ABOUT
My name is Elliot Hook and I’m a full-time analytical chemist, part-time wannabe photographer, based in Bedfordshire, UK.
I have always had a love of the outdoors, especially the coast, and it is that interest that eventually brought me to photography in 2009. It was then that I bought my first DSLR and started the process of turning my ‘picture taking’ into ‘image making‘. It is a great escape from my day job and a means to get out into the countryside in my free time.
As is evident from these pages, I really only enjoy landscape and wildlife photography, two fairly opposing genres, and I generally end up switching my focus between the two throughout the year – often torn to which I should dedicate my time. I love the ‘thrill of the chase’ offered by wildlife photography and the reward of getting to spend time in the presence of some of the special wildlife that the British Isles has to offer. I also enjoy the more relaxed approach of immersing myself in the landscape in order to overcome the challenges that photographing the landscape presents. Ultimately, though, it’s all about spending time outside capturing the natural world in front of me.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
Sea Fever, John Masefield
The Kit
So many words are written by so many around photographic equipment, whether it is about spec sheets of the latest bodies or lenses or arguments over which brand is best. Equipment is far from the be-all and end-all of photography – all that matters it that you know how to use the equipment you have.
For me, photography is the marriage of three things: technique, vision and the natural world; and I don’t think I could do one justice without either of the other two. Therefore, I strive to understand how to get the best out of my equipment within the bounds of its capability, trying to make the most of the potential it holds – I’m sure I’m always the limiting factor!
To satisfy those that are interested in the specifics of these things, I currently use the below and could not be more happy with the results:
- Sony A7RII
- Sony FE 28mm f/2.0
- Sony 55mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*
- Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
- Induro tripod + Uniqball head
- LEE filter system