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Alan Lait
Alan is a UK landscape and outdoor photographer, based in North Yorkshire, whose images capture the mood and beauty of the landscape. His interest in photography started from a young age, inspired by the dramatic views he often encountered while climbing mountains in the Lake District, and he has since dedicated many years to refining his photographic and printing techniques. His work has been published in magazines and exhibited at the Joe Cornish Galleries, where he was a contributing photographer for many years.
Charlotte Parkin
Head of Marketing & Sub Editor for On Landscape. Dabble in digital photography, open water swimmer, cooking buff & yogi.
In the autumn Alan Lait launched his exhibition 'Lakes and Mountains' at the Joe Cornish Gallery as one of their Gallery Photographers, having a permanent exhibition at the gallery. Susan Rowe, who proofreads all our content put us in touch with Alan so we could find out more about his film photography, climbing and his love of the Lake District.
Can you tell me a little about your education, childhood passions, early exposure to photography and vocation?
As a young lad, I had an interest in art and drawing and was first introduced to the dramatic landscape of the Lake District on a family holiday, where I can remember making some pencil sketches of the mountains, crags and views. I think it was also on the same trip that my Dad lent me a 35mm film camera and I took my first roll of 24 exposures.
After school, my original intention was to pursue a career in graphic design or product design but at the time I believed I wouldn't be sufficiently talented to make a living out of it and instead followed my other interest in technology, and studied Computing Science at University. That lead me to a career in the telecoms industry, which has since been my primary vocation. However, as a very necessary life-balance to the day-to-day challenges of business, I rediscovered my enjoyment of photography about 15 years ago.
What camera did you originally use and when did you start using a digital camera?
My first camera was the Praktica MTL3 35mm film camera, lent to me by my Dad, and my early exploration of photography was really learning the basics of exposure, film speeds and composition with that camera. I subsequently had a small APS Canon film camera for a while too before purchasing my first digital camera, which was a Sony DSC P-10, back in 2004, with a 5MP sensor which seems tiny in comparison to today's cameras and smartphones! I think I owned a couple more pocket-sized cameras, before upgrading to a Canon compact bridge camera, that I took with me on walks in the Lake District, primarily to take photos as a record of mountains and routes I'd climbed up.