My name is Darren Smith. I have been interested in photography since I was a child when I began to use a small pocket camera to take simple snaps.
During my early years of taking photographs, people were interested in the shots I was taking, and I was often approached for copies. This started off being colleagues and family members and soon expanded to their friends, families, and so on. My work was increasingly being displayed in homes and businesses. This increased interest in my work eventually led to my first image sale in 2002 and officially establishing Darren Smith Photography” as a small business.
Our business continues to expand year on year. Back in 2002, I was working alone, now Darren Smith Photography has a team of specialist staff with partnerships with other professionals.
We are based in Cheshire in the United Kingdom however we have expanded to include clients from around the world including in India, China, the United States of America, Qatar, Greece, and Germany as well as in our home country, the United Kingdom.
I have won several photographic competitions and received Awards and Accolades from magazines, printed news media, and official organizations. Many images have been published in books, local, national, and international printed news media, magazines, advertising media, online promotion, and social media. I have also presented an exhibition at the Manchester Museum and several seminars online.
Learn more:
Table of Contents
How did you get started in photography, and what drew you to this art form?
It started when I was a child with a small 35mm camera, a Halina 260. It was a simple camera with one button, and no other functions but this got me into photography, taking snaps of events, holidays, and my other interests at the time. Whilst I was at University, I was given an aging and broken Praktica BC1 which I was able to repair and that allowed more scope into my photography and led to a passion that continues to this day.
I have always been a creative type, it’s not just photography but I have taught Design for many years including Product Design and manufacturing of products. This means I have worked with several hundred students in developing their rendering and manufacturing skills. It is clear from the work I do with those classes that writing was never my strong point, but photographic evidence was a strength, showing it’s clear where my skillset comes from.
What is your preferred style or genre of photography, and why?
Darren Smith Photography has a wide range of genres, and our fellow photographers have lots of skills in these genres, personally, I always avoided portrait images which were my least favourite genre, focusing on flower and small insect photography. Something I have made most of my money doing over the last 20 years as a paid photographer. As I have developed my own skills, I have personally worked hard on photographing people and expanded the studio to include space for individuals and families. Pre-covid, I was paid to photograph a law firm as part of their publicity.
How do you improve and develop your photography skills?
Working with other creative types, not only photographers but engineers, mathematicians, graphic designers, web developers, and videographers, gives me the ability to experiment with other techniques, not only in our studio here in Cheshire but out in the field. Having these other creative types gives me a different perspective on my own ideas. Teaching also gives me the opportunity to learn about the images I take from another point of view. The world has some amazing people and some amazing skills. It’s not about copying them or imitating them, it’s about learning from their skills and information to improve my own skills and understanding.
Darren Smith Photography also works with some amazing photographers who all have their own skills and preferred styles, and nobody should be afraid to step back and give someone else the opportunity to shine. Another opportunity to learn from others and to put these skills into my own work.
What equipment do you use and why?
On the camera front, I primarily shoot using Nikon, we have several camera bodies for different purposes in our work and mine. Back in the early noughties, I had the choice between several different manufacturers, trying to decide was a simple one, go to a retailer with a bit of information on the devices available and test them out – buying the one that felt the best for me. Something that I tell anyone who asks me “Which camera should I buy.”
Darren Smith Photography is not manufacturer specific; we use small Canon cameras for video (although we do not do much of that) and we often use 3rd party lenses as we feel they are excellent quality and serve our needs very well indeed. We use several manufacturers for lighting, mainly neewer as we can control them easily using the computers here in the studio.
What do you think is the most important element of a great photograph?
Well, that’s a tough question that I get asked a lot, justifying my choices when I decide on a portfolio, which photographs to focus on from a shoot or which image is my choice for judging a competition. I always say it depends on the viewer.
As a photographer with clients, it’s always best to see what they want, work with their needs and desires and provide the customer/client with what they want as well as something they have not thought of. There is nothing better than being able to provide a client with exactly what they ask for and then getting a gasp as I produce something else for them that uses my own creativity.
