Tim Gander's photography blog

Tim Gander’s photography blog.

April 2, 2026April 21, 2026 by Tim Gander

When Not To Use AI

The other day LinkedIn served me up a post from a photo retoucher who made the perfectly valid point that while AI can’t fix an inherently bad photo, it can be used to rescue one from disaster. I’m kicking myself for not saving the post, because while it made some interesting points, it also reminded me that context and purpose matter as much as the content of the image.

Let me explain that a bit (ok, a lot) more.

Macaroongate

Their example was a photo sent to them by a client. It was a food photo of a macaroon on a bright pink background. There was a spatula sticking out from under the macaroon which needed to be removed, the depth of field was wrong (more of the product needed to be in focus) and the background needed to be plain white.

The retoucher said they’d used AI extensively to correct the flaws and created a commercially usable image. All good then, except the casual reader might have been left with the impression that it’s ok to do this kind of twiddling on any photo, regardless of the content or the purpose of the mage. However, here is where I would advise caution.

Content and Context

When considering where, how and why a photo is to be published, context becomes a critical consideration.

Photos which are intended to represent reality mustn’t be altered. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a newspaper or just a tweet, if the context is to illustrate a PR event or news story, alteration of the image beyond what the camera saw at the moment of capture is wrong. In the case of newspapers (and their associated websites and social media channels), image manipulation beyond certain specified basics are considered a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

Even in the Wild West Frontier of social media, brand credibility can be trashed if images are manipulated. Adding logos to clothing or signage, moving or removing irritating background items or changing colours (amongst many other dodgy options) should all be considered no-nos when the purpose of the photography is to illustrate an event.

All of which brings me to a recent failing of my own.

Kicking Myself (for the second time in this article)

In the group photo below taken for University of Bath, what irritates me the most is the fan lurking at the back of the stage. I’d already shifted it as much as I could before the event kicked off so it didn’t show up behind speakers at the lectern. However when I had only a few seconds to get the group shot at the end (I needed to be quick, or risk making Sir Christ Whitty miss his train), I failed to notice it was now visible again.

A group of six people (three men, three women) standing in a row, wearing formal evening attire in an ornate room are looking to camera for a group photo. There are pop-up banners announcing the 60th anniversary of the University of Bath.

The University of Bath Adelard Lecture panel and speakers.

The simplest fix would have been to bring the pop-up banner (at left) forward. This would have hidden the fan and the table with the water glass, balanced the group and made the branding more prominent. One small action would have tidied the entire picture!

Thinking back I was rather preoccupied with organising six people into a tidy group under time pressure, simultaneously fretting about whether the poor stage lighting was going to give me a clean image, but it’s easy to make excuses after the event.

You might argue that since the photo was staged and therefore not ‘reality’, I could have used an AI service to move the banner and fix all the problems I’ve listed, but the thing is even a staged photo at a real event contains its own kind of reality.

What Is Reality Anyway?!

We could argue about the truth of any photograph, but while the viewer here would understand, without needing to be told, that this is a staged group photo, using software to tidy the scene after the fact would be deceptive.

Of course this isn’t a hard news photo, but it is a record of an event which took place and destined to be used to ‘report’ on that event. Therefore, manipulation would not have been a good idea.

Maybe I should start using sloppy background errors as a way of ensuring nobody thinks my work is manipulated, a sort of signature of authenticity if you like. No, I think I’ll just remind myself to always check the background first (one of my earliest lessons as a local news photographer).

When setting up a picture like this group, it would be acceptable to move elements and arrange people for the optimum photo before it’s taken; doing so in post-production harms our trust in what we see in media announcements.

What About Headshots?

It’s a little different when I’m doing corporate headshots or images for corporate websites and brochures where there is no pretence at representing a news story or event. The images on a business website are generally there to promote or sell a service. They effectively become advertising, where manipulation is fair(er) game.

For corporate portraits I have a policy of cleaning up temporary blemishes and removing stray hairs, but the circumstances, context and purpose of such photos is very different. I’m not trying to say, “This is exactly what Sheila Jones looked like on this particular day.” The client (or Sheila) wants to give a representation of themselves as a real person who’s friendly, professional and approachable. As long as the image isn’t altered beyond recognition, some retouching is perfectly acceptable.

