Delegate Showcase – Wendy Monaghan and Building a Portfolio

Delegate Showcase – Wendy Monaghan and Building a Portfolio

Each month we showcase a delegate who has attended our Welshot events and for February 2024 it’s the turn of Wendy Monaghan.

Wendy has been taking photos her whole life, much to the dismay of her family and friends. Wendy mainly used point and shoot cameras and took her rolls of film into the local Max Spielman, or sent the roll off to be developed (remember the Kodak envelopes you could pick up to send your film off, should you get a second set of prints or not…) where you also had negatives delivered with your images.  Wendy remembers picking the pictures she wanted duplicates of, going through the negatives and either sending them off again or taking them to the local shop. When she completed 25 years service in 2010,  she got to ‘pick an award’ from the catalogue and she chose a bridge camera. However, Wendy very quickly outgrew the capabilities of the bridge camera and moved on to her first DSLR and invested in a Nikon D5300, with my final Nikon being a full frame D810.

What is your favourite genre of photography?

Without doubt portraiture is my favourite genre – it involves capturing personality and character of the subject, looking for emotion and facial expression. I love natural light portraits – but I also love portraits taken with flash.  I like to experiment with movement and light as much as I can. 

Then there is fine art, a style which I keep trying to emulate.

Building a photographic portfolio with Wendy Monaghan…

I have been taking photo’s all my life; I love recording the events and despite the family and friends dismay they all love looking back on those memories I captured.  I went to Corfu with a group of friends way back in 1985; we are still friends and I resurrected those memories not that long ago – one friend said ‘these are priceless, you are the only one with pictures from that holiday that I know of – can I have copies’

What is the biggest advantage of building your portfolio with Welshot?

What Eifion does not know about photography and cameras is not worth knowing.

I remember an event where we were working with lighting and models and while talking through a set-up I wanted to try, Eifion said ‘set it up then’, we went through the results I wanted and how this might be achieved, and he then provided constructive feedback on the outcome. 

Wendy Monaghan

What camera do you currently use?  

I now use an Olympus OM-D Mark 3, I replaced my previous Nikon kit (after many conversations with Eif and Lee to work out what would suit me best – they even let me try out their extensive range of cameras) a couple of years ago – and I do not regret making the change.

What is your favourite “Go to” lens?

I had lots of lenses with my Nikon kit, built up over the years; I loved the 24-70 mm and the 70-200mm – they were my “Go To…” lenses.

My Olympus 12-40 Pro lives on my camera, occasionally changing to the 40-150 Pro.  I am still debating what my next lens should be – so much choice and not enough cash…

Why do you take photos?

I capture a moment in time, that moment will never be experienced again but I have it on film – or memory card; I can share those memories.  My family may have groaned when I used to get my camera out but they are so thankful I have such a library of family photos, so we can look back and remember those moments.

Who would you say is your biggest influence in photography?

This is a difficult one for me and I am honestly not sure what or who has been the biggest influence; I love old masters style imagery – dark and moody, this style also, usually, does show strong colours.  This brings to mind the work of Annie Leibovitz, who brings bold colours and some very different looks to photography – I love looking at her work and being inspired. 

My biggest influence would probably be the old masters and Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk is a photographer whose work has also helped influence my style

What’s the one genre of photography that you struggle with but would like to conquer?

Landscapes – what I see and what comes out of my camera… Say no more!

What would you dream shoot look like?

Probably an Old Master styled portrait shoot – also looking at Dutch Old Masters for inspiration; the rich colours, the lighting, the materials, clothing and props, backdrops, choosing colour palette.

If you could photograph anyone – Who would it be and why?

I would love to be able to photograph my Mum and Dad with their grandkids and great grandkids; my love of photography came from my Dad (though we never knew if dad’s photo’s would be in focus and we had so many of him looking down the lens while he tried to figure out if the camera was working lol)  My parents were all about family and Dad didn’t get chance to meet any of his great grand kids, although Mum did meet her 2 oldest great grand kids. 

Yes, I can photoshop them all into an image – but that isn’t the same as a picture with Mum and Dad, their 5 children, 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren – and just think of the symmetry in that picture lol.

Thank You Wendy…

…for letting us have a little insight into your photography and your portfolio building journey.

We are excited to see what you produce next.

Lee, Eif & Team Welshot