Sometimes it does not work but even if it does not, it shows the clients that I have something else to bring to the deal and it often leads to other clients.
Another example of this is a story about one of my competition wins, I had to submit a series of three images for an international competition, and I only had two which I thought were worthy of such as prestigious competition, so I submitted something that I thought was ok but not as good…. It only went on to win the whole competition.
So basically, the most important element of a great photograph is what people see in it.
What professional photographers have influenced your work?
We here at Darren Smith Photography work with some excellent photographers and each of them has influenced me over the years. Each of them has their own skill sets and its always a pleasure to work with them. As far as famous photographers, I know I am expected to say the names of Annie Leibovitz and Ansel Adams, however, I get most of my influence from my colleagues who I work with and those who share their work on social media. There are so many fantastic photographers in the world who are not famous but have some fantastic work on show. During the pandemic, I got to talk with several photographers who are well-known in their field, mainly because we were all finding ways to make ends meet when we could not spend time with our clients.
How do you stay inspired and motivated as a photographer?
I stay inspired and motivated by working with others, working with clients on what they want and expect, it certainly stops anyone getting into a rut. Photography can be a tough industry, especially when the client numbers are low, or you feel that you have got everything from a topic. One of the things that I decided on was the difference between a commercially successful photographer and a photographer who takes snaps is when to decide to stop taking images of the subject. A snapper will take one, maybe two, looking at what they think is best, I will go above and beyond, trying new things, angles, and methods, talking about it with others and getting inspiration from the people I work with.
This also includes the fantastic people I work with, our editor, studio coordinator, and other photographers is an excellent way to get motivated. As they say, variety is the spice of life!
How do you handle difficult shooting conditions or subjects?
Oh my gosh, I love a difficult situation or subject, it really brings my strengths out, don’t get me wrong, it’s always good to have a nice smooth shoot where everything is calm and perfectly lit with everything or everyone in place but that is not ever the case.
There is nothing that cannot be solved using photography and the tools available, I mentioned earlier I never likes photographing people but now I enjoy getting people relaxed, finding ways to make them smile or laugh, and getting children to be an integral part of my shoot – a wedding I did recently I “recruited” a three-year-old granddaughter of the groom with a compact camera and she was brilliant as she felt part of everything I did and was exactly where I needed her in the shoot.
It is also about what can we do with lighting, a reflector here and there is an excellent addition to anyone’s kit, speedlights, and for someone who photographs a lot of small things, it is amazing what we can do with a few clothes pegs, some clear thread, and some hairspray.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in photography?
Making friends and acquaintances, working with others is the best way to be a successful photographer. Someone wanting a specific skill may look at you and think “that’s not what I am looking for” but if you have colleagues who do they will appreciate the client. They will do the same for you. Most of our image sales and shoots come from these relationships with other photographers. Social media is another excellent way to show off your work, in our modern world we are saturated with images and the most important thing is that we should never get upset when an image is not as popular as you hope. Time will improve your status online and a bit of work and effort will increase your customer base. In recent years we have gotten more and more client requests from our Twitter and Facebook profiles.
What do you hope your photography communicates to your audience, and why is this important to you?
Photography is a very personal thing to all of us, in the art world, many people love Rembrandt whereas many do not like his work. I hope my photography gives its viewers and my clients the response they want. As a photographer who earns money from his work and as a small company in Cheshire, our aim is not only to provide images for our clients but to also give them an experience that they will remember. A client a few years ago wanted an anniversary shoot for their tenth anniversary, she wanted several photographs of her, her partner, and her dog. I was so glad that the images were welcomed warmly, however, her feedback was more about the service we provided. I hope that when she looks at those images on her wall, she has those memories of a lovely spring day in a park.
Related Posts
Flower Magic: 10 Tips for Enchanting Flower Photography
Transform Your iPhone Photos
