S i m o n . M a y s o n's photostream  

Hello

My passion is landscape photography. I have always enjoyed photography and had various camera's since the age of about 10 starting with a small Kodak instamatic gifted by my grandfather.

Photography has been in the family a long time starting with my great grandfather who was a chemist in Kendal Cumbria before the war. He did portraiture and formal photography to suppliment his income ably assisted by my grandfather who he trained to develop the plate negatives and make photographic prints in the back of the chemist shop.

In 1939 my grandfather went into the RAF and underwent formal photographic training. He was posted with the RCAF into the middle east to undertake aerial photography which was used to make the first accurate maps of Iraq. This involved installing and setting up and mantaining cameras on Bristol Blenheim aircraft.

After the war my grandfather joined Kodak UK United Photofinishers as a manager of the developing and printing works in Nottingham. He later went onto manage the Leeds works before becoming regional manager for north of England. In 1968 he moved to London and became general manager, with responsibility for the majority of the Kodak lab processing in the UK.

My father did a degree in Art Design and Photography at Leeds College of Art and later became a lecturer at leeds Polytechnic teaching Film, Television and Animation. He also worked as a freelance cameraman for the BBC. He spent nearly 40 years as a lecturer and senior lecturer in film and television before his retirement.

When I was still at school I worked in the Kodak photographic works in Leeds for two summers doing processing and enlargement work as well as other more mudane tasks associated with cutting and packing prints and negatives.

As soon as I could drive I spent weekends exploring the Yorkshire Dales near where I lived and shot a lot of Kodachrome 64 slide film which I could get for nothing and had processing paid.

My first SLR was a second had Fujica 35mm with wide angle and telephoto lenses. After somebody unkindly stole my equipment I moved to the Canon EOS system in 1997 starting with the EOS 300.

In 2004 I did a 26 week Black and White Film Course at Dundee College.

In 2005 I moved to digital with the Canon EOS 350D which allowed me to use EF lenses from my film cameras. I have since upgraded to the Canon EOS 5D with L series lenses.

Photography remains my main hobby and I joined Dundee Photographic Society in 2009.

You can see what I consider to be my best work at:

SIMON MAYSON LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

www.simon-mayson.co.uk/