Tony Steers Photography

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19/12/15 - Shown below are some shots recently taken for a corporate calendar for a local business. The calendar is also illustrated to the right.

I think the key to a good local calendar shot is to be a simple uncluttered composition of a recognisable location, which should remain easy on the eye for the entire month, and I hope I’ve managed to achiev that with these images.

This was my first all-digital project, mainly for reasons of time and cost constraints, and I’m pleased to report that the customer is happy with the outcome. I was additionally tasked to provide some local scenes to illustrate the company’s website, which were also shot specifically for the project and were also well received, so all in all, a successful project which fulfilled the brief. But now I’m itching to get back to my lovely old film cameras and make some slightly more “arty” images.

tony steers photography - 2015 Glastonbury festival
tony steers photography - 2015 Glastonbury festival

30/09/2015 - I know, it’s been an age since I put anything new on here. I’ve been a bit busy with the framing, and maybe just a bit lazy, but I’ve admitted to not being prolific, and I have been making photos, so don’t be too harsh on me.

After a long period of lurking, I finally signed up to the filmwasters online forum, so I’ve been posting pics fairly regularly on there for the last year. It’s a nice, friendly, supportive community and has inspired me to find the time to take more photos. There’s a link to filmwasters.com just a little further down this page. I’d recommend a visit - there’s always something interesting being discussed.

The five photos to either side of these words were taken at Glastonbury Festival in June this year.

It’d been five long years since my last visit, and I wondered if it would live up to my memories... but I needn’t have worried. It was every bit as fantastic as I remembered.

I took along a recently aquired Olympus OM4 with a 35-105 Zuiko lens and an assortment of black and white film. I only succeeded in shooting a couple of films over the weekend, and while I’m reasonably happy with some of the shots, there’s plenty of room for improvement, so I’ll just have to try for a ticket to return next year.

I’m thinking it’s about time I freshened up the galleries on here, so I intend to spend some time preparing some new images and will aim to get them up on the site before christmas.

I don’t want to simply add to what’s already here, as I personally don’t think stuffing a site full of images does any favours to the photographs, the photographer, or the viewer. I reckon less is most definitely more in this respect, so my refresh will be to replace rather than increase the content of the galleries.

tony steers photography - 2015 Glastonbury festival
tony steers photography - 2015 Glastonbury festival
tony steers photography - 2015 Glastonbury festival

04/09/2014 - A pair of exhibitions I managed to get to in August, from different ends of the photographic spectrum. The National Theatre in London is showing Charlie Waite’s “Silent Exchange” until 20th September, and I reckon it’s well worth a visit. I’ve long been an admirer of Charlie’s work and have a number of his books, so this was a good opportunity to see some familiar images along with some newer work. Photography books are great, but they can sometimes seem to constrain a photograph, both physically and by the printing process, which can leave the photos looking a little flat. There’s really nothing to rival standing in front of a beautifully printed and well-presented original print, and in my humble opinion, this show hits the spot.

Click here to visit www.charliewaite.com

The second exhibition I visited was the Taylor Wessing 2013 Portrait Prize, currently showing at the Beaney Institute in Canterbury. In truth, I’m not really sure where to begin with contemporary portraiture. Some of it looks great, but a lot of it I just don’t get. I have a kind of “emperor’s new clothes” feeling about it. The first thing that comes to mind is “so what..?” But I suppose that’s the subjectivity of art for you... My personal opinion is that the power of the portrait should be in the portrait, not in the caption. Having said that, the winner is a great portrait deserving of the prize, and the whole exhibition is beautifully printed and nicely presented (as it should be). My pick of the bunch... the third prize winner, a serene black and white portrait of Kofi Annan.

12/08/2014 - I’m delighted to have had a busy week mounting and framing exhibition prints for fantasy artist, Danny Flynn, who, as well as being a supremely talented and imaginative artist, is also a bloody nice bloke.

Said exhibition is the world science fiction convention at London’s ExCel Arena. Pretty high profile, eh..?

Danny is responsible for the “jacket art” on a good number of sci-fi, fantasy and horror books by such well known authors as George RR Martin, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clark, to name but three.

Click here to visit www.dannyflynn.com

Thanks, Danny, for placing your trust in me to get this important job done for you, and the very best of luck with the convention.