On occasions where an image isn’t destined for publication (perhaps it’s just a keepsake for the participants) it’s also acceptable to apply heavier editing. The problem here can be that once an image is “out in the wild,” it’s also harder to control where it might end up.

Which Leaves Me Where?

Back to my own example, of course there are things I could have tidied up, but having made the picture I made I accept it for what it is; a quick group photo, a record of a moment, where no one but me (and now anyone reading this article) will even notice the shortcomings of the result.

I don’t have to be fine with that, but neither will I beat myself up over it. I can be comfortable with the knowledge that I haven’t used AI to hide my mistake.

Just to say, the evening itself was fascinating and I highly recommend watching Sir Chris Whitty’s lecture via this link.

March 2, 2026 by Tim Gander

The Rise (and Downsides) of LEDs

On a ‘lighter’ note from my previous post, this week I wanted to bring up one of the daily scourges of the working photographer; that of LED lighting.

Of course I’m a huge fan of energy-saving devices, and I appreciate the part LED lighting plays in this (though I do have some questions around that – perhaps best saved for another day), but they can cause issues for photographers.

What most people don’t realise is that LEDs are not constant lights in the way halogen lamps are/were. LEDs have a frequency, that is to say they pulse on and off. For the most part the human eye cannot detect this, but cameras, because of the way they work, can.

Each frame is 1/800th of a second, but slowed down here so you can see the changes more easily.

The Invisible Flicker

If you look at the video above, it shows a sequence of images taken at high speed over the course of a few seconds. This is not a light being dimmed up and down, it’s the LED effect. The camera settings haven’t changed from one frame to the next, but you can see how the light dims on a cycle. You wouldn’t see this when you look at the light, but the camera’s sensor is recording the variable output of this light source.

What you’ll also notice is that the ‘bulb’ isn’t changing all at once. That’s because these LED bulbs consist of clusters of LEDs, each with their own frequency. If they’re not in sync with each other you get this wave effect of light brightening and dimming.

The issue this can cause to photographers is seen as banding in images (see image below) where horizontal strips of the image are darker than the rest of the picture. It looks horrible and can’t be corrected in post-production, at least not easily. The effect in the example here is exacerbated by my use of the electronic shutter function of the camera.*

Two young male school students are seated in blue lecture theatre seats. They are casually dressed and looking towards something or someone we cannot see. One has his hands in his lap, the other is resting his chin on a hand. They both look thoughtful. The photo shows the 'banding' of lighter and paler areas caused by the LED lighting on the camera's sensor.

Heavy banding ruined a few of these images.

Note how the banding affects the background wall, the seats and bench in front of the students. It’s less visible in the subjects, even so I rejected it.

LEDs Everywhere

LEDs are now ubiquitous in our everyday lives. They’re in all our workplaces, shops, homes, cars; basically, they light our lives. Better quality LED lamps will cause fewer problems than cheaper ones. However, even expensive LEDs can cause issues, especially if they’re dim-able.

When an LED light is dimmed, it isn’t actually dimmed, so much as its frequency is extended. In other words, the moments when the LED is off are extended. We’re talking microsecond differences here, which is why the human eye doesn’t see more flicker, just a dimmer light.

As of writing this article, I believe there is still only one photo-centric (not video-centric) camera with a sensor design which eliminates this issue completely, and that costs almost £6,000.00 just for the body. Other slightly cheaper cameras use faster processors to try to mitigate the effect, but it’s still an issue to be aware of.

My cameras don’t show banding when I’m using the default Mechanical Shutter mode. In some situations it would be preferable to have the camera operating completely silently (by using the Electronic Shutter setting), but if banding is ruining the photo then there’s no choice but to allow the shutter to click. It’s not exactly loud, but can be noticeable in certain situations.

LEDs Triggering Issues

The flicker of LEDs can have other detrimental effects too. If I’m setting up portable studio lighting for a photo session, I’ll often use a handheld flash meter to set the output (brightness) of my flash units. To do this, I press a button on my flash meter which is then waiting for my flash to fire so it can measure the intensity of the flash. But the flicker of an LED light is often enough to fool the meter into thinking it’s detected the flash, when all it’s detected is the pulse of an LED light.

This can make it incredibly difficult to get an accurate flash meter reading. I can try shielding the flash meter from the LED light source, or I can plug the flash meter into the flash unit and not use the non-cabled setting (apologies if this is getting technical!) Unfortunately, not all modern flash units have a flash cable socket, so this often rules that option out. It’s also not always possible or desirable to switch off all the LED lights in a space to prevent the interference.

