SmudgeArt Global Interview for August 2010
with the very talented Photographer Jason Connolly of
Cleveleys, Lancashire. England UK
First of Jason... Welcome!
We are so pleased that you excepted to do this
Photographer’s Interview at Global Interviews,
and to show us your amazing photography captures
of your home and stunning English countryside.
Thank You for being so kind to share your work with us.
Jason, Can you please give us a little background on....
Who you are, your location, hobbies and
what captured you heart to become a photographer?
Thank you Maddy and Hi Folks!
My name is Jason Connolly. I'm 38 years old and
I've been married to Donna for 16 years now
and we have 2 lads,
Joshua aged 16 and James aged 13.
They are a handful...
but what teenage kids aren't hey?? lol!
I am a train driver by profession
based in the NW of England. It's a job I love doing!
For most kids growing up, a dream I guess. Except,
I wanted to be an astronaut. Lol!
I am from Cleveleys, Lancashire. England
It is very close to the famous Victorian Family
seaside resort of Blackpool.
Which is the most popular seaside
resort in England and the UK.
With around 10 million visitors annually.
It has three Victorian Piers.
Sunset Road, Cleveleys, Lancashire. England
but what teenage kids aren't hey?? lol!
I am a train driver by profession
based in the NW of England. It's a job I love doing!
For most kids growing up, a dream I guess. Except,
I wanted to be an astronaut. Lol!
I am from Cleveleys, Lancashire. England
It is very close to the famous Victorian Family
seaside resort of Blackpool.
Which is the most popular seaside
resort in England and the UK.
With around 10 million visitors annually.
It has three Victorian Piers.
Sunset Road, Cleveleys, Lancashire. England
It is also famous for its tramway system
One of the oldest in the world.
Also, it has the annual world largest lights display called the...
Blackpool Illuminations (which is 6 miles long)
An event not to be missed if you visit here!
My Hobbies are, country walking in
my home county of Lancashire.
I also enjoy walks around the county of Cumbria
and the beautiful lake district.
A national park that I could never get bored with.
It's awesome mountain scenery and home of
England’s Highest peak That is Scafell Pike at 3210ft.
Elter Water, Lake District, Cumbria
Along with all of the beautiful lakes.
There are 19, I think. Also,
England’s largest lake, which is Windermere.
With many, many more tarns (Mountain lakes)
and beautiful valleys and scenery beyond
your wildest dreams, within an area of 2292 sq KM.
This is another reason why I love this place so much,
It has easy accessibility of the park.
This brings me on to my next hobby/part time job,
which is Photography and the main reason for this interview...
I think I sort of fell in love with
the art of photography by accident really.
I would love to say that ever since a small child
I had a passion for photography but,
I would be telling a bit of a fat lie there.
No, to be honest with you.
I enjoyed art at school, but took too
long to finish anything off
to get marked well for it.
I never really had any interest in photography
really while growing up.
When I got married I bought a few very inexpensive cameras
for family photography with most of the pictures coming back
from the developers with heads chopped off,
fingers in front of the lens, that sort of thing. lol!
I never really had any desire to learn more on the art,
has it was just too expensive with film for me.
I really had a tight budget back in those early days.
I would have always loved,
to have brought home a little of the walks that I did at that time.
It was probably when I went on a family walk in the
Ribble Valley in Lancashire.
My dad introduced me to his Agfa 1.3 MP digital camera.
The first one I had ever seen and with its instant results.
I was amazed to see the picture on the rear of the screen.
Granted it took forever to take the shot and
felt as if rigamortis would set in
by the time the shot had been taken.
These were the seeds that eventually spurred me on
to eventually (a year or so later)
to buying my first ever digital camera.
It cost me a whopping £250,
(well that was a fortune to me then)
It was a Olympus MJU 300 3.2 MP digital camera
and the results where just amazing to me.
I was starting to get hooked from then on.
A little time went by and I wanted to
learn to get more out of my camera.
I started to look on line for tips on photography.
Eventually I came across a site called
Digital Photo Forum.com. (Now disbanded)
I joined up in May 2006 and uploaded my first shot
and got some critique on the shot.
It was a simple sunset shot and a person recommended,
that I crop it by using the
law of thirds for the composition.
I tried and it worked. I loved the result.
I wanted some more of this.
This was just one of the many helpful hints and tips
from the great people and friends I made on that site.
From then on my passion for photography
grew and has grown massively
into a passionate addiction if you like,
for photography.
