A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY

At this year’s N&EMPF Exhibition, local photographer David Keep achieved some of the highestever scores for his photography. Here he talks about his path to success

My photographic journey began five years ago while on a cruise around the Caribbean. I’d borrowed my daughter’s camera and during the periods at sea I was bored and read the manual cover to cover. My background is in engineering, so I found the technical aspects of the camera, together with its creative possibilities, a fascinating combination. At this time I was looking for something to get my teeth into as I eased into retirement. I guess you always admire the talents you don’t possess, and I’d always admired creative people. As I started this new chapter of my life I wondered if I could find some creativity.

Photography appeared to offer me that opportunity – camera settings and editing software suit my logical engineering brain, but the output is creative. It was the perfect combination I was looking for, I was hooked and I’ve spent thousands of hours on it since!

My first real piece of luck was joining Rolls-Royce Photographic Society in Derby. The club is blessed with some exceptionally talented photographers who are always happy to share and with their guidance I began competing in competitions, initially locally but then moving on to nationals and internationals. I love competition photography because it drives me to produce powerful images, images that tell a story and hopefully incite emotion in you the viewer. In striving to do this I visit interesting places, meet interesting people and do interesting things around the world, both on land and beneath the sea.