Looking Around You Pays Off
Today’s post comes from Geoff Powell. I first saw some of Geoff’s work featured in a photography magazine and was impressed it’s quality and his story. I tracked him down online and asked if he’d be interested to share a post, some of his images as well as part of his story in this post.
I live in the county of Devon in the UK and love being on Dartmoor and even though I can only get around using a wheelchair I am restricted to the lanes and roads.
I am also a photographer and as you will see I can still, with a lot of patience, find a pleasing picture. One damp drizzling day on a woodland path I, along with two companions and two dogs, arrived at a point where I could go no further due to the roughness of the path. My friends went on ahead and I would make my way back to the car and meet up with them there.
Ah, but then I saw, just a little way ahead, no more than a few yards, the possibility of a really good picture. So I decided to have a go. Manoeuvering my wheelchair into position I suddenly found myself slipping sideways down a muddy pathway towards a drop of about twenty feet! Luck was on my side as I came to a stop several feet from the edge. With much muttering and the odd curse it took about twenty minutes to get back up the slope, and no, I didn’t get the picture. But now breathless and much more awake, I saw the magic light in the misty woods.
On another trip on another rainy day I came upon the horse looking through the barn window and had to manoeuvre my car into the best position to take this picture. I don’t know whether it is a laugh, a yawn or a hello but it is I feel amusing.
Often I see the possibility of a really good photo but it would mean being able to get out of the car, over a gate, cross a stream, stoop, squat, bend to take it. But the frustration disappears when I see at my eye-level such a warm picture as the lock on the gate at Widecombe church, or in the churchyard the snowdrops.
I realise as I write this article that so many of my best photographs of Dartmoor are taken on ” bad weather ” days.
Christmas Day 2001 and with a friend and an in-car picnic we mooched about, if you can mooch about in a car, on the moor. I had just driven up the road past the two trees when I saw the potential and reversed back down the road. Still in the car I positioned myself so that the trees framed the picture and had taken a couple of shots when the memory card ran out. I put in a new one, looked up, and once again good fortune paid for the effort as the two walkers came over the brow of the hill just as I raised the camera to my eye. One second later and I would have missed this image.
Thanks must go to my companion who accompanies me on my Dartmoor trips, who heaves the wheelchair in and out of the boot and puts up with my grumpiness when a cow looks the wrong way or a sheep runs off into the mist.
I sell quite a few prints from local galleries and occasionally to magazines to illustrate articles on photography.
I currently use a Canon 400d with a 28-135 IS USM lens.
All my photos are taken from my car window or wheelchair and I will be 70 this year. If I can do it so can you. So, get out there, be bold and “snap” away.
More of my work can be seen at www.geoffpowellphotos.co.uk
Read more posts like 'Looking Around You Pays Off'
April 19th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Those are some incredibly beautiful photos. Great work! My favorite is the first one, it looks like cinematography out of a really good movie!
April 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Wow. These are simply stunning. Truly a delight to view and an inspiration. Thank you!
April 19th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Wow. You are an inspiration!
April 19th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Inspiring story, and great images Geoff.
I was just writing on my blog today about taking time to get out of the office and shoot just for fun, and improvement and your post really adds and extension to that.
You’ve had to learn to take your time and see images that are accessible. People like myself are often so on the run that we don’t stop and sit down, lay down, lean over ect. Images are everywhere if we just learn to see them.
Keep it up… Gavin Seim
April 19th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Very inspiring. I love to hear stories about people overcoming obstacles and working beyond their limitations. Bravo!!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Wonderful stuff. It’s great to see that physical limitations cannot quell the spirit of the photographer. More power to you sir!
April 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I’m moved. what an inspiring story :) Great stuff. I would love to read more of this kind.
April 19th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Thanks for your story!
April 19th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
What a great article. I live in Devon too, and woke up to a dreary morning. The post has inspired me to get out and see things differently.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Who would have quessed that grumpy and “70″ could produce
such beautiful and heart quieting pictures!!!!! Thanks
for Sharing.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
heh. I have lots of pics of dartmoor… but i don’t think any are as good as that.
Must be hard to get into a few of the ancient Dartmoor pubs in a wheelchair… but its probably worth the effort.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Thanks for sharing, Geoff!! Beautiful photographs!
April 19th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Geoff, both your story and your photos are enlightening. Well done!
DPS editors: any chance of reorganizing the photos so they match up with the story?
April 20th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Amazingly beautiful shots!
Imspiring stories….
Thank you Geoff for sharing with us. :-)
Love the bad weather days….great photos.
~Dianna
April 20th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Your photos are incredible! Thank you for sharing your expertise and experience; you’ve inspired me! I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and it keeps me from getting around but if you can do it from a wheelchair, I can do it.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Geoff Powell,
I am aged 74. I always think that no illnes or last day of life will shake to come nearer to an artist who has camera with him. Though he may be a handicapped or an old fellow
the photography will save him and give strength to carry out his work. I am very much impressed with your images. Hats off to you for your enthusiasm and artistic mind. I am thankful to you in sharing with the forum.
