Personal Profile _ Sandy Furniss

        My interest in photography has evolved with time but probably started in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Penny and I lived then in Hampshire and we had very good friends whom we frequently visited on Saturday evenings. After eating we were often treated to a slide show and whilst in those days I did not even have a camera to speak of I believe it was then that the seeds of interest were sown.
        Subsequently in 1984 we moved to Scotland and lived in an hour's or so striking distance of the Trossachs and Loch Lomond. The fine countryside, almost on our doorstep caused us to take up walking and then in 1987 prompted by the desire to record some of what we saw I got my first camera - a Minolta X300 SLR. Good as this camera was, I did not enjoy using it (I absolutely hated focussing manually) and when Minolta started producing the first auto focus SLR cameras I got myself a Minolta 7000. This was an exciting camera and for me a real pleasure to use. But still photography remained an insignificant part of my life.
        However in 1990 I was posted to the North East of England and we moved house to Stokesley. My then next door neighbour who was himself a keen photographer invited me along one evening to Stokesley Photographic Society. I accepted the invitation, thoroughly enjoyed the evening and further visits ensued until I decided to join the club.
        For the first year or so I watched and listened. Wow, these guys in Stokesley Photographic Society were good, there was so much to learn - had I bitten off more than I could chew? One day there was a tap on the shoulder with an invitation from the Chairman to enter a competition. With a degree of reluctance (and certainly lacking in confidence) I put my entries in. To my surprise, they did not do badly but neither did they do exceptionally and I resolved to find out exactly what constituted a good picture and how to produce these for myself.
        I noticed that one club member always seemed to be winning (I think his name was John Webster??). His work was for me inspirational. I had also seen the work of the Scottish photographer Duncan McEwan in the Minolta Magazine along with various articles that he had written. I got to know Duncan and his work and teaching provided both a solid technical base for me to build on and inspiration for the future.
        By 1993 I was starting to get some reasonable club competition results and in that year entered for the first time the NCPF Annual Competition ( I have entered it ever since). As I recall, the result was encouraging and by early 1994 I brought together a colour slide entry for Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society which succeeded without difficulty. In 1995 I was awarded Associateship of the RPS and in 1996 the Distinction of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. But it was in late 1996 that things really started to happen for me when I entered my first international salon - the Paisley Colour International. I remember entering four slides - two were accepted (one gaining an Honorary Mention) and I was off to a good start. Further successes ensued and in the Spring I got my first gold medal (in a Belgian salon). I enjoyed the buzz and excitement of this - looking for the postman and slight disappointment when he failed to deliver a report card on a particular day - but followed by the anticipation of what he might deliver tomorrow!
        Then in 1998 following receipt of awards for the best landscape and nature work in the 1996 and 1997 Zaragoza, Spain International Salons I was invited to stage an exhibition of my work in Zaragoza. This went well and more motivation and success ensued. I became increasingly interested in gaining distinctions related to my exhibition work and in the year 2002 was made an Artist of the International Federation of Photographic Art (AFIAP), Master of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (MPAGB) and designated a 3* exhibitor of the Photographic Society of America (PSA 3*). The latter was re-rated PSA 4* in the year 2003 following further exhibition successes and I am currently working towards PSA 5* which requires some 640 acceptances in colour slides. Since the start of the exhibition work at the end of 1996 I have received nearly 150 international awards included some 24 gold medals (mainly PSA and FIAP).
        All of the above said, there is one success which I have particularly valued and which is especially meaningful to me. In 2001 I was lucky enough to be the winner of the NCPF Annual Competition with a print entitled "Dancing Beech". For this I received a very special award - the Joan Rooker Centenary Trophy. Joan was a very fine and gifted person and I felt particularly honoured to be the first recipient of this trophy. This was a very special highlight for me.
        Turning to equipment, film etc. it would be true to say that I am a devoted slide worker. Whilst prints can be nice, I love the luminescence of slides which also seem to suit the type of work I do. I have a favourite film - Fuji Velvia 50 which I use for most of my work sometimes pushing it to ISO 100 when I need a little more speed. I use Minolta 600si bodies but frankly have little interest in camera bodies and rarely change them. I have no plans at the moment to get a digital body. I do, however, take a considerable interest in lenses and always scan the photographic magazines to see what's new. My favourite lens is a Sigma 70-300 which I have had for years and accounts for 95% of my exhibition successes. My second and third favourites, respectively, are my 24mm wide angle (close up) and 180 macro lenses.
        I have mixed views about digital imaging. On the one hand, the computer is a fantastic creative tool and I respect highly most of what it can do when in a safe pair of hands. Conversely, I have little interest in the tools and techniques it employs and regard these strictly as a means to an end - albeit a very necessary means to achieving the lovely results it can produce. I would find it very difficult to give a talk or show on digital imaging - lack of interest in the technical aspects would make me a very poor teacher. Also, from the point of view of sheer pleasure, is it not very much nicer to be out photographing in the field even although it is only minus 10 degrees centigrade as you wait for the light on Rannoch Moor?
        My main photographic interests revolve around subjects I can take outdoors. I love woodland photography - I guess because it lends itself so readily to different creative techniques both in the field and in the computer. The landscape too provides me with a great source of photographic pleasure. But increasingly these days I enjoy close-up work of plants in their environment and insects. I have no real personal dislikes in photography other than those pictures which amount to bad taste, e.g. people or animals suffering or in distress, anti-social behaviour etc.
        I no longer use photography in conjunction with other hobbies. The original raison d'etre of the 1980's - using it to record subjects when out walking is not practical any longer! What happens now is that we walk a few yards and the photography takes over and so the walking is regarded as secondary to, and a reconnaissance mechanism for the photography. It no longer stands as a hobby in its own right. I am increasingly enjoying gardening these days. I think this is because the world around us is becoming more and more littered and uncared for and escaping to one's own backyard is, in the circumstances, good for the soul. And here there is maybe a relationship with the photography! The beauty of the back garden is perhaps comparable with that divine something or other that I seek so hard in the photography!
        I have no specific photographic projects that I am working on. The closest I ever come to working on projects is the development of techniques in a new field of photography I am pursuing, such as photographing botanical subjects in their environment - a current subject of photographic pursuit. This said, I do like to set myself objectives and thoroughly believe in doing this! Some of these I prefer to keep to myself (for fear of failure?) but others I am sure I share with most of the readers of this article. Specifically, I would like to go on enjoying my photography for as long as possible and insofar as I am able to contribute, sharing this enjoyment with others.
        Photography has been for me one of the great experiences of my life. It drives me, it motivates me, it gives me a buzz and it brings self-fulfilment and happiness. But last and not least, it brings together friends and companions in a bond of common interest and sharing.