Awarded the Master Photographers Association Wedding Photography Fellowship
David Bostock of Kings Sutton, Banbury, Northamptonshire has just been awarded a coveted Fellowship qualification from the Master Photographer s Association (FMPA) with a stunning panel of images of black & white Wedding Photography, which is David’s specialty.
The judges commented on the unique style of the images within the panel (all shot on a Canon EOS 5D3 or Canon 5D4 or Canon EOS R5 or Canon EOS R6 mirrorless cameras) that when viewed together formed a cohesive body of work. The commitment to producing photographs of sheer quality was obvious to every member of the judging team.
Fellowship of the MPA is a very difficult qualification to achieve within the photographic profession, as this takes a great deal of time, work and dedication to your art to reach this level. Many photographers entering the Association remain at Licentiate level, so reaching the required high standards of this qualification is a massive achievement. There are only 4 master photographers with a Fellowship in Wedding Photography in the UK and David is now one of them.
Not only do you have to submit an extensive panel of photographic images, which are displayed and judged in front of 5 highly respected Fellows of the industry, but you also must produce an in depth working profile, about your work and business practices. This document covers essential elements such as Health & Safety, that must be understood when dealing with the public, and also documents a photographer’s creative approach and future ambitions.
This is the reason why the public should only book a qualified professional photographer to record those precious memories in life; their wedding, pets or family and children, as it’s the only way they have of knowing they will get the best creative photographs and personal service possible.
Upon being awarded the Fellowship, David commented:
“It’s been a goal of mine ever since I became a professional photographer to obtain the coveted Fellowship qualification. Fourteen years of professional photography, honing my skills week in week out at over 500 weddings have brought me to this point and I was completely over the moon to be awarded my Fellowship of the Master Photographers Association in Weddings in September at The Photography show. I have always loved black & white photography since the days I had a darkroom in my teens and did my own processing and my black & white imagery in both the reportage/documentary and fine-art/fashion areas of wedding photography along with my colour work very much represents my signature style. Having been awarded this Fellowship means I can get more involved in training & mentoring other photographers and provide wedding couples with the highest level of photography on their special day” David Bostock (FMPA).
David Bostock has used the Canon professional series of camera bodies, lenses and accessories since entering the world of professional photographer just over 14 years ago.
David commented “I started off using Canon’s Film SLRs (the EOS3), then moved onto digital SLR cameras in 2008, starting with the original full frame Canon EOS 5D then moving onto the Canon 5DMk2 followed by the Canon 5DMk3 (which I still use for my Underwater Photography) and the Canon 5Dmk4. Last year in 2021 I moved over to Canon’s professional mirrorless camera system with the R6 and the R5 -I now carry two of the Canon R5 flagship camera bodies and matching RF series of lenses”.
View David’s successful Fellowship Portfolio here https://www.thempa.com/david-bostock-fmpa
Below are the 20 images that gave David his Fellowship. A huge Thank You to all the couples whose weddings featured in them.
David’s Final Thoughts on his Fellowship panel:
Whilst I obviously shoot all images in colour on the wedding day, I literally know the moment I take the photograph whether it will be a colour or black & white image that I end up showing to the client.
Black & White imagery is what I really love and many of my awards to date have been for my monochrome images. I tend to use NIK filters Silver Efex Pro to initially create my black & white imagery and then approach each image in post-production as I used to do, when I had a wet darkroom many years ago, with selective dodging and burning to achieve the final result.
The monochrome work of photographers such as Bob Carlos Clarke and the 1940’s and 1950’s work of fashion photographer Horst.P. Horst for Vogue along with the backlit smoky jazz images of Herman Leonard and the pure photojournalism of Jeff Ascough have provided inspiration in terms of composition and lighting. There are so many amazing photographers that continue to inspire me including the work of Trevor & Faye Yerbury who were kind enough to offer me mentoring and advice for this panel. I hold them both in the very highest regard.
This FELLOWSHIP panel of images represents what I believe are the best 20 images I have created over the past 3 years (excluding the COVID year). Without doubt there are another 20 images and many more that I would have loved to include from earlier years, many that I have won grand awards for, but the rules of the submission exclude these.
All the images here have been hand printed by The Print Foundry on my favourite photographic paper Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm. Probably the best photographic paper you can get in my less than humble opinion. Of course, it’s expensive but just like the man from Harley Davidson once said ‘If you’ve got a ten-dollar head then buy a ten-dollar helmet…’
Special Thanks to:
The Master Photographers Association
To view more of my Wedding Photography or to enquire about me photographing you wedding please visit my website here https://davidbostockphotography.co.uk/
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