EOS project: Lincoln in lockdown

Keeping local during the pandemic gave Patrick Stubbs an opportunity to reassess his photographic style.

Q: What sort of photography are you primarily known for?

I specialise in family and wedding photography. I started Natural Expressions Photography in 2004, unsure of what direction I was heading. Initially I took any photography work that would pay. Slowly that evolved into specialising in family portraits and weddings, but I’ve also been commissioned for a lot of corporate work.

I decided to concentrate on family and weddings simply because I love photographing people. My style is a more natural approach, especially when photographing children. I’m a huge believer in photographing our whole lives, from the start to the end. My daughters were my inspiration – I realised how much I enjoyed family photography, and also how important it is.

Q: Why did you decide to embark on a different genre of photography?

I was very busy until March 2020, then when lockdown hit everything stopped overnight.

EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 70- 200mm f2.8L IS USM lens at 115mm, 1/320 second at f22, ISO 160.

Right EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM lens at 100mm, 1/320 second at f13, ISO 100.

Because I’d been so busy pre-Covid I’d had little time for my own personal photography. It was something that I’d started to miss. So, gradually, Covid opened a new door for me. We were locked down, so obviously I couldn’t travel, but I decided to take my camera with me on my ‘exercise allowance’. Taking my camera on daily walks there was no pressure from clients, no deadlines, no having to market and sell my work – just photographing exactly what I liked and what I thought would make a good photograph.

As lockdown eased I found myself wandering around with my camera more and more – and loving every minute of it. I’m not a photographer who needs or likes loads of equipment, so I just took one camera and one lens.

Q: What was your aim?

My initial thought was to document very early lockdown, but I felt uncomfortable doing it. If you remember the feeling back then, it was all extremely intense. It felt like I was doing something wrong.

As the weeks went on, my photography evolved into being something that just got me out, keeping me busy and outdoors as much as possible. Also, it kept me using my camera so that I would retain the muscle memory, otherwise I would have problems when my commissions picked up again.

I had no particular aim, other than simply to get out with my camera, capturing day-to-day life how I saw it. Since I live in Lincoln I was obliged to photograph in the city, but the more I was out and about the more ideas and concepts started to develop.

Furthermore, one aspect of my street photography project has been about using the EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM lens, trying to depict people as part of the environment rather than snatching a moment, which is more typical of the genre. Pedestrians might appear only small in the image, blurred, with their back to the camera perhaps or, in some cases, there are none at all. I realised that many of these photos had a feeling of isolation and loneliness, and I felt that was perfect for the last 12 months.

Q: Why did you decide to limit yourself to the 70-200mm focal length?

If you read anything about street photography it will recommend using wider lenses, such as 24mm or 35mm. Walking around Lincoln I initially took a 24-70mm standard zoom with me, and it made me realise that I hadn’t experimented and changed things around enough over the past 15 years. When a job came in I would pick up my usual Canon gear without really thinking about it. I knew the equipment I needed to get the job done. I would say that 80% of the time I would have the EF24-70mm f2.8L USM mounted on my camera. But it's all too easy to get complacent. Spending weeks shooting my personal work woke me up to the fact that I could do what I wanted, and it didn't matter if I didn't produce great results. I could afford to experiment as much as I wanted.

Read more in the July-September 2021 issue of EOS magazine.

Project kit list:

EOS 5D Mark IV EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM One battery Two cards (one as a back-up)

About Patrick

I know everyone says it, but my father really did introduce me to photography. He bought me a Cosina CT-1 for my twelfth birthday and I’ve been hooked ever since. However, I ended up in a career in accountancy. I had some interesting jobs, including working in Africa, but on returning to the UK the idea of getting another job as an accountant didn’t appeal, so I started Natural Expressions Photography.