Quotes by
Steve Coleman

If you stop photographing things, and start to photograph light, you will amaze yourself.

Close your eyes... What do you see?

Many photographers photograph the world the way it is. I photograph the world the way I would like the world to be.

The water rolls, the clouds move and light reflects off all it touches.
My camera stays open, recording in one image, all this movement of light.
How wonderful this world is.

Just walking.
Painting pictures in my mind.
Shades of light.
Shapes and textures.
The eye is drawn.
The camera drawn.
No... just walking.

I capture what I feel, not what I see.

Photography helps me to reflect on life.

I stand watching.
Waiting.
I am alone, but I am not lonely.
Shifting light, textures, shades;
these are my companions.

It can be a difficult journey to live a creative life, if you live within an environment which does not understand or value creativity. Seek-out and surround yourself with positive soul-mates.

A photograph shines a light so that the world might see.

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful this world is… yet it is so easy to miss that beauty when our lives are so busy. Photography is my way of slowing down, getting away and watching the world move more slowly.

If you see something beautiful, take a picture of it. The world needs to see more beauty.

Photography can be three steps forward, two steps back, hit a tall wall, can't go over, can't go under, three steps to the side, hit a pot hole... but isn't it fun to be creative !! Yep..

Photograph what you see... it might be reality. Photograph what could be... that is creativity. Photograph automatically... is that what you really see? Photograph manually... you may learn to see differently.

A photograph is captured time... So take some time to experiment with time.

You are the conductor ~ Your orchestra are shapes, textures, stories, objects, patterns, emotions, design, moments, depth, focus, rhythm, shades, colour, movement and light. It is your performance. It is your vision.

Morning light,
Soft light,
It's colored light
But isn't bright.,
I wait and watch,
Then slowly I let my film soak up this light.

Some days I struggle to see.

For a photographer this is a magic moment... about 45 minutes before sunrise, light is already starting to push back the dark. I open my camera and let nature paint me a picture.

I like to live a creative life, with a touch of philosophy, a cup of espresso coffee and a good hoard of Velvia film... how sweet life is.

Your camera will record what it sees or you can make it capture what you feel.

Some people like to hit little white balls into holes in the ground.... I like to take photo's.... We're all a bit mad in our own way.

The most important lessons I have learnt on the 'road' to becoming a photographer don't involve my camera.

If you shift your mindset from photographing 'things', towards photographing 'light', you will amaze yourself.

Too many 'photographers' are hoping to make their living through photography. While I don't wish to discourage, for some will succeed, most will not. Frustration and disappointment are not good companions to carry through life. Try your best at Plan A, but always have a Plan B and Plan C in your life.

I only use one light... the sun.

Light is my brush. Film is my canvas.

The colours of light look best when mixed with darkness.

The Still Image: focused, powerful, holding the thought. Concentrating the narrative for all to see and reflect on. Not to be lost in the blink of an eye.

Film slows me down.
I get time to think and to feel.
I like my photographs to be considered in their making.

I have never run a workshop,
but my first lesson would be,
let's meet by waters edge at sunrise
but leave your camera be.
Just look... and think... and feel,
now tell me, what do you see?

Change your perspective.

Open your eyes and open your heart and your photography will flourish.

It is all about light.

For me, a photograph needs to be poetic.

When I use a camera, I see the world in detail.

A creative life.
It can be deep, intense and passionate.
Yet it's often not an easy life.
Here's to all creative lives.

You don't need the most expensive camera, you need great ideas.

Don't always control the making of a picture... let go. It's ok to let fate, spontaneity and chance play with you.

Take your camera off automatic. You are the photographer.

A photograph is your vision, held together by light.

Beware of the camera with all the smart technology... It can ruin you as a photographer.

Laugh, love, dream, strive, smile, feel, joy, look, try, fail, read, walk, search, share, help, work, fun, learn, retry, sweat, cry, rest, wait, fear, hope, trust, pride... when we have lived all of these, our photography might stop being a record of what our camera sees and become an expression of what we as photographers feel.

To grow creatively, and grow as a person, you will often need to jump out of your 'comfort zone'. It can be scary, it's often be hard work. You may not completely understand why or what you are doing at the time. You might get criticised, but do it you must.

A camera exposes more than just an image. It also exposes the photographer.

The water rolls, the clouds move and light reflects off all it touches. My camera stays open recording in one image all this movement of light.

Your photography can touch the entire world.

Film is like a good bottle of wine; rich in colours and tonality with a depth of character and complexity which you just don't get from that flat 'video' look of digital. Like a good wine, film is also most enjoyable.

Light is the stuff which holds a photograph together; it breaths life, passion and emotion into your vision.