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A little about me…….

Brief Bio

Hello there, my name’s Martin, and I’m an “outdoor photographer” based in Central Scotland - yet I’m originally from the English Midlands. I grew up in a small town called Tamworth in Staffordshire and lived there until I was 18.

I’m currently a hobbyist/enthusiast photographer, enjoying and dabbling in most of the sub-genres of ‘outdoor photography’.

In case you’re interested in getting to know me a little better, I’ll tell my bio story using photos as a guide. Hopefully that’s easier to digest than a long spiel of writing. So thanks for getting this far, and enjoy!

A young boy standing outdoors in front of a bush, smiling at the camera, wearing a light-colored shirt.
A young boy with short dark hair, wearing a long-sleeved button-up shirt and dark pants, standing outdoors near a staircase and a fence.
A young boy with dark hair, sitting on a carpeted floor, smiling, holding a toy box with cartoon characters on it.
Young man with dark hair and closed eyes sitting on a cushioned sofa with a checkered blazer and a black shirt.
A young man standing in an open field with a long coat, hands in pockets, looking to the side, with a stone arch bridge and hills in the background.
A young man is playing tennis outdoors, wearing a white t-shirt with the 'Ellesse' logo, holding a tennis racket, and preparing to serve or hit the ball, with a fence and foliage in the background.

I first tried some photography with a school friend from Wilnecote, Tamworth, after taking a brief course of lessons at school. It was all black and white photography on some dodgy film camera, but we’d learned some fundamentals and were keen to put them into action. We would venture to ‘posher’ Lichfield and just prance about a bit, completely carefree. We’re talking the early 90s here, when people didn’t look odd with a big camera in their hands. So as you can see, there was much pretentious posing, with me wearing ‘old man’ clothing, acquired from local charity shops. My mate and I were 17 going on 70! We’d even sneak into pubs and drink bitter and smoke (the start of a 31-year habit now kicked!). The photography was fun, but the little trips out were even funnier! Great days of ‘A’ levels and a ‘coming of age’. Not bad for a working class lad, the first in the extended family to ‘stay on’ after 16, and part of a small group of 7 kids from school that went on to a ‘proper university’.

A young man with dark, slightly wavy hair and fair skin standing outdoors in front of trees and bushes, wearing a polo shirt with a logo and carrying a bag strap over his shoulder.
A young man with dark hair, wearing a button-up shirt, sitting outside a restaurant with a sign in the background that reads "Restaurante Chaba," holding a cigarette.
A young man with dark hair wearing a light-colored shirt, lying on his side outdoors near a grassy area by the water, looking at the camera with a slight smile, black and white photograph.
Black and white photo of a man with short dark hair, wearing a dark sweater over a collared shirt, sitting outdoors on a patio with patio furniture and potted plants.
Black and white photo of a young man sitting on a boat near a rocky shoreline, looking at the camera with a relaxed expression, with trees and bushes in the background.
A man with dark, curly hair looking down at his phone on a sunny day at an outdoor seating area of an airport or bus terminal, with several people sitting and standing in background.

I began my university career in 1993, reading Geography at Lancaster University, and then going on to Nuffield College at the University of Oxford to read for a DPhil in Geography (I didn’t submit a thesis though, so left empty-handed, a real opportunity squandered and a source of pain even today!). Being College Bar Manager of an unlicensed bar open 24/7 and using an honesty-book for accounts kind of got in the way of the studies, as did some love affairs!

Anyway, whilst at these universities I got into photography again, progressing from analogue to digital by 2001 My first real investment was a Canon Digital Ixus camera. It was dead cute and shiny and clever, and I took it everywhere with me, including on a memorable 6-week solo back-packing trip to about 15 of the Cyclades Islands in Greece. I also visited Romania several times, and had numerous trips to Spain, the USA (including Hawaii!), Iceland, Hungary and France.

I was not doing landscape photography though at this point. My passion was tennis! Anyway, the photography was just point and shoot, automatic mode, jpeg. No tripods, filters etc. Just travel photography and regular portraits etc. with friends. So these are some images of me in my 20s, roughly 1995-2005, when I’d just have a bit of fun with the camera like most people around me did at the time.

A young man with dark hair wearing a patterned jacket standing in front of a wooden fence.
Black and white photo of a young man with dark hair, smiling softly, resting his head on his hand, in front of a brick wall in an indoor setting.
Black and white photo of a young man standing outdoors, wearing a white t-shirt and carrying a bag strap over his shoulder, with trees in the background.
Black and white close-up photo of a young man with dark hair, looking directly at the camera, with a blurred natural background.
Young man with short dark hair smiling, flexing his arm, outdoors with trees in background, black and white photo.
Black and white portrait of a young man in academic cap and gown smiling, with a background gradient.

And now to the present

So, where am I?

