My name is Gi Lewis and I mainly shoot long exposure night photography and I’m a completely self-taught photographer. I first got inspired into photography from my late father who was himself a keen photographer, but unlike myself he developed his own prints and never actually owned a digital camera.
The first camera I bought was a Nikon 995 back in 2002 and I mainly used this as a point-and-shoot camera, getting used to how digital cameras worked and understanding composition. It was only after a couple of years of playing about with this camera I decided that I wanted something a little better to challenge me, so decided to buy myself the new Nikon D70.
At this point in time I still hadn’t tried night photography and it wasn’t until a good few months after I had watched the Lord Mayor’s fireworks display on the banks of the River Thames that I wandered down the Embankment path, and noticed opposite The London Eye lit up in all its glory and I decided to take a few snaps, but this time putting the camera on manual and leaving the shutter open for a short time. Although the results were far from perfect and the white balance was completely wrong, I had a feeling of excitement that came over me and I decided there and then that this was the way I wanted to go in my quest of becoming a serious photographer.
Now a few more years down the line, night photography (nightscapes) is my thing. I now own a Nikon D300 and I shoot with wireless remotes. I understand more about composition, white balance and I get inspiration from looking at other great nightscape photographs from around the world. I’ve even noticed on the internet similar photographs to ones I have taken, unknowingly from the same location and possibly within feet from where the other photographer must have been standing to take their photograph. I can only surmise that after time you get a kind of natural instinct to what is going to make a photograph look good or bad. I personally feel that photography is a never ending learning experience that keeps growing with every photograph taken, and striving to make the next one you take even better.
Although I do the occasional day photograph, all these being landscapes or scenic, I cannot get over the use of long exposure in my photography and I achieve this by always taking my 1000x ND filter with me on location.
My goals in photography is to have my work published, have an exhibition and hopefully one day be able to give up my job and do photography full time.
This I know is a big wish, but wishes can sometimes come true….
Links:
Website: http://www.indepthphoto.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/53849901@N05/
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