Gallery Member Spotlight - Rachel Scott-Renouf
In a brand new series, we cast the spotlight on members of the PhotographyBLOG Gallery and ask them about their photography. The fifth member to sit in the interview chair is Rachel Scott-Renouf.
What
do you enjoy most about the Gallery?
Finding lots of new friends with the same interest and watching peoples photography improve so quickly and learning from other members.
Do you think being a Gallery member has helped improve your photography?
Yes definately, I have learnt a lot from other peoples photos and the feedback people leave. I often fail to see distractions in my photos that other people will pick up on and this has helped me to look further than the "subject" - it doesn't matter how sharp and clear the subject is, if the background is distracting then it will often ruin the photo.
Nature
is obviously your favourite topic - what is it that interests
you so much?
I love taking close up photos of insects etc because you can often see a lot more detail when enlarging the photo on the computer than you can with your own eyes and that fascinates me. What just looks like another bug can turn out to be very beautiful and interesting. Also, all I have to do is step out the front door and walk into the garden! However, I do feel that my photos are starting to look the same, so I am trying to get out of Macro mode! I have a long way to go and a lot to learn - but seeing all the excellent photos on PhotographyBLOG is a constant source of inspiration.
What
kind of equipment do use now, and what did you start with?
I started out with a 1MP Olympus C960 point and shoot camera which was a good little camera, but as I came to enjoy photography more and more I upgraded to a 3MP Olympus C720, then a Nikon 8MP Nikon 8700, which has a great macro facility. However, having never done any sort of photography course, I had no idea about the manual controls and always used auto. Looking at the EXIF information on photos on this site is really helping me to learn and understand f/stops, Shutter Speed and Aperture. I have set my camera to manual so that Ihave to work out for myself what the best setting is to get the colours and DOF I require. One day I hope to own a Nikon D200.
Have you sold any of your Gallery photographs?
I was contacted last week by someone wishing to buy a large print of my "3 Daisies" photo - (which was altered in PSE2) - I was so honored that I gave her a copy!
What
is the one piece of advice that you would give to other budding
photographers?
Read your camera manual from cover to cover, then read it again - as knowing all your cameras functions will help you a lot - it is a big learning curve, but don't be afraid to experiment. I still have a lifetime of learning to do.
You can see more of Rachel Scott-Renouf's photographs in this User Gallery.