Turning great landscapes into stunning photographs. We caught up with Duncan Buchanan (aka Booch Photography) to chat about his passion for photographing the great outdoors.
Can you tell us about Booch Photography and how you started?
Originally I was a photographer’s assistant in the late 90’s, developing film and also helping out on photo shoots for corporate clients. I decided to leave after about 9 months due to me needing a more stable financial income and moved away from photography completely for years. It was only when a work friend, about 12 years later, decided to take it up as a hobby that my passion for photography was reignited. I’ve always been creative in some way or other regardless.
Since I bought my first DSLR it’s been a steady learning curve, going out and spending hours watching you tube tutorials on editing programs and learning new techniques as I go. Buying, selling and trading equipment along the way.
How would you describe your photographic style?
I tend to favour landscapes but I do enjoy having a play a most genres. I recently bought a macro lens which I’m still getting to grips with but I’m loving that at the moment…I prefer shooting for colour over black & white. I have a habit of going out on a whim with no real planning and shooting quickly.
So I’d describe my style as ‘Wandering While Wondering Landscape Photographer’...
We like it! What’s been your most memorable shoot/highlight so far?
Ha, well it’s for totally the wrong reason, but my most memorable would be last November on Skye. I left my long suffering partner in the car, she has much more sense than me… I walked, the much further the originally anticipated, path down to the Fairy Pools… In the rain I might add. I’d seen Melvin Nicholson’s van parked in the car park. I knew he was in the area and I said I’d say ‘Hi’ if we bumped into him. I got utterly soaked through and came away without even taking my camera out of the bag, although I did manage briefly to introduce myself to him. Still makes me laugh to this day.
Most memorable with actual shots would probably be a roller derby competition a few years ago, not long after I’d taken photography back up. It was memorable purely because I came away with so many shots I was totally overwhelmed by which to keep, delete and edit!
Also shooting in Vík, Iceland. It was so rough, windy and wet and we encountered every type of weather getting there that day but it was totally unforgettable.
If you could photograph any one thing or person, what or who would it be?
I think I’d have to pass on a person, anyone I’d want to shoot would be a hero or someone I looked up to and they’d inevitably not live up to the pedestal I put them on. But item or place… there’s a long list. Glaciers… I’d love to go out and shoot glaciers. It’s one thing I really wanted to do when we visited Iceland but we were there at the wrong time of year for it.
I love the colour and the massive size of them, it’s incredibly sad to think that soon they may not even exist anymore. But generally I love to shoot things that make me realise how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things. So glaciers fit that bill quite nicely.
What’s the best thing about being a photographer?
It’s a hobby that gets me out of the house to visit places I probably would never have visited otherwise. It makes me appreciate the little things by focussing on the details rather than just the big picture so to speak. I appreciate the fact that I can just jump in a car, go where I want, when I want and spend an hour, a day or an entire holiday practising a hobby an skill I love. In this day and age where more and more people seem to be spending more time indoors, I quite like that it bucks that trend.
You can see more of Duncan’s work at:
@Booch Photography on Instagram
