About me:
© Darren Hall
Do you consider yourself a Professional/Semi-Pro/Amateur/Beginner photographer?
Although I’ve been lucky enough to sell a few pieces of my work I still consider myself, very much, an amateur photographer with so much still to learn.
Who are you?
I’m Darren Hall. I’m 51 years old, married to my gorgeous wife Sian and we have two great kids - Alfie aged 15 and Tilly aged 12 - hence the grey hair I now have!! We live in Nottinghamshire which is great location for getting to different areas of the country for my photography and I’m very lucky in that the beautiful Peak District National Park is only a short drive away!
I’ve done a variety of jobs since the age of 17 including, believe it or not, working as a model!!! However, the bulk of my working life was in aviation, an industry I loved, and I worked in several areas such as Airport Firefighter, Airfield Operations and finishing my career as a Birdstrike Consultant which took me to airports all over the world!! For a few reasons, I have taken semi-retirement and now work as a casual pallbearer for a local funeral director.
Tell us about your photography journey.
Mainly through my dad, I’d always had a love of birds, wildlife and the outdoors. Although he was big into photography, I’d found my love of it just through being out there and seeing the world through my binoculars.
However, at Christmas of 2020, dad bought me my first ‘proper’ camera in the Sony DSC-RX10M4 and it changed my life! I quickly became addicted to photography and capturing everything outdoors through the lens. It gave me a new way of looking at life and whilst out with my camera it gave me this new focus to help clear my head through the hard times - I was hooked but also knew that I had lots to learn and that is when, through social media, I found TSOP and signed up in August 2021, quickly completing the Beginners Photography Course which I found absolutely invaluable in my learning process and I just love being a member of this amazing school!
What is your preferred genre?
I am someone who likes to experiment in as many genres of photography as possible to be honest which I feel helps to maintain my high level of enthusiasm but I must admit that landscape photography is my main passion. My favourite time of day to shoot is definitely sunrise where I often find myself alone high up in the peaks, wandering along a beach or walking along a busy harbour, but I just love this solitude and experiencing some unbelievably dramatic skies whilst most people are still tucked up in bed!!
I try to work hard on my composition during my photography, using an object or leading lines to focus people’s attention, and I love to use long exposure whenever a chance arises. I use Adobe Lightroom for my post-processing, simply because I find it so user-friendly, and I love to bring out colour and add texture to my images.
What inspires you to create photography?
Whether it’s a spectacular sunrise, a stunning view or beautiful wildlife, I just love capturing that moment, processing the image and then sharing it with as many people as possible, hoping that it will start their day with a smile.
Who are some other photographers you’re inspired by?
I follow several great landscape photographers on Instagram, always looking to aspire to their level and getting ideas for my next shoot. I have to mention Marc Newton as, through his courses and sheer enthusiasm, I have learnt so much and I must also give a thank you to all the members of TSOP as the work I see from them, particularly on the assignments, provide me with so much inspiration!
Describe the first photo you took during your learning journey.
One of the first photos I took after joining TSOP was on a gorgeous morning high up on Win Hill in the Peak District. I still like the image but feel if I went back up there now on a similar morning I could improve on several elements of the image, including composition, light and focus, along with better post-processing. I’ve now upgraded my camera to a Sony A7iv and so, naturally, my current photography feels sharper but I can also see many improvements to areas such as composition, use of light, colour and feel of my images. It obviously helps also that, through the TSOP beginners course I have such a better understanding of my camera, allowing me to create different looks in my images and also overcome any issues such as overexposure, etc.
© Darren Hall | One of his first photos posted in TSOP
© Darren Hall | One of his recent photos posted in TSOP
What is your favourite photograph that you’ve taken?
It’s nice to think that I have many favourites now when looking through my gallery, but one I always look at fondly is from the early days in my journey and is of a huge stag, surrounded by his herd of does.
This image was taken early one morning whilst roaming around the beautiful Chatsworth estate. The image was taken from quite a (very safe) distance where I took several images before packing up and heading home. It was only then during post-processing that I realised how dramatic the shot was with him staring straight into my eyes and, by adding colour and texture I felt the mood intensified and I was just over the moon with the end result!
© Darren Hall | Favourite image: The Stag
What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from TSOP?
TSOP has taught me so many things, particularly with having a better understanding of how my camera works.
However, the big thing that TSOP has really given me has to be confidence. Not just the confidence to understand my camera and its settings better, along with the confidence to ‘set up’ an image better, but also (and this is the big one for me) to have the confidence to believe in your own photography technique, style, look and feel! I have experienced negative feedback before, criticising my work for “not looking real” when I included long exposure in an image, and it was nice to have the confidence to think that not everyone has to like my work and keep on believing in myself and my work.
© Darren Hall
What’s next for Darren?
The main thing for me is to keep on learning and improving my photography. Photographing as many locations around the world as possible is very high on my list, along with continuing to be confident enough to try the variety of genres there are in photography. I love golf course photography and I feel I should try to take this passion further in the future. Also, I have been asked to photograph a friends wedding next year, something I am very excited, nervous and proud of but with a little self-confidence along with the uncanny release of TSOP’s new Wedding Photography Course (which I’m currently focussed on) I know I can deliver some great images for the lovely couple and then who knows where that may take me?!
Conclusion
I have to say that I am so happy and proud of where I am currently with my photography. As I mentioned before, picking up a camera changed my life but by constantly learning, taking advice and trying to improve constantly, my journey so far has been way beyond my expectations!
I’ve been so lucky to sell some of my work along the way and I had the privilege of winning the National Parks Photography Competition 2023 Public Vote Winner so I’d love to have more experiences of sales and winning competitions and assignments.
As for the future - stay happy, healthy and enjoying capturing the world through the eye of my camera - that would do very nicely thank you.
© Darren Hall | National Parks Photography Competition 2023 Public Vote Winner
Where can people follow you?
People can view my work on Instagram @dhall.photography and @darrenhallgolf .
Darren’s Gallery:
All images © Darren Hall
