About me:

Do you consider yourself a Professional/Semi-Pro/Amateur/Beginner photographer?

A mix of amateur and Semi-Pro.

I used to do family shoots, having my own mobile lighting. I have done a few Weddings, which I found extremely stressful! and events. I have also sold my images in greeting card format.

Who are you?

My name is Lesley Warrington, age 62. I am a CAD technician (Computer aided Design) and also Classically trained horses for nearly 40 years, specialising in rehabilitation. I was also an artist, working on black, using only white, drawing rock vocalists and guitarists.

I live on the South Coast, near Chichester.

I have always been fascinated by photography, as a child going through all my Mum’s family photos, and knowing at an early age just how important capturing images was.

I took charge of this collection in my teens, and guarded them from everyone!

Tell us about your photography journey.

My photography journey started at a very early age, getting a Kodak Instamatic camera at the age of around 10 (and yes I still have it!) My Dad then gave me his Kodak Retinette 1B, again still have it, which I loved, and when I did get the settings correct, it took a lovely image.

My sister then bought me a Praktica, one Christmas, I was about 16, then moving on to my first Canon EOS 2000, which I thought was the best thing since sliced bread!

At this point I had two very expensive hobbies, horses and photography, I had to choose one, so I continued my education with horses putting Photography into second place, but still always had a camera just didn’t take it as seriously. Do I regret this? In some ways, learning to train horses made me the person I am today, although I now have chronic back pain. So when I had to give up riding, I turned back to my second love photography and purchased my first DSLR Canon 20D, But I knew then, that I would never now be the photographer I wanted to be as I had left it too late.

I appreciate all types of photography, I am fascinated by very detailed portrait photography, which shows the true life of that person, written on their face and in their eyes and makes you go wow! Unfortunately, I haven’t the talent for that, but love wildlife, equestrian and events for myself.

Going into Digital, I did struggle learning Photoshop, I was overwhelmed with the software. I did the book buying, YouTube, day courses, and everything to try and get an understanding of this software.

Doing a Google search, one day, TSOP popped up, thank goodness! I have not looked back since.

Having been a ‘photographer’ for many years, I thought of skipping the beginner’s photography course, why would I need that? Just jump straight into Lightroom, hungry to learn this software properly. Then listening to Marc’s introduction, I thought ok, let’s see if he can teach an old dog new tricks! ……. Turns out he can! This old dog learnt so much! Seems I didn’t know as much as I thought, I think, like horses, with photography, you never stop learning.

I have taken my time, with the courses, I wanted to use the things I had learnt in the real world, so to speak, before going on to the next, so I have finished Beginners Photography, Lightroom and Photoshop. These three courses have been instrumental in getting me to Qualified Status with The Guild of Photography, I know that I would not have passed, with all of my Panel of 21 images getting a passed mark, if I had not made that decision to join TSOP.

As for my next course, I am not sure, so many I want to do, maybe wildlife next. Let’s just say, I will not be leaving TSOP anytime soon!

What is your preferred genre?

My preferred genre, difficult question, I have always considered myself a jack of all trades, master of none, but with all I am learning, I would say I am the happiest when out with the wildlife. When I need some escapism, I go off to the local Wetlands.

I do love equestrian photography too, once a year I go to an Andalusian Stud to photograph the Stallions, mares and foals.

I am trigger happy, love anything fast! As I am typing, I can hear the local Spitfire doing it’s acrobatics over the coast, now that is the sort of thing I love! I have also done mountain bike stunt photography and now my Nephew is in a band, I am also their gig photographer, but still learning to nail this.

Processing, well, what can I say about that, apart from doing as little as I can get away with! Having said that, TSOP has changed, not only how I managed my images, but how I go about post processing, I have learnt so much and, even though I still have a long way to go, the results, for me, have been amazing.

I admire so much, photographers who are so creative in post production, it really blows my mind, but it’s way past my abilities.

What inspires you to create photography?

To be honest, I don’t know, it has just been in me for so long, what made me pick up that camera at the age of 10, who knows, but think it is probably the early to mid 20th century images I spent hours looking at.

Who are some other photographers you’re inspired by?

I don’t really have anyone that I can say is my inspiration, there are just so many incredibly talented people, of all genres. I just love looking at incredible images, that could of been taken by a very famous photographer or someone in our TSOP family, who has taken it is irrelevant, to me, it’s just about what they have created.

My favourite photograph:

Describe the first photo you took during your learning journey.

First image I posted on members FB was of a Spitfire, on 3 October 2022, looking at it now, it’s not good.

Last image I posted was 13th July this year, of one of my Harvest Mice, where I changed the face of the mouse in the Tulip with one taken on another image. The difference in my editing is beyond what I thought I could achieve. Before the courses I never would have been able to have made this change.

What is your favourite photograph that you’ve taken?

Difficult question, as I am still growing as a photographer, so this changes. I think I would have to do old and current.

Old: taken around 30 years ago, with my EOS 2000, black and white film, technically not a great image, but it is what was behind this image. This was of an ex-racehorse, that I rehabilitated. The owner had rescued this very big Irish racehorse, had got his condition back, but he was completely unrideable, he throw her every time she got on, but she loved him so much. So I started his retraining, and hers! The harmony these two ended up with was incredible. This image was taken at the same time she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, so me and her sister had it enlarged and framed for her, it stayed with her until the day she lost her fight against this terrible illness.

New: Dalmatian pelican, I am completely obsessed with these creatures! I would love to go and photograph them in Lake Kerkini, Greece, but unfortunately it is too expensive for me.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from TSOP?

Learning how to manage my catalogue of imagery through Lightroom, it was a complete mess before.

What’s next for Lesley?

The main thing I would like to learn is how to change backgrounds on certain images and do the ‘painterly’ effect in Photoshop.

I would like to get to a stage where I am earning a little bit of money from photography, whether it is through selling images, cards or pet/equestrian photoshoots.

The next big shoot is The Star PRE stud.

Conclusion

The most important thing TSOP has given me, is my love of photography back, I had lost it completely, not wanting to pick the camera up, being so frustrated with the software that I didn’t understand, and couldn’t find a place to learn it correctly.

Now I have to get out with the camera as often as I can, and looking forward to continuing my learning with TSOP and working on my Panel for my Craftsman with The Guild.

Soon, I hope to start my photography business Pebble Beach Photography.

Member Profile: Lesley Warrington

About me:

My favourite photograph:

Lesley’s Gallery:

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