Jason your love for Photography
shows in your captures.
There is not doubting that.
Can you tell us about the kind of
Camera /s and equipment you use?
I have at Present: 2 DSLRs Nikons D70s, a Nikon D300,
Nikon f1.8 50mm prime,Tamron 90mm macro prime,
Nikon 18-55mm VR lens, Sigma 18-200mm OS lens,
Sigma 10-20mm lens, Sigma 70-300mm lens,
Nikon 55-200mm lens and also 2 Slik tripods.
What cameras would you like to own?
I would love to go full frame and
own a camera such as a
Nikon D3s/x or D700
with a new set of FX lenses,
such as the 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-S,
Nikon 24-70mm AFS f2.8 G,
and the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 G AF-S VR IF ED Lens.
What are your favourite editing programs to work in?
My favourite software programs are Photoshop,
which is used 95% of the time for processing my shots.
I shoot 99% in Raw. I also use Photo Matrix H software
for my HDR and tone mapping.
Jason what inspires you as a photographer?
I would say the beauty of nature with the peace and
quiet of the countryside and wildlife.
It makes me feel alive when I see all of this,
and it always inspires me to
take that shot and share it with others.
I love architecture and enjoy doing my church interior shots.
Going inside some of the wonderful
churches here is inspirational.
It is amazing to look at some of the artistic talent that
went into designing and building these great building.
Are you currently working on a special
project or gallery show?
No special projects or galleries at present, sorry.
Just my personal love for and blessings to be able to capture this
wonderful English countryside to share with all that care to view.
Can you tell us about your favourite artist
or photographer that has
inspired you in your photography?
Lots of people inspire me,
there are too many names to mention and there are so many
pieces of photography out there from people of
all levels of experience that inspire me.
Can you tell us about a day in
your photography life
that you will never forget?
I suppose it could have been the beaching
of the RoRo Ferry named Riverdance
which was beached on the beach on the border of
Blackpool and Cleveleys at the end of 2008.
This gave me some, once in a lifetime shots of a large ferry
shipwrecked five minutes from my front door.
It became a tourist attraction for the town.
This event gave me plenty of photo opportunities right up
till it's break up not far off a year later.
Jason can you tell us what are
your plans for the future...
Professionally and personally?
Professionally. At the moment I am just enjoying
doing what I am doing,
which is going out walking and capturing the scenes
and events that capture my eye.
I am not wanting to go professional full time at this point,
as I enjoy my full time job a s a train driver too much.
I am also concerned that taking photos for a living will add too
much pressure and take some of the enjoyment out of it,
but who knows what may happen in the future.
Personally I am wanting to improve my skills as a photographer,
I am learning still, as I go along.
I would love to go and get a degree in photography
which is a bit of a dream at the moment.
Jason do you have any words of wisdom for the
up coming Photographers out there?
First off keep practicing your photography,
as practice makes perfect.
Learn from others and don't be scared to ask.
I wasn't and still do ask.
You'll be surprised how many people bend over backwards
to help you. I found that out myself.
Try lots of different types of photography to see what suits you best,
ex. Landscapes, portrait, wildlife etc. You may love it all,
but if like me you may be geared more towards Landscape and wildlife,
architecture... that's my favourite.
Shoot earlier or later on in the day as the light always gives better results.
Start to understand your camera,
getting to grips with all the settings at first is daunting
but when you get out of auto mode you will find yourself
becoming a little more creative
and getting more of the results you want.
In closing Jason, Is there anything else you
would like to add to this interview?
Always be encouraging to others,
don't burst their bubbles
(you might scare them off)
if their photography isn't up to your standard,
rather be gentle and give good advice to help
them better their art. If you are out there and
the weather doesn't want to play,
don't get wound up with it all or
feel pressured to get that awesome shot,
there is always another day.
Enjoy yourself!
Summery:
Thank you Jason my friend for the pleasure
and honour of this interview.
Keep up the wonderful work,
so we have much more to view and experience
through your eye as a photographer.
Blessings and good fortune in all of your endeavours Jason!
Please, If you enjoyed this interview take some time
send your friends the link to this blog and to
leave a comment at the end of this blog for
Jason and visit his portfolio at this link.
Thank You all for viewing this interview.
I would be honoured if you would consider following
SmudgeArt Global Interviews Blog,
we will be doing new Interviews each month.
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I look forward to your support and your interviews.
copyright: Madeline M Allen August 2010
SmudgeArt Global Interviews
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