Vaddadi
April 20th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Gr8 photos.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Great article and amazing photos. Thanks for sharing your images and story. Keep up the good work! :)
April 20th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Awesome shots, and very nice article!
April 20th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Love your work! You should write a book, your life sounds as interesting as your photos.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Amazing just amazing. Great work and story. I hope that I will be able to do the work you do at the same age. Keep up the great work. Thank you.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Those are GORGEOUS! My favorite is the green, boggy looking shot just before the cow one. I would be thrilled to hang that one on a wall. You’re definitely inspiring, Geoff.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:30 am
very inspiring story and photos. I love the black & white one with silhouettes
April 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Amazing photos!
I hope that this summer i will take some nice photos!
The 4th one is magical, it relaxes you.
Wish i could have your sense of photography!
April 20th, 2008 at 9:14 am
What beautiful pictures and an inspiring story! It was interesting for me to see Dartmoor; our family likes to letterbox, and its origins lie at Dartmoor.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Thankyou for your inspiring and very beautiful photographs. I love the fresh tranquil green of Dartmoor Wood.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Truly inspirational story for us all from you Geoff. Great pictures too though as someone already pointed out, it is all jumble out and not correlating with the story.
Thousand thanks to you sir.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for sharing your photographs, your story, and your inspiration. Your work is absolutely beautiful. I feel as if I am there.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Great photos! So glad you didn’t fall off the edge!! I especially like the last photo of the rusty lock. Thanks for sharing.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Just looked at your photos on your website. I absolutely love the photos of Buckfast Abbey!!! I enjoy taking pics of architecture, especially churches and the cathedrals I saw in the UK when my husband and I visited 2 years ago. We just don’t have places like that here in the states. Thanks again.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Just when I believed I should shuck photography due to motherhood duties…I found you. Thank you from the bottom of a woman’s heart.
I adore your work.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Many thanks to all you kind folk who praise my work.
It is good to know that one can inspire.
Geoff.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
G’day Geof,
Thank you for the inspirational article which I found interesting and encouraging. Although I can walk with great difficulty, I have to sit down to take photographs so I use my wheeled walker to do this. It helps to steady me. Luckily I don’t share the forbidding weather that you have to contend with although your images show that you are able to cope with this double handicap. I too am well past my biblical use by date so I understand where you’re coming form. Keep up the good work. There are lots of us oldies out there needing encouragement.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Great Photos!! It is nice to see someone who doesn’t let his disability get in the way. I too am disabled but I still get out there and shoot. I am only an amatuer and am still learning. Your photos inspire me to keep learning and just go out and shoot. You never know what you might find.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:25 am
an old saying—look somewhere and find something. mr powell’s images are worthy of saying ‘kudos’. there are things around everybody, but to capture in camera those photogenic ones hardly comes in anybody’s mind. greats are those who don’t wait for opportunity.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Absolutely gorgeous work, and thank you for sharing your story.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Absolutely wonderfull! Thanks for sharing your photos and your example.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Very inspirational article and the photos are stunning! Thanks for sharing.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I never thought about the window shot through the rain. What an awesome idea!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Thanks for the story and the photos are brilliant!
April 24th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Wow!! Superb! Great work!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Wow!!!! These are some amazing photos. I love the 1st and 3rd one s the most but all af them are beautiful. You do a great Job!!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Dear Geoff: Your photos are WOW shots, sone very unique, all very beautiful. Your story, on the other hand is familiar. I became a paraplegic 54 years ago, but just recently got interested in taking photos a couple of years ago, I have so much to learn, before I can master the art of digital photography,{if ever I do}.
I know the feeling of the great shot just out of reach but like you I also know the satisfaction of seeing something at my eye level that others have missed.Now when I get frustrated at the shot out of reach, I will think of all you
have done and move on. So far I am putting photos on EyeFetc
under the name DoctorM, and hope to learn from seeing the work of others.Thank you for leading the way, Joanne McLeod.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:48 am
These are beautiful pictures. I’m rather surprised with that you only use the equipment mentioned (if that is, indeed, the case).
I am only just now trying to learn composition and what works and doesn’t on a decent point-and-shoot and am thinking of upgrading now that I feel I’m needing more camera than I have.
There are beautiful photos to be had, even from the car windows. Please don’t stop doing what you can–it will keep you young!
April 25th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I love your photos. I am a 60 year old grandmother and just learning how to use my Canon Rebel XT. Your story is so encouraging, I will keep on keeping on!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:41 am
You may have been given a disability, but you have been
blessed with an eye for capturing at the right moment a
photo that lasts forever. Much credit to you for never
letting the “wheelchair” or your “Age” hold you back.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Nice pics and a nice ramble to go along with it.
Inspirational, thanks!!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Geoff
Great inspiring story. Your courage is phenomenal!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Amazing photography! I LOVE the shot of the landscape through the raincovered windshield!! Beautiful!!
April 27th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Those are amazing. I LOVE the first one!
April 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Amazing pictures and your words further proves that the human spirit is invincible. Thank you.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:53 am
Great photography. And an honor to meet the photographer through his words.