Well as I aged, I lost most of my hair and got fatter, and now need glasses (multiple pairs, I recently counted 9 pairs but have since down-sized to 3). So I now spend less time in front of the camera and much more time behind it. So there are genuinely very few photos of me in my 30s and 40s, and those that do exist are unsharable due to sheer embarrassment on my part.

So, what I do now, and it’s been a bit of a developing passion and hobby, is outdoor landscape and nature photography, working mostly at night or in low light, in isolated places. I travel fairly extensively across Scotland and parts of Northern England, though 2025 has been ‘quieter’ for me.

I like to go alone on these trips, and occasionally with a few select friends, but I nearly always go with my two dogs, Jasper and Mitchell, so I don’t feel too lonely at all.

I like night photography the most - I’m less scared of the dark than I am of the day! There’s something so peaceful about being out after dark, long after most people have gone home. Artistically speaking, from dusk right through to dawn, I’ll chase the “subtle glow of twilight, the dreamy hues and celestial spectacle of the night, and often wait it out for the first blush of sunrise” (AI-generated text!). Nightscape photography, capturing the stars and the “soft shimmer of the landscape”, is what truly excites me. But I also enjoy photographing birds and flowers in my garden, and then also my dogs etc. When I retire I want to run a dog photography service as a little sideline as I love dogs and most dog owners want nice images of their pets in action outdoors, rather than just camera snaps and throwaway video clips. Anyway, all of this really depends on whether I can be bothered to pick up the heavy camera, choose the right lens, assess the light etc. Not to mention charge all the batteries up, pack the bags, check SD cards. It really is very mood-dependent. The more you do it, the more you know whether you’re feeling it or not.

I’ve half-built my own campervan from a Ford Transit Custom (I did the easier bits, the pros the rest!: so NOTE: if it explodes at some point, that’s probably my fault). An electric shock or two, also probably my fault. Anyway, my days out in the van aren’t all about hunting for that perfect opportunity for landscape photography. It’s too exhausting and I’m now the wrong side of 50. So I’ll often just be unwinding (sheltering!) in the van, enjoying a quiet moment. Or just as likely, playing ball or sticks with Jasper and Mitchell, who need a lot of stimulation and exercise each day! Or, more realistically, you’ll find me cleaning up dog hair, sand and mud from the van, shaking dog blankets, and reaching awkwardly to try to put my hands on some misplaced photographic gear, at the same time as straining my lower back, breaking fingernails, or knocking over a cup of coffee that took 20 minutes to make.

Lately, I’ve been challenging myself to learn something new: videography and vlogging. I turned 50 just recently (were you paying attention?), and it just felt like the right time to try my hand at telling stories in a different way. I’m finding the learning curve a bit daunting (as I did with landscape photography initially), but it’s also genuinely exciting to pick up new skills and I look forward to eventually sharing my journeys in a new format. I don’t have anything to show at the moment video-wise, but I’m working on it. I set up a YouTube account ages ago but have never done anything with it. That might change if I find the time and the inclination comes.

So the photos below (you’re still reading?) are more recent ones, showcasing a more up-to-date version of me, my dogs and some of my night time work.

Close-up of a man with glasses smiling outdoors with a blurred natural background.
A nighttime scene of a stone formation set in a landscape with rolling hills under a star-filled sky and the Milky Way galaxy visible overhead.
Nighttime coastal scene with a rocky beach, ocean, cliffs, and a colorful aurora and starry sky.
A solitary tree on a hillside under a night sky illuminated by the northern lights, with visible stars and aurora borealis in shades of purple and green.
A black and white dog with a collar, standing on a rock by a lake with mountains in the background.
Close-up of a black and white dog with large ears, looking to the side outdoors.
A man wearing a black beanie with a headlamp on it, outdoors at night, with a dark background and faint blue and green lights.
Nighttime view of a rocky beach with the Northern Lights glowing green in the sky and stars visible above the horizon.
Silhouette of a person standing near water at night with a bright light beam projecting from their head into the starry sky.
Nighttime coastal landscape with a starry sky, rolling hills, and a small stream flowing into the ocean.
Nighttime landscape featuring a stone cabin near a lake, with mountain hills in the background under a star-filled sky, including the Milky Way galaxy.
A lighthouse on a body of water under a colorful night sky with the Northern Lights and stars.

Anyhow, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to read about my little corner of the world. If you’d like to stay in touch, I’d be delighted if you signed up to my mailing list for occasional (as in hardly ever if at all) updates and stories. I have a portfolio which you can check out, and also intend to sell prints and other goodies, in case you can afford both to heat your homes, put food on the table, and have some leftover cash to spend on some art or other fancy stuff.

So take care and who knows—maybe our paths will cross under the stars one night, or we’ll look one another in the eye at sunrise (bleary, blurry and puffy eyed of course)!

Much love and good wishes,

Martin