Photography News | Issue 67 | photographynews.co.uk
Interview 36
Geraint Radford Profile Widely published and recently appointed as Olympus’s macro ambassador, Geraint Radford is very much a nature specialist, and he shoots most of his amazing work close to home
Photography News:What is your day job and where are you based? Geraint Radford: Howdy! My name is Geraint RadfordandI’manOlympusambassador,macro photographer and lecturer fromSouthWales. PN: How long have you been a professional nature photographer? GR: Having worked as a commercial photographer for a number of years, I decided that I would try and build a career in nature photography, specifically insects and macro. In 2016, I took the leap and dedicated all of my time to nature photography. It was a little scary, but thankfully it worked out! PN: What came first – photography or your love of nature? GR: Being raised in the valleys of South Wales, I was forever exploring the mountains and hillsides. Iwas always very interested in looking at insects and other small beings, so it’s pretty cool to be able to carry on doing these things as a grown-up. Photographyallowsmetoseetheseincredible miniature beasts with a lot of detail and, with social media, I can share my love of nature with others, too. PN: Do you have a favourite subject, a particular bug you like more than the others? GR: Truthfully, whichever bug is nice enough to stay still and allow me to take its picture is my favourite bug in the world. Recently, I have been drawn to photographing weevils and spotted wolf spiders. Both are very common in my area and therefore offer a lot of neat photo opportunities. PN: Do you shoot just in the UK or do you venture abroad for insects? Other than the UK, what is the location youwould go back to time after time? GR: All of my images have been captured within minutes of my home and that’s the thing that draws me to macro photography. Just by switching to a different lens I am sent away to what feels like a completely different planet. I would love to travel to other countries simply to experience photographing the bugs that I couldn’t do here in the UK. Somewhere nice andwarmwould be nice. PN: Do you shoot bugs indoors as well as outdoors? GR: Each of my subjects are photographed as and where they are found, which is pretty much almost always outdoors. I never cause any physical harm or manipulation. Should a bug end up indoors, I rescue it from the many paws aroundmy house and set it free. PN: What is the biggest challenge when photographing nature? GR: Bugs are very small, which means that we need to get very close just to fill the frame.
Left Geraint particularly likes photographing weevils, like the one here
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