11/07/2014 - It’s been a little while since my last ramblings, so I thought it’s time for a few new words. In truth, I’ve no idea whether any of this ever gets read, I mean, I know the site gets visitors, the stats from my web host tell me that much, but as for anyone being interested enough to actually read, digest, understand, agree or be affronted by anything I write... who knows? But I think I’ll continue to write, just on the vague chance that my occasional thoughts and opinions should chime with anyone out there in the real world.

tony steers photography - Artist, Danny Flynn

This site doesn’t have a specific “links” page. There’s a few links to various sites scattered about the “news” pages, but they’re a disperate bunch, and may be easy to miss, so I thought I’d offer up a handful of my favourite photo sites in one easy to find bundle. There’s a mix of inspiration, information and opinion. Just click on a name and I hope you’ll be taken to something you agree is worth seeing. And if, after seeing some of my favourites, there’s anything you think I should see, then please do let me know. 

BETH DOW - Beautiful, thoughtful landscapes using platinum-palladium process by this award winning photographer.

RODNEY SMITH - Wonderfully quirky, funny, stylish, romantic photography and an illuminating and sometimes heartachingly honest blog.

BRUCE PERCY - Landscape and travel photography plus an interesting and informative blog from one of Scotlands finest photographers.

MICHAEL KENNA - I make no apologies for a second mention for this master of monochrome landscapes.

KENRO IZU - Large format master.

ALLAN JENKINS - Photographic art using old / alternative processes.

HAKAN STRAND - Stunning black and white landscapes.

ANDREW SANDERSON - Proving that there are photos waiting to be taken absolutely everywhere, if we would only open our eyes.

EDDIE MALLIN - Eddie’s photoblog showcases his unique view of Ireland through the lenses of “toy” cameras such as Holgas.

ELLIOTT ERWITT - Simply the best, no question, my very favourite photographer.

DAVID FOKOS - Yet more stunning b&w landscapes

DANIEL MILNOR - Blurb’s “photographer at large”. The Smogranch blog is one of the most readable I’ve found.

FILMWASTERS - A lively online community dedicated to the joy of film photography.

APUG - The Analogue Photography Users Group. “Does exactly what it says on the tin”. Forums, blogs and galleries on all things analogue.

17/10/2013 - The Maidstone episode of the BBC’s DIY SOS aired last night. On it you may have seen three mighty big framed pictures of Bomber, the English Bull Terrier. Photographed at The Studio in Herne Bay, and framed by yours truly… If you didn’t see it, you’ll probably be able to find it on the BBC iPlayer, for however long they make these things available for…

Having written recently about a couple of big name exhibitions in the capital, it was nice to be able to see a lovely little exhibition closer to home, when the Whitstable Horsebridge Centre showed Trevor Crone’s “West Blean Wood”.

I have a copy of Trevor’s first book, “The Intimate Garden”, which I often reach for when in need of some inspiration, as many of the locations are local to me (as is West Blean Wood). Trevor is one of those people with the rare ability to see (and capture) the pictures that the rest of us just walk past, and he makes beautifully detailed traditional darkroom prints of his elegant compositions

Trevor doesn’t appear to have a dedicated website, but his work can be found on the Arena and Mirage group sites.

Click here to visit www.arenaphotographers.com or www.themiragegroup.co.uk

natural history museum stairways

02/09/2013 - The News page has been looking a little bloated of late, so I’ve decided to start a fresh page. Older entries are still here. You can find them by clicking the link above.         

As mentioned in my last post, “Genesis”, the latest project by Sebastiăo Salgado exhibited this summer at the Natural History Museum in London. I visited last week, and spent an hour and a half mesmerised by the great man’s work (I could have spent far longer, but the kids have a threshold for this kind of thing...). If you don’t know Salgado’s work, please do take the time to find it online, but be warned, viewing on a monitor does not begin to do justice, so if you get the chance to see the actual prints on a gallery wall you should jump at it.

Click here to visit www.amazonasimages.com

The exhibition has sparked a degree of debate online, being sponsored by a major South American mining company which is reported to have a “less than perfect” environmental and human rights record. There is ample comment on this elsewhere on the web, and I don’t feel qualified to add to it. All I will say is, in spite of the apparent sponsorship controversy, “Genesis” is a remarkable project. It’s a monumental, awe-inspiring, uplifting, humbling acheivement, and the results are simply beautiful.

The Natural History Museum is such a photogenic building. Little stonework details and vignettes everywhere you look, and that’s without taking in the exhibits. The only problem is, it’s just so very busy. I wonder if they’d close it for a day for me, so I could enjoy it in peace...

This snap reminds me of one of those M C Escher abstract drawings.

Some more countries from which this site has been visited to add to those previously listed: Ukraine, Hong Kong, Norway, India, Mexico, Luxembourg, Croatia and Malaysia. As always, wherever you visit from, you are most welcome. I humbly thank you for dropping by and hope you enjoy your time here and at least consider coming back sometime soon, and don’t be shy, if you have any comments on the photography or my ramblings, please do drop me an e-mail. I promise I’ll reply to every one.

Site design and all images © Tony Steers. No unauthorised reproduction