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

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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.