Club Meeting, ‘From RAF Photographer to ...’ - Tuesday 14th September 2021.
On Tuesday 14th September, Morpeth Camera Club welcomed guest speaker Peter Robinson with a talk entitled
‘From RAF Photographer to Eye of the Tyne Photography’
Peter is an award winning professional photographer based in North Shields who trained as a photographer in
the RAF at the Defence School of Photography and his work has featured on front pages of national newspapers.
He went on to become a successful commercial and wedding photographer when in 2020 he was voted among
Junebugs Weddings Best of the Best 50 wedding photos in the world. He is the founder of ‘Eye of the Tyne
Photography’ and has shot weddings all over the UK and as far away as New York.
Peter always knew that he wanted an artistic career and at art school he soon developed a love of photography.
With a bit of research he found that the RAF provided photography training and quickly joined up. The audience
enjoyed seeing images and hearing anecdotes of his time in the RAF, which included descriptions of the conditions,
manoeuvres, and his training at the biggest training school of photography in Europe. His work entailed technical
photography, aerial film shooting, royal visits, inter-service sports, until 9/11, which changed everything.Stationed
in Oman, we heard anecdotes and saw documentary images of tanks, missile flames, crew and helicopter crashes.
On leaving the forces, Peter had to decide where photography would lead him and in the meantime he produced
a project entitled ‘Ghosts of Tyneside Past’ in which he blended archive images of Tyneside with modern versions.
Old horse drawn buses mingled with modern day double deckers, sepia toned central Station was merged with its
colourful equivalent of today, and Grainger Street as it was and as it is today. His images confirmed that the
architecture of some parts of Newcastle had barely changed over the years; it was the progress in vehicle design
and fashion which had made its mark.
Following on Peter said that wedding photography came about almost by accident, when a couple who had seen
his images on Facebook got in touch and asked him to photograph their important day. After a short while he
realised that wedding photography was what he wanted to concentrate upon and set up his own business ‘Eye
of the Tyne’. But, he said, he wanted to change the image of this genre and make it his own. Using a bit of
persuasion he began asking the couples to pose in more alternative venues, in rain lashed, stormy Glencoe,
posing by and jumping into the waters of Linhope Spout, Cullercoats Bay at sunrise, Sycamore Gap at sunset,
in woodland, using smoke effects, and reflected in wet sand on the shoreline. On one occasion he had been
requested to trek up to the top of the Old Man of Coniston with the couple, where the whole wedding party
were there to meet them at the top.
A Q & A session followed which revealed that in this sort of photography, one had to use the equipment on
hand and rely on natural light. One has to gain a rapport with the couple to break down barriers, capture
candid moments, make them laugh; enthusiasm is catching and brings its own rewards, he added. Realising
that wedding photography was going to be his chosen genre, he was keen to distance himself from the staid
wedding album image, to develop it his way and take it to the next level. This evening was evidence that
Peter has succeeded in his quest to present a new image to wedding photography.
Chairperson Sue Dawson thanked Peter for an entertaining evening, after which refreshments were served.
Steph.
‘From RAF Photographer to Eye of the Tyne Photography’
Peter is an award winning professional photographer based in North Shields who trained as a photographer in
the RAF at the Defence School of Photography and his work has featured on front pages of national newspapers.
He went on to become a successful commercial and wedding photographer when in 2020 he was voted among
Junebugs Weddings Best of the Best 50 wedding photos in the world. He is the founder of ‘Eye of the Tyne
Photography’ and has shot weddings all over the UK and as far away as New York.
Peter always knew that he wanted an artistic career and at art school he soon developed a love of photography.
With a bit of research he found that the RAF provided photography training and quickly joined up. The audience
enjoyed seeing images and hearing anecdotes of his time in the RAF, which included descriptions of the conditions,
manoeuvres, and his training at the biggest training school of photography in Europe. His work entailed technical
photography, aerial film shooting, royal visits, inter-service sports, until 9/11, which changed everything.Stationed
in Oman, we heard anecdotes and saw documentary images of tanks, missile flames, crew and helicopter crashes.
On leaving the forces, Peter had to decide where photography would lead him and in the meantime he produced
a project entitled ‘Ghosts of Tyneside Past’ in which he blended archive images of Tyneside with modern versions.
Old horse drawn buses mingled with modern day double deckers, sepia toned central Station was merged with its
colourful equivalent of today, and Grainger Street as it was and as it is today. His images confirmed that the
architecture of some parts of Newcastle had barely changed over the years; it was the progress in vehicle design
and fashion which had made its mark.
Following on Peter said that wedding photography came about almost by accident, when a couple who had seen
his images on Facebook got in touch and asked him to photograph their important day. After a short while he
realised that wedding photography was what he wanted to concentrate upon and set up his own business ‘Eye
of the Tyne’. But, he said, he wanted to change the image of this genre and make it his own. Using a bit of
persuasion he began asking the couples to pose in more alternative venues, in rain lashed, stormy Glencoe,
posing by and jumping into the waters of Linhope Spout, Cullercoats Bay at sunrise, Sycamore Gap at sunset,
in woodland, using smoke effects, and reflected in wet sand on the shoreline. On one occasion he had been
requested to trek up to the top of the Old Man of Coniston with the couple, where the whole wedding party
were there to meet them at the top.
A Q & A session followed which revealed that in this sort of photography, one had to use the equipment on
hand and rely on natural light. One has to gain a rapport with the couple to break down barriers, capture
candid moments, make them laugh; enthusiasm is catching and brings its own rewards, he added. Realising
that wedding photography was going to be his chosen genre, he was keen to distance himself from the staid
wedding album image, to develop it his way and take it to the next level. This evening was evidence that
Peter has succeeded in his quest to present a new image to wedding photography.
Chairperson Sue Dawson thanked Peter for an entertaining evening, after which refreshments were served.
Steph.