Christine Oliphant

Christine Oliphant lives at Newton Hall, Durham, with another home in Portugal.  She is married with two grown daughters, the eldest one living in America and the youngest one living in Surrey. Chris is a popular and relatively new member who has had considerable success in competitions.

Chris says, “In photography, the only person you have to please is yourself …”

MY PHOTOGRAPHY

I tend to take a lot of landscapes, but my other love is architectural detail shots with plenty of textures, found in abundance in the old towns of Portugal.

MY FIRST CAMERA

Being very new to photography, my first camera was an Olympus C60 zoom, I then progressed to a bridge camera, the Panasonic FZ30, and finally moved to  a DSLR in March of 2008.

MY FAVOURITE CURRENT KIT

Until June of 2009,  my favourite was my Nikon D80. Unfortunately at that time it was stolen and has subsequently been replaced with a Nikon D90. Usually the Sigma 10 – 20 wide angle is attached to it, though I do also use a Nikkor 16 – 85 VR and the Nikkor 105 macro lens. Since March 2010 I’ve been using a Nikon D300s, and though the wide angle lens is still usually firmly attached to it, I have been using prime lenses more, namely the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 and the Nikkor 35mm 1.8.

FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPHERS

I can’t say that I have a favourite photographer, though I greatly admire the work of Jane Bown. One of her quotes particularly describes how I feel when out on a shoot “The best pictures are uninvited, they're suddenly there in front of you, easy to see, difficult to catch. For that moment when I look through the lens, when everything is right, love is the only way to describe what I feel “- Jane Bown, Photographer.

ME AND THE DPS

I joined DPS in October 2007 and entered my first competitions in 2008.

In 2008 I won the Stidwell Cup  for best beginner, and came 2nd in the Sterling Award for prints. In 2009 I managed to retain the Stidwell Cup and and was winner of the Pixel Trophy. I also received a 2nd Place in the Lambert Hedley Trophy. In 2010 I mived up to the advanced section and won the Harvey Adams Cup

THE 3 THINGS I ENJOY MOST BEING A MEMBER OF THE DPS

I thoroughly enjoy seeing the work of my fellow Society members, and particularly have enjoyed many of the guest speakers who have attended the club. Most importantly I enjoy the friendship offered by fellow members.

THE PEARL (Advice to budding photographers)

The only person you have to please – is yourself.   Rules can be broken, if you are happy with your final image then consider it a job well done.