I know this is long overdue and it is something I had planned to start quite some time ago……….as with many things, other things come up to distract one’s attention.
Who Am I?
I am Guilden Gilbert, a photographer born and raised in Bermuda and I have been living in the Bahamas since 1997.
Photography has always appealed to me, I say always because while I truly delved into this art form back in 1980 or 81 as a 14 or 15 year old my Mom tells me that I was always fascinated with cameras and with taking pictures.
My first “real” foray into photography came about while I was participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in high school in Bermuda. We were asked to select a hobby, I chose photography where we shot, developed and wet printed B&W film images . It was this experience that set me on the path to this journey into photography where, nearly 40 years later I am just as passionate about it.
My very first “real” camera was a Canon AE-1 and ran so, so many rolls of film through that camera. I got this camera just after completing the hobby series during the Awards and I used it until it was stolen in 1999. When I first started out I would shoot between 8 and 10 rolls of film a week and my parents covered the cost of the film development.
I taught myself photography because back then many professional photographers were not prepared to take the time to teach someone the art form. I learned through trial and error, thus the large number of rolls of film each week. Without knowing it at the time my trial and error taught me the Exposure Triangle. I would make notes of my settlngs for each frame so that when I received the prints back I would know the setting for each image and I learned what worked and didn’t work under various lighting conditions. I also experimented with various ASA (ISO) film stocks and learned how to rewind a partially exposed roll so that I could change the ISO and then go back and finish the incomplete roll.
After my AE-1 was stolen I took a break from photography because I saw the technology changing rapidly. When I did jump back into photography I realised my mindset with shooting had to change slightly. With film I learned to expose for the shadows but with digital I had to adjust and expose for the highlights to avoid blowing out pixels making them un-retrievable.
I consider myself fortunate to have been born in the most beautiful place on Earth, Bermuda and today residing in the second most beautiful place on Earth, the Bahamas……..:-).
As you will see from my images my work consists of a number of genres, Landscapes (Seascapes), some Portraits and quite a bit of Sports.
I have been under contract with the Bermuda Football Association to shoot a World Cup Qualifier between Bermuda and the Bahamas. I have been under contract to shoot the IAAF World Relays, the CARIFTA Games, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifiers. I have been honoured to have been featured as a Sports Photographer in N Photo Magazine, had a number of my images selected for exhibitions by BlankWall Gallery in Athens, Greece, I have received Honourable Mention in some very large global photo contests and I am proud to have my work hanging in homes and offices in many places around the Globe.
In the past few years I have taken the step to teach photography so that I can pass on the wealth of knowledge I have gained in this art form. I happy to see some of my former students truly beginning to excel in this craft.
So that is me in a nutshell. Hopefully I can be consistent in writing new posts. i welcome feedback.
This is me………