Welcome to images through a lens
Photographs by Mark Crocker.

My photographic journey started over 20 years ago. I owned a Minolta SLR but never really understood how it worked. We honeymooned in Australia. I even tool a tripod (don’t ask) and took some okay snaps. I came across Peter Lik and fell in love with panoramic images. On returning home, a few months later I entered some photos into our local flower show and won a cup. I joined our local camera club and did quite well in competitions.

For my birthday in November 2003, my wife bought me a workshop with Lee Frost in Northumberland. This was home turf for me but concentrated over 3 days. This was a life changer for me. Lee was shooting with a Fuji 617 (did I say I love panoramic), others were shooting with Hasselblad’s and there was an Xpan, a low cost (depending up on your point of view) entry into panoramic. More importantly I learnt to appreciate the golden hour. Pictures from that trip still hang in my dining room.

Someone at the camera club was selling their Bronica 645 kit. I bought it. I also had to have a Xpan. I joined Lee on another workshop, this time in Tuscany, with a 35mm Minolta camera, a Xpan and Bronica. It cost more for the excess luggage than my own ticket. It would have been cheaper to have bought my camera its own seat!

I have never looked back. I now shoot with Canon, with my latest body being the 5D mkIV. My love for photography has taken me around the world. I have been to Cuba 3 times, I was in Iceland when the volcano (Eyjafjallajökull) was still very much active. I have visited the Far East, including Myanmar and Vietnam and my most recent trip in Svalbard, up in the Artic Circle. I consider myself to be landscape and travel photographer.

Despite my world travels, there are two locations closer to home I consider my favourite – the highlight of Scotland and Northumberland. Bamburgh beach has to be one of my favourite locations.

I love landscape photography, and particularly seascapes because it is forever changing. The tides add a different dimension, as does the sky. You can visit the same location time and time again and it will never be the same.

Visiting places like Cuba has allowed me to appreciate travel photography, In 2022 I visited Namibia and the wildlife blew we away. I have since visited Svalbard and have more wildlife trips planned for the future.

images through a lens allows me to share some of my experiences with you. But sometimes I need to remove the camera from my eye and just experience what is around me.

I now shoot digital, dabbling from time to time with Hipstamatic on the iPhone. All of my processing is done within Adobe Lightroom, only occasionally venturing into Photoshop. I prefer to get it right in camera, which probably comes from my days shooting slide film (Velvia). I still love panoramic and will often crop to this format. I also love square format and will shoot with both in mind.

Mark Crocker

Camera Bodies

• Canon 5D mk IV
• Canon 5D mk II converted to Infrared
• DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone

Lenses

• Canon 11-24mm
• Canon 16-35mm
• Canon 28-300mm
• Canon 100-400mm
• Canon 70-300mm
• Sigma 150-600mm
• Canon 50mm (nifty fifty)
• Sigma 105mm macro