NKW1709

I wanted to start a new project, one that would tell a story and have elements in it that would speak about my journey so far.  I will limit what say for now because the image, when it is done will have the narrative as well.  Depending upon how I feel at the time I may or may not reveal all. I have taken inspiration from my brother regarding a composite image and, as I have no natural art skills in the sense of drawing or painting by hand, I am making my image a composition of a number of photographs and styles to get my message across. As part of this I wanted to capture my service career and thus I chose to represent that by using what are normally wooden boards for battle honours. I have replaced the battles with names of ships and places that I have served.  Arguably, they were battle honours in their own right and some harder won than others.  There are stories behind each name and maybe one day they too will come out. This first one charts my early career when I served as a Roya

 When I got hooked, really hooked on taking pictures I found myself with a firm view that the image should be pure in the sense that there should be no tricks to change the image.  I viewed it as a kind of cheating. I would allow myself the luxury of re-composing or changing the highlights and shadows.  It has been a long time for me to finally realise the power of photo manipulation.  It used to surprise me how stunning some photographers can be with their images and how I just was not getting that depth of colour that made my photos stand out. I am and have been on a journey of discovery and the big turning point just recently was when my brother showed me some features of Photoshop.  My brother is a traditional artist in the sense that he has a fantastic imagination and the skills to use art materials to create high quality pieces.  He has also studied as a graphic artist and therefore he can produce some equally amazing works on the computer. For me it has opened a door and I have