Saturday 7 June 2014

An Introduction

My name is Sean Chester and I like to think of myself as a photographer. I am a father of two and live in Norfolk in the UK. I have always been a bit artistic and photography provides me with the ability to vent my artistic fury without the world finding out I am crap at oil painting.

My grandfather was an avid photographer and I grew up visiting his house full of camera-gear, some bought from a store and some home-made. His house was a treasure trove of camera kit, from basic box cameras to quiet serious-looking Mamiya studio cameras. When I decided to take up GCSE Photography I cut my teeth with the now sorry-looking Yashica FX2 SLR which I still own (although various parts have dropped off) Looking at it now it kind of looks a bit basic. I love it.

Today I have a DSLR, a Canon EOS50D, which weighs a ton, looks suitably impressive and gives out a good image. However, I am quite proud of the fact that I can develop, process and print my own monochrome, and have even dabbled in colour film processing. I am almost exclusively digital at the moment, this is mostly due to lack of money and time to rebuild a darkroom. But as this blog develops this may change.

I am not snobby about camera gear and you will not find me raving about the latest Leica or medium format digital-backed Mamiya. Most of my kit is scratched and semi-functional, ancient, museum quality, mouldy, musty or made from cardboard. My philosophy is that all the fabulous kit in the world will not help you if you do not know what to point a camera at, nor will Photoshop. Go out, get it right first time in-camera. Have fun trying out old camera gear and discovering new places. Don't hedge your bets.

Anyway, I am off for now. I hope to inspire and inform by writing my blog and hopefully be entertaining. Au Revoir.

Sean Chester - at my kitchen table. 

No comments:

Post a Comment