Spotlight on readers’ excellent images and how they captured them
About Andy
Andy is a software developer and a member of Rushcliffe Photographic Society & Print Project Group. See more at Instagram.com/ andymcdonald_bnwphotos
How did you get into photography?
I was born into photography. My parents ran a photographic business in Caithness and our home was above the shop. I started helping out as soon as I was old enough, so photography is in my blood I guess.
What do you love about photography?
Seeing and presenting things in ways that the viewer finds surprising and (hopefully) interesting.
How and where do you find inspiration?
I look for pictures wherever I happen to be (hopefully with a camera). Inspiration is all around us – often in places that we’ve been many times before. Also, I have learnt a lot from sharing with other photographers at the clubs I attend.
Favourite subjects
Landscapes (especially lone trees), urban scenes and architecture, exclusively in black & white.
What was your first camera?
My first ‘proper’ camera was an Olympus OM-1n.
Current kit
Fujifilm X-T3 as well as a bunch of prime lenses.
Favourite lens
Fujifilm XF16mm F1.4, but the Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D is very rapidly catching it up.
Favourite accessory
Peak Design Slide Lite strap.
Dream purchase
Fujifilm GFX50S II with GF23mm/f4.
What software do you use for editing?
Affinity Photo 2, along with Topaz Photo AI.
Favourite photographers
E.O. Hoppé, Ansel Adams, Frank Hurley and Robert Capa plus my parents, of course.
Favourite photography books
I got a lot from The Art of Photography by Bruce Barnbaum but have a huge sentimental attachment to Hundred Thousand Exposures by EO Hoppé.
Favourite tips
Take lots of pictures, then find a subject/genre that you love and spend time concentrating on that, perhaps to create a book or ’zine. For me, I spent a year concentrating on lone trees in black & white, which really helped me with composition and black & white processing.
About your pictures
During the summer we had a few trips to visit prospective universities with our daughter, plus we made our annual trip up to Caithness to visit family. I set out this year with the intention of getting some fine-art architecture pictures, and these are some that I took.
Ovo Hydro,Glasgow
1 I created a three-picture panorama to emphasise the scale of this iconic building. I did a lot of work with Levels to bring out the shapes, based on ideas shared with me by a couple of other photographers. Fujifilm X-T3, Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D, 1/1000sec at f/8, ISO 160
SEC Armadillo, Glasgow
2 This isn’t the easiest buildi
