Sandra Hewitson

Sandra Hewitson  was born in Sunderland, married Steve in 1990 and moved to Houghton le Spring where they still live. She works for the NHS at Sunderland hospital as a Pharmacy Technician. She has two daughters, one at Sunderland University studying Media and Journalism (and who has developed an interest in photography) whilst the other is a hairdresser, lives with her partner, and has just given birth to Sandra’s first grandchild Grace.

Sandra has completed a number of photography courses at Shiney Row college, the most recent being a part time foundation degree in photography. Sandra says, “I enjoyed the courses and would like to go on and complete the full degree but can’t seem to fit it in at the moment.

MY PHOTOGRAPHY

 I like most types of photography and love to try out new techniques. My obsession at the moment is macro but I also love landscapes, painting with light and long exposure shots.

THE  BIGGEST INFLUENCE

That was my mum who always carried a small Kodak camera wherever we went. It had a flash cube and various taped up cracks on it, but thanks to her we have some stunning images of walking holidays in the Lake District and throughout the UK.  I also have to thank my long suffering family who endure endless hours with the camera and me!

MY FIRST CAMERA

It was a Canon 35mm fixed lens zoom and I then progressed to an Olympus Trip digital camera. I later purchased a Fuji film bridge camera which produced some stunning images but sadly met its end in the Eden project, Cornwall.

MY FAVOURITE CURRENT KIT

Canon EOS 7D, with Canon 450D as back up. I have an 18-55mm kit lens, a 70-300mm zoom lens, a must have  50mm F1.8 prime lens and  my favourite, my 60mm macro lens. I also have a polariser, a 10stop ND filter, a couple of flash heads and wireless triggers and numerous other gadgets that catch my eye!   Currently I’m saving hard for L series lenses.

 MY FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPHERS

I  love the work of Ansel Adams and more recently Joe Cornish but I also like the more diverse styles of David Hockney with his large photo joiners and Dan Heller’s long exposures of the stars above Yosemite. I also love Yousuf Karsh’s portraiture.

ME AND THE DPS

I joined in July 2010 and the first night I attended was the knockout competition. My memories of this night are great, voting with a show of hands to crown a winner at the end of the night. Many members introduced themselves that night and I remember thinking how friendly everyone was and how good the images they were producing were.

The invited speakers show a diverse range of images from landscape to portrait to underwater and pass on a wealth of knowledge.

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

The social aspect is great, chatting with like minded people, and meeting new people who have new skills and opinions to share.

The competitions you can enter and array of workshops you can join.

The assignment groups are a great day out and an excellent place to learn different techniques that you maybe haven’t tried before.

AN AMBITION

To complete that degree, and to continue pleasing my friends and family with my images.

THE PEARL (Advice for budding photographers)

Shoot your images to please yourself and if someone else likes them, even better.