Inspiration

I collect photo books - but not "how to" books and definitely not "how to photograph weddings" books. Above are some of my favourites, including Elliott Erwitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Dan Winters, Marc Riboud and compilations from the Magnum agency.

Books are for inspiration. Operating a camera is easy. You can learn that from the manual that comes with the camera.

But photography is about more than operating a camera.

The best way to improve as a photographer is to take lots of pictures. The next best way is to look at lots of great photographs.

For Me, Photography Is a Hobby Too

I don't just shoot photos when I'm being paid. Photography was a hobby before I took it up professionally, and I continue to shoot for fun in my spare time. Often I'll shoot on my old Rolleicord 6x6 medium format TLR camera...

Its nice to go back to shooting "real" photographs on film. Obviously there's no screen to check on the back of the camera, and you only get 12 frames per roll of 120 film, so you have to think before you shoot. I still get excited to see the pictures when they come back from the lab...

You can see some of my "hobby" photography on my Flickr stream : Simon's Flickr