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The bigger the better - part 2 of 1 2

by Mark Lawrence Published 01/11/2012

Society Qualifications

A professional photographer for 13 years, Mark came into the industry on the back of a career working for blue chip companies as a Sales and Marketing Director, primarily on partnership agreements. These days he primarily works in the fashion, hair and beauty, and wedding sectors, and he's known to large numbers of professional photographers due to the workshops he's done alongside Kevin Wilson with album manufacturer GF Smith. "I also advise professional photographers on how they can create strategic partnerships with wedding venues," he says, "and I spend time giving inspirational seminars around the country, getting photographers to do what they do best.

"In terms of my own photography I'm a people person. I might not be the best photographer, but I have a knack for getting people to do things for me. I also work pretty fast at weddings and can get away with minimal editing: I just have a knack for producing 'nice' pictures.

"As a member of The Societies I have the option now to achieve some formal qualifications, and Kevin, who's a friend of mine, is always telling me that I should go for them. From my client's point of view I think they are more interested in the pictures I can give them than they are in the letters after my name, but I've decided that I'm going to go for it in any case because I see it as a personal challenge. It's something I can do that might help me to move up to another level and I'm a firm believer in always pushing yourself to do better."

For his seminar at the Convention, which takes place on the Saturday, Mark is fully prepared to explain his rationale on medium-format with some plain talking, and he expects to come across a few people who might not agree with his sentiments. "I just see it as a chance to have a good heart-to-heart with fellow photographers," he says. "It will be very interactive, and it's not my intention to simply stand up to present a slide show: I'll be hoping to get lots of questions and it will be really interesting to see what the attitude of photographers is to medium-format right now. My feeling is that there could well be a few more people interested these days than might once have been the case."

During the Convention trade show Mark can be found at the GF Smith stand where he'll be very happy to meet up with any photographer who wants to talk to him, and if time allows he plans to take in a few workshops as well. "There are so many that I want to get along to if I can," he says, "but if I had to just pick out one it would probably be Bjorn Thomassen, who always puts on a good show. I'll enjoy seeing experienced photographers like Pete Ellis, but I'm also interested in hearing what newcomers, such as Richard P Walton, have to say.

"It's going to be great and I'm really looking forward to it all coming around."

More information: www.marklawrencephotography.co.uk

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1st Published 01/11/2012
last update 09/12/2022 14:59:39

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