About
Mark Lawrence
Photography has been a part of my life for more years than I care to remember, and I have always loved making and looking at images. It is a cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I would certainly agree with this sentiment and have often used pictures to convey messages in my career in Supply Chain and try to do the same through my photography.
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I am proud to be a Workshop Leader for one of the UK's foremost Landscape Photography tour and education company Aspect2i ,as I love being out in the landscape and helping others improve their photography. I have many years of practical experience with both film and digital photography, including printing all the images for a book I produced in the 1990's. I feel my own growth as a photographer demonstrates that with enough determination and hard work we can all make beautiful images.
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My early years before the internet were challenging, with many mistakes made and the only real source of occasionally useful information was from a school art teacher who managed the school darkroom. Sadly, the teacher was more interested in art and the darkroom seemed an inconvenience to him, but it did provide a facility to develop my own black and white films and make a few prints.
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Initially my photography was aimed at capturing the railways and trains that are one of the other loves of my life. Perhaps because of family connections or perhaps because of the seemingly elusive and remote nature of the railway network, Scotland has always been an area that attracted me. Here the rails cross the remote Rannoch Moor and make their way across the Flow Country to the Far North. As soon as I could, I made journeys across these lines and I was not disappointed, with my travels cementing my desire to try and capture trains passing through the wild landscapes that they traversed. For many years my holidays were spent making trips to Scotland and capturing images on the Highland routes where increasingly I found myself as concerned about capturing the beautiful landscape as the trains that passed through them. I was trying to make images that were more “about” than “of” the trains.
Today my focus is firmly on the landscape itself, although I still make images of trains from time to time. Living near London precludes spending much time in Scotland, but I have enjoyed exploring more local landscapes and challenging myself to try and capture the essence of the beauty that nature offers all around us.
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Over the years I have been fortunate to author a book, had work published in several magazines and have had an image Commended in the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, as well as being shortlisted in the Natural Landscape Photography Awards.
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I strongly believe that an image is not complete until it is printed, indeed it is sometimes only when I make a first print that I realise there is some more work needed. If you are interested in purchasing a limited edition print of any of my work, please contact me at info@markamlawrence.com Each image is signed, numbered, and limited to 14 prints of up to A2 size.
I see my photography as a personal journey and one which I hope will continue for many years to come. Thank you for taking time to visit my website and I hope you enjoy looking at the images I have made. If you feel I can help you on your photographic journey please contact me at info@markamlawrence.com as in addition to running workshops for Aspect2i I also offer 1-2-1 tuition that can be tailored to your precise needs.
Equipment
I am not sure the equipment I use is that important - it is a tool to achieve an end result, but for those who might be interested, the majority of the work here is taken with Nikon DSLR's and lenses from 14mm-400mm.
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One of my DSLR's has been converted to Infra Red and is used for some of my monochrome images.
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Occasionally I use a Fuji X-Pro 2 as it is a light travel camera and of course I would not be without my phone and its great camera.
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Filters, when used, are Lee Filters or Breakthrough Filters.
Published work
I have exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London (Sept 2024), been commended in the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2018, shortlisted in the Natural Landscape Photography Awards in 2023 and 2024 and have had work published in a number of journals including;
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Outdoor Photography
On Landscape
Expressions
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The Scot
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Rail Magazine
Modern Railways
Rail Express
Railroad Heritage
Modern Locomotives Illustrated