Join the conversation
Subcribe to comment rss feedFeatured Photographer
Nigel Danson
Nigel is a landscape photographer and videographer from the UK who loves everything to do with natural landscapes. Being dyslexic from an early age, he discovered that photography was the natural outlet for him to express himself. However, it wasn’t until a few years later after a heart-stopping experience in Yosemite National Park that Nigel decided to quit his corporate job as CEO of an international software company, to follow his life-long love of photography. He then went onto to start a YouTube channel that has grown to have 500,000 followers and share his knowledge of landscape photography through adventure in woodlands and landscapes.
Charlotte Parkin
Head of Marketing & Sub Editor for On Landscape. Dabble in digital photography, open water swimmer, cooking buff & yogi.
After a life changing experience in Yosemite National Park, he left behind a successful corporate career to follow his love of landscape photography. Today, Nigel is known for his painterly woodland scenes, his inspiring YouTube channel with half a million followers, and his commitment to sustainable, meaningful creative practice.
In this conversation, he reflects on rediscovering joy through photography, the value of printing, the collaboration with Fotospeed developing the Natural Smooth 310 paper, and his ongoing mission to capture every county in England.
You started your photography journey when you were 11 years old. Tell us about this, and what was it that sparked your interest?
It all began when I received a Brownie camera as a Christmas gift, and it truly sparked something within me. Being dyslexic, I always struggled with words and writing, but photography offered a visual way to express myself freely, without the frustration of words! It felt like a door opening to a world where I could communicate through images alone.
We’d love to hear a bit about your background, what you studied, and your path to what kind of work you do now.
I continued pursuing photography throughout my school years, and when I went to university, I studied physics—specifically astrophysics, which fed my inner science geek. During that time, I experimented with capturing shots through telescopes, blending my love for the stars with photography.
After graduating, I began selling my prints and found some early success, but life took a turn when I had my three children, prompting me to put photography on the back burner for a while. I set up a software company and moved to America, where life became incredibly busy. Through it all, photography simmered in the background, but never fully faded away with one exhibition in the Peak District for charity.