“Photography and motorbikes…the two main passions in my life to date.”
Photo: Todor Ostojic
As well as explaining a little about Nick Stubbs, (the author and professional photographer behind All Things Photography which is a photography website dedicated to giving (mostly) free advice, tips and direction for photographers of all levels), you can also learn more about All Things Photography itself.
“Rather than creating a site with a narrow niche audience, I decided to attempt to literally cover All Things Photography. I found it so difficult to choose just one or two aspects of photography to concentrate on. All of it is fascinating to me, and what I shoot or discuss primarily depends on what mood I am in or what work I currently have on!”
Nick first used an SLR camera at the age of just 11 and received his own at 13 after enrolling in photography studies at school.
“I was fascinated by the technology, even back then, and the photography classes were suddenly a reason to get up and go to school in the mornings. My weekends suddenly became filled as I spent my time either out and about shooting or locked away in my darkroom up in the loft.
Note: Images have been reluctantly included to add some colour to this page and to give his kids a good laugh!”
1980 – 13 years old trying to understand all the buttons of a basic film SLR (Fully manual Cosina CT-1). Excuse the jacket…I was in a difficult period of my life with regards to fashion and haircare (Now it is falling out ; )
“All of my pocket money was spent on films, processing, darkroom materials or magazines, I really absorbed myself into my photography.
This was the age when I realised that photography was something I really wanted to do. It wasn’t long until I had a fully kitted out darkroom nestled amongst the rafters in our loft and was attending trade shows in London such as the ones held in Earl’s Court.
I would scan magazines and camera shops looking for the latest gadgets and gizmo’s that would either help with my photography or at the very least…look cool! Once I understood the rudimentary elements of photography, I hungered to delve deeper and started experimenting.”
1982 – 15 years old Teaching ourselves about the effects of different shutter speeds using a washing up bottle and some water.
“No internet to learn from or racks of photo magazines back then. Ahhh, the things we did just to learn!”
At 16, Nick spent a year as a part-time apprentice to a local, well known photographer whilst studying business studies at college. He would help out in the studio in Dover, assist in the darkroom and even attend the occasional wedding. Even his Saturdays were spent working in a local, well known camera shop to help fuel this new obsession.
1983 – All grown up trying out a “sophisticated” look! 16 years old Working at the local camera store trying to earn more money to feed my addiction whilst at college!
“I can still remember the buzz of turning up at the small studio with all that lovely, expensive equipment to play with. If I assisted at a wedding, I got a whopping £10 for my trouble!
The most memorable experience was being given a huge Pentax 6 x 7, “SLR-style” medium format camera to play with for the day.
I lugged this thing around my home town showing off and shooting everything in sight and then returning to process the black and white images in the studio’s darkroom. Then on Saturdays, I would work in a local camera retailer and would “have” to get to know all the new equipment I was selling…heaven!”
1994 – The first official photography business called “Pan Photography” (Pat, Andy and Nick) which ran for a few years shooting weddings and portraits in London and Surrey. This shot was taken during a wedding we were shooting at Sandown Racecourse in Esher, Surrey.
Nick currently lives and works in Southern England in Dorset with his wife and 2 children. He mainly shoots commercial, wedding and stock photography as well as maintaining this website.
“I have been rather spoilt by our location in the past (Spain) as most of the weddings I shot were bright and sunny with beautiful backdrops. Travel stock photography was easy and plentiful as the weather is generally good with crisp, clear blue skies in Southern Spain.
All Things Photography is fast becoming more of a full time job but at the same time giving me more time to try and organise more weddings plus DSLR and stock photography training courses here in the UK.
I love teaching what I know and I enjoy seeing emerging talent and new photographers taking up the hobby seriously.”
All Things Photography is still young in terms of content and enjoyed its 5th birthday in Feb 2010. What started as a hobby site is fast becoming a full time project for Nick as requests and content gather momentum.
“I started All Things Photography as a gap-filler for my spare time, with my research keeping me up to date with the photography world at all times. I usually found myself browsing forums, photography sites and portfolios anyway so I decided to create my own piece of photography “cyber-space”.
The idea was to unload some of the information in my head and try to encourage newcomers to photography to really get stuck into this great hobby or career. I had no idea how to, or had never even thought about building a website before.
I now find myself spending up to 10 hours on a spare day updating, researching and building the site. I have so many ideas, many spawned by suggestions from my readers that it is taking up more and more of my time.”
Update 2013: The website receives around 6,000+ visitors a day and over 200,000 page views a month. If any photographers wish to take advantage of that traffic, please read on.
There are a few areas of the site where photographers can add their own literary skills to help build the site or they can even add themselves to our directory. These are:
- Camera/Lens/Software Reviews – I would like one or two “original and unique” reviews for each digital SLR, lens and digital imaging software/program currently on the market. I.e. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sigma, Tamron, Adobe, ACDSee, Phase One etc.Anyone who owns or has owned a specific DSLR, lens or modern piece of software, and can write a 400+ word article/review, can do so by following the link below.”I don’t have time to write these reviews myself and any help would be greatly appreciated. If the reviewer has a website, I will include their name and a link along with the review.The best reviewers can, if they wish, receive a free copy of my e-book on property photography and the worst will receive two copies…Boom Boom!”
- Articles – Do you have any handy tips or advice that you want to share with everyone? Do you have a photographic or editing technique or process that you have learned that our readers could benefit from? Please write it down and send it to us to include in our Article section. Again, you will receive recognition and a link to your portfolio.
- Feedback – All feedback with regards to anything at ATP is gratefully received.
Nick was a member of the SWPP and BPPA (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers and British Professional Photographers Association) in the past and has won a few awards throughout his time with them.
Nick held 2 licentiates (qualifications) in Wedding and Commercial photography, he was also awarded the title of “Overseas Commercial Photographer of the Year 2005” by the SWPP and BPPA.
“The SWPP and BPPA are pretty good. They hold annual competitions, host regular seminars and tutorials and finish the year/start a new one with a huge convention in the UK. It is a great way to meet other photographers from all walks of life and hone your skills in each particular area of photography. You can also apply for various licentiates, associates and fellowships by way of their qualification structure as you progress through your photographic life. Hopefully this site will appeal to photographers from all walks of life and will continue to grow with input from its readers.
All the best and good luck with your photography”,
Nick Stubbs
Wedding Photographer in Dorset and Weymouth
All Things Photography
+44 7518 359223
Stat Globe added 4th July 2015
