Contemporary photographer - Alyn Wallace
In this report I am going to talk about the work of contemporary photographer Alyn Wallace. I have chosen him specifically because I feel that he has taken a less conventional path to a successful and rewarding career.
I personally, came on to this degree as a semi-professional freelance photographer. Because of this I have been drawn towards researching photographers that are not only cutting edge in their style of photography but also cutting edge with how they operate with the professional industry.
Alyn is an award-winning Landscape and Astro photographer from South Wales. His images are not only thought provoking and inspirational but have also gained him recognition all around the world including 3 consecutive years of being shortlisted for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the year award.
From a theoretical stand point his work is focussed on the sublime, something that has been associated with landscape photography since day one of the genre. He captures awe-inspiring beauty that can be seen in the night sky.
What I enjoy about his photography is that it is easily accessible, like Sunday afternoon TV shows such as Coast or Country File. The everyday viewer can appreciate the beauty in the work for what it is. But, as a result of the works beauty the viewer can then be turned on to greater ecological issues like light pollution without even being aware of it.
He is not photographing a subject that has never been approached before. What he does though is push the boundaries of this style, he also adds to his bread and butter with many other creative outlets. These other outlets serve a purpose, which is to keep him with the means to be able to travel and continue to do what he loves to do.
To achieve this level of work he has had to gather knowledge and perfect his technical skills.
Pushing the boundaries and beauty of astrophotography in the UK is no easy achievement, due to light pollution. But you only have to take a quick look at Alyn’s website and you can see that he has a sharp eye for a striking image.
Some of his images take advantage of light pollution which add bold colours to his atmospheric and immersive imagery. These colours also play into the idea of the sublime.
Nearly all of Alyn’s work is created with a wide angled lens, as this set up allows him to capture intriguing foreground subjects as well as a large portion of the night sky all within the same frame. It is one thing to produce a nice image of the milky way but what sets apart the professionals from the amateurs is the ability to create new and interesting images involving areas of natural beauty.
As a shortlisted photographer for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the year competition 2018 his image has been exhibited as part of an interactive collection including other great photographers in his field, such as; Roger Hutchinson(UK), Fu Dingyan(China) and Kurt Lawson (USA).
The exhibition marks 10 years of amazing astrophotography and has been display in more than one location.
His striking images along with his Blogs & Vlogs have earned him a big following in the photography community.
The reason for his success with Blogs and Vlogs is due to the way he is genuine excitement about what he does, to the point where he wants everyone else to get involved. He is happy to share camera set ups and settings, along with locations and editing advice. A lot of people would call him stupid for this but I think his enthusiasm is inspiring.
In his monthly Vlog ‘Whats in the night sky’ he shares upcoming astrological events and also shares viewers images from the past month. This interaction with the online community is something that allows him to stay at the forefront of the genre. He is at the centre of an online hub for his chosen subject which means he hears about new locations and events first.
As well as giving information in his Blogs & Vlogs, he also offers workshops on a variety of topics concerning astrophotography. These workshops not only serve to keep him relevant within the world of photography as a tutor, they also enable him practise and create his own images whilst he earns money.
He also provides Lightroom presets for editing astrophotography images at a cost, yet another way of earning money from passing on the knowledge he has gained.
I personally, came on to this degree as a semi-professional freelance photographer. Because of this I have been drawn towards researching photographers that are not only cutting edge in their style of photography but also cutting edge with how they operate with the professional industry.
Alyn is an award-winning Landscape and Astro photographer from South Wales. His images are not only thought provoking and inspirational but have also gained him recognition all around the world including 3 consecutive years of being shortlisted for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the year award.
From a theoretical stand point his work is focussed on the sublime, something that has been associated with landscape photography since day one of the genre. He captures awe-inspiring beauty that can be seen in the night sky.
What I enjoy about his photography is that it is easily accessible, like Sunday afternoon TV shows such as Coast or Country File. The everyday viewer can appreciate the beauty in the work for what it is. But, as a result of the works beauty the viewer can then be turned on to greater ecological issues like light pollution without even being aware of it.
He is not photographing a subject that has never been approached before. What he does though is push the boundaries of this style, he also adds to his bread and butter with many other creative outlets. These other outlets serve a purpose, which is to keep him with the means to be able to travel and continue to do what he loves to do.
To achieve this level of work he has had to gather knowledge and perfect his technical skills.
Pushing the boundaries and beauty of astrophotography in the UK is no easy achievement, due to light pollution. But you only have to take a quick look at Alyn’s website and you can see that he has a sharp eye for a striking image.
Some of his images take advantage of light pollution which add bold colours to his atmospheric and immersive imagery. These colours also play into the idea of the sublime.
Nearly all of Alyn’s work is created with a wide angled lens, as this set up allows him to capture intriguing foreground subjects as well as a large portion of the night sky all within the same frame. It is one thing to produce a nice image of the milky way but what sets apart the professionals from the amateurs is the ability to create new and interesting images involving areas of natural beauty.
As a shortlisted photographer for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the year competition 2018 his image has been exhibited as part of an interactive collection including other great photographers in his field, such as; Roger Hutchinson(UK), Fu Dingyan(China) and Kurt Lawson (USA).
The exhibition marks 10 years of amazing astrophotography and has been display in more than one location.
His striking images along with his Blogs & Vlogs have earned him a big following in the photography community.
The reason for his success with Blogs and Vlogs is due to the way he is genuine excitement about what he does, to the point where he wants everyone else to get involved. He is happy to share camera set ups and settings, along with locations and editing advice. A lot of people would call him stupid for this but I think his enthusiasm is inspiring.
In his monthly Vlog ‘Whats in the night sky’ he shares upcoming astrological events and also shares viewers images from the past month. This interaction with the online community is something that allows him to stay at the forefront of the genre. He is at the centre of an online hub for his chosen subject which means he hears about new locations and events first.
As well as giving information in his Blogs & Vlogs, he also offers workshops on a variety of topics concerning astrophotography. These workshops not only serve to keep him relevant within the world of photography as a tutor, they also enable him practise and create his own images whilst he earns money.
He also provides Lightroom presets for editing astrophotography images at a cost, yet another way of earning money from passing on the knowledge he has gained.
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