The images on this site represent three distinct strands to my work.
Firstly there is the commissioned side which is pretty much self explanatory.
Secondly there are the 'straight' landscape images, which mainly for historical reasons represent the bulk of the pictures here. Landscape is what got me started down this road & I'll continue to pursue it - I just can't seem to shake the habit.
Lastly there is is an emerging body of work that is characterised by a more impressionistic approach.

Ironically it started with a commission to photograph Oxford. I decided to use (with the blessing of my client) a Lensbaby 2.0 for the entire project. The results can be seen in the Oxford gallery.

This has set me off on an ongoing journey to define a distinctive approach for my work.
The current phase of which is now involved with using tilt/shift lenses. Again somewhat ironically this has come out of my commissioned work.

Initially these lenses were purchased for architectural & interior photography - but it didn't take me long to see their potential for more creative uses.

The tilt/shift lenses give a substantially different effect to the Lensbabies.
The latter have a point of focus whereas the former yield a plane of focus that can be rotated through 360 degrees.
Also being somewhat more highly corrected they give a smoother blur to out of focus areas.

Having used them for a relatively short period of time, I really think that the tilt/shift lenses combined with a renewed emphasis on colour (albeit rather de-saturated) & layered texture is the future direction for a substantial portion my personal work.

Early results of this new approach can be seen in the Selective Focus & Spain galleries.

Mark Sadlier
April 2008.