Daryl Meredith - Photographer of the Month - October '19
What’s your name and where are you from?
Hi, my name is Daryl and I am from Greater London. I am a self-taught photographer but have developed my skills by reading and completing an online course in photography. I make and sell greetings cards using my photography. When the camera is away, I enjoy long-distance walks and try to partake in organised walking events for charity.
How did you get into photography?
From an early age, I remember seeing my Granddad always with a camera in his hand. Around the age of 9, my mum gave me her old 1-10 film camera which I used to take everywhere with me. At the age of 16, I bought my first film SLR which was a Centon (that I still own!). Having this camera allowed me to be more creative, and it kick-started my life-long passion and obsession for photography.
What can you tell us about your entry, “Beautiful” in August’s photo competition?
Auto-correct played a part in the naming of the picture as it was meant to be a play on words as BEE-UTIFUL! I was in Rye, East Sussex with my wife on one of the original cobbled street. One of the houses had lavender plants outside, I stopped to take some close up pictures of the plants when I noticed a bee and waited patiently for the bee to move further up the lavender. This took so long that my wife walked off to get an ice cream!
Do you have any particular style of photography you specialise in?
I don’t have a particular style of photography as I like to take photos of a multitude of different things. Most recently I have enjoyed doing abstract photos of buildings, flowers and photographs of cakes for a friends’ business.
What do you enjoy about photography?
I enjoy the ability of telling a story or capturing a moment in time that others may miss. I find taking photos both relaxing and calming. My wife says I’m happiest when I’m behind the lens. I also enjoy the fact that I’m always learning and growing with my photography, and there’s always something new to learn.
Tell us about one of your projects/your work
Currently, I make greetings cards using my photos. I print the photos and apply them to card which are left blank so they can be used for any occasion. I then sell these via my Facebook group. A previous project that I had was supplying a local coffee shop with 10 bespoke prints for their walls.
If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring photographers what would it be?
What I have learnt over the years about photography is to always have a camera with you and always be taking pictures as you’ll otherwise never be able to improve. Be like a sponge and absorb knowledge from lots of sources, i.e. books, courses, YouTube videos, and if you can speak to a professional photographer. My favourite quote is from Mike Brown, where he said: “Camera’s don’t take pictures, people take pictures using skill and knowledge”. Oh, and practice, practice, practice.
Where can we see your work?
You can find my work over on Facebook and Instagram!
Do you have any plans for the rest of 2019?
I do yes, as I am not able to partake in every organised walking event in the year (due to terrain on some of the courses), I am looking at being at the finish line of the next event where I can capture the proudest moments of the participants as they complete their final steps. These events can range from 20km to 100km so some people will have been walking for whole days! These digital images will then become available for sale. I am hoping to do more of these in 2020 as well.