There have been occasions where I’ve just had to set the flash output by taking a series of test shots until I’ve got the correct exposure. It’s not ideal, but it gets job done eventually.

Irritation and Mitigation

I say the human eye can’t detect the flicker of LEDs, but that isn’t always true. I used to work in an office which had LED strip lights, and they irritated my vision and fatigued my eyes. Some people are more sensitive than others and you can even buy special glasses to counteract LED lighting.

The trickiest thing about LEDs is you can’t easily predict when they’ll be a problem. I’ll take test shots or look through the electronic viewfinder of my camera, but neither of these is a 100% reliable predictor of when banding will wreck a photo. A different angle, moving from one location to another or someone making changes to the lighting can all have an impact.

Many audio visual engineers have moved to LED stage lighting and this can be brilliant or a disaster depending on their system.

So next time you’re at an event and the photographer’s camera is clicking away, even if you know they have a silent function on their camera, perhaps now you’ll understand why they might not be using it.

Sorry about the length of this article, but I do hope it’s shed some light (see what I did there?) on a mostly invisible issue.

*Electronic shutter setting means the camera is completely silent, however the imaging chip is more prone to recording banding because it exposes the sensor by scanning in lines from top to bottom. The example photo I’ve used was shot at 1/200th of a second which shows just how fast the frequency of the LED cycles is.

in Event photography / Event Photography / Industry Comment / photographer / Point of View / Uncategorized 2 comments

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026 by Tim Gander

The AI Threatscape

A new report Brave New World? – Justice for creators in the age of Gen AI sheds light on the alarming and rapid damage being wrought upon the creative industries and asks how we can protect ourselves and our national culture against this onslaught. It lays out clear evidence detailing the negative impact of Gen AI on individual creators and the UK economy and offers solutions to redress the balance of power. It is thorough and detailed, but is mainly concerned with the immediate threat to creative sector jobs.

This is not a criticism of the report, which is excellent and essential reading. However in this blog post I want to expand the view little wider to look at some of the less-obvious issues which need to be mapped as this new technology advances.

Please don’t assume that in highlighting these issues I am not concerned about the impact on artists’ incomes or the degradation of copyright. I’m also not belittling the environmental impact of Gen AI* services (through their development and their use), or indeed the huge risk of the AI bubble bursting and crashing what’s left of the economy. All of these issues are massively important and they are all deeply troubling, but I also think it’s vital that we take a look at some of the less-mentioned problems which will (already are) the result of a shift into an AI-driven world.

Naturally this article will focus on the plight of photographers, but I’ll be looking a bit beyond the immediate financial concerns faced by those making a living from photography. Some of the points I raise will also have similar effects in other professional creative areas; I’ll leave others to comment specifically on industries in which I am not an expert. Some of my concerns go far beyond the economic and creative culture harms threatened by Gen AI.

There’s No Business Like No Business

The corporate or business photographer relies on a regular stream of client commissions. Taking photos for the company website, LinkedIn and other social media and printed material is this photographer’s bread and butter, but AI is already allowing the plagiarising of specific photographers’ styles in a way which is damaging their ability to make a living. More widely, it’s already possible for anyone to ‘spruce up’ an un-flattering ‘selfie’ using an AI service, again in preference to hiring a professional.

However, let’s not forget that the people who are using these AI services today could well be in the firing line as AI replaces traditional service sector roles. The very people who might want a decent photo for their LinkedIn profile or the About Us section of a business website could well be a disappearing market for the professional photographer.

To my mind, this is one of the greatest uncertainties and un-knowables of the advance of AI services. It’s certainly going to leave many photographers scrabbling to chase a dwindling number of viable clients. It’ll be a pincer movement of decline.

Who’s Afraid of AI?

Even before that day arrives, there could be a cultural shift which makes the online posting of portraits a less comfortable proposition for many people.

GenAI services are already being used by fraudsters and people with ill intentions. A profile photo you post online can be scraped by an AI service and used elsewhere, possibly innocuously, or it could be used to try to defraud or blackmail you. Elon Musk’s Grok service was quickly employed in the rendering of innocent images of women into sexualised content. Sexual abuse images and deep fakes are a genuinely terrifying aspect of the generative AI industry. The GenAI corporates are either