. With digital I was able to make numerous mistakes and just delete them, so the trip to Brazil presented the ideal excuse to buy a DSLR and zoom lens. Unfortunately I should have had much more practise before going as many shots were disappointing. Thats the beauty of digital however, I still got quite a few good shots, (to go with the hundreds of bad ones!!) As I´ve improved I find I need to take less and less shots to get the really good ones but without digital I probably would not have started.

4. Do you earn living from photography or you do photography as your hobby/ your half time job?

I am purely an amateur. I would like to be able to supplement my income at some stage but think thats probably a long way off.

5. What’s your day job?

I teach PE and Maths to 11-18 year olds in an International School. I have been teaching now for about 20years and still enjoy it.

6. Do you have special education? Did you take courses or go to a school learn photography?

All that I have learned about photography has come from books, magazines, online articles and trial and error.

7. Are you specializing in a particular area of photography? What are your favorite places/objects to shoot?

I love shooting Wildlife and Sports action shots. Unfortunately I don´t have the expensive lenses necessary to do as well as I would like in this area.

8. Who are your big photographic influences?

I have to say that I don´t have a specific photographer in mind, the photographs in National Geographic magazine are what really fired my interest.

9. How do you educate yourself? Do you read special literature, visit photography galleries? What photo books/magazines do you have on your bookshelf?

I am self taught from the many articles and sites available on the internet. I would avidly read all the free advice and then print off the interesting stuff for future reference. I have also used websites such as this one to invite critique on my own photographs and hopefully learn from it.
I visit any photo exhibitions that are in my area, and when in the UK I buy all the photo magazines I can. Personally, however, I have learnt most by looking at other peoples work and analysing what makes it good; composition, lighting, dof etc. Then I try to get the same techniques into my shots.

10. What equipment and software do you use (camera(s), lenses, film, etc.)?

I have a Canon 400D with standard EFS 18-55 lens and a 70-300mm IS USM zoom lens. I also have a X2 extender which I rarely use as the quality suffers unless the light is perfect. I use Photoshop Elements software to process the images, but really need to spend more time perfecting this area.

11. What is your opinion on post-processing, especially enhancing pictures?

Maybe my previous answer gives this away, but I think that you should get the shot right without the need for post processing. I always shoot in RAW now and the good shots need very little doing to them. The one that won this competition was virtually as shot.
Apart from anything I really don´t have the time for post processing. Thats not to say that if I had the time and the training I wouldn´t use it but I get more satisfaction from getting it right first time.

12. What advice would you give someone who is interested in photography and wants to improve their photography skills?

Visit as many websites as you can, look at other peoples work and then get out and try things. Then choose your best shots and get as many as possible to critique your work, accept the criticism and then act on it.

13. What’s the most challenging aspect of photography for you? What’s the best part of it?

The hardest part for me is seeing the shot before I have taken it. I generally have to take loads from all different angles and decide after which one looks the best. When taking action shots the hardest part is getting the timing right and it really helps to know your subject and anticipate what will happen. Getting the timing right is the best part.

14. Could you please attach or send links to 3 favourite photos you took?

A tough choice, apart from the two entered in this competition these are probably amongst the most satisfying, the two wildlife shots for the timing and the pciture of Rio for the memories and because it was one of my first successful shots