Welcome to LASTlight 

Hi, I'm Mark. For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed taking pictures: simple snaps of holidays, days-out and family gatherings. Over the years I’ve been slowly but surely building my knowledge and learning my craft to the point where photography is now my passion, creative outlet and, since moving to Orkney in October 2024, my part-time business.

Why 'LASTlight'? 'LAST' is an acronym for Landscape, Architecture, Street and Travel, which are the four genres of photography that I focus on predominantly. I describe each of these areas in more detail on my home page and provide example images for each of the genres. And 'light', of course, is the essence of photography itself, without which the art-form simply wouldn't exist. The word photograph derives from the Greek 'photo', meaning light, and 'graph', meaning to draw. Photography, therefore, literally means 'light drawing' or 'drawing with light'.

I describe my photography style as "documentary fine art", which may benefit from a little explanation. 'Documentary' simply means that I use photography to record my chosen subject as it appeared at the time I was there with my camera.....although I hope captured with a creative eye, good use of available light and strong composition. I'm also happy, where appropriate, to use filters for long-exposures and deliberate camera movement to create abstract effects. However, I don't set-up shots with models, props, staging or additional lighting. In fact, I don't physically interfere with the scene in front of me in anyway. I simply use the conditions and circumstances present on the day, to faithfully document the subject in that moment. The 'fine art' element refers to the way in which I work to creatively enhance the photograph in the digital darkroom (but without fundamentally or significantly altering the original capture) with a view to printing the image as a physical artwork with aesthetic appeal and, hopefully, some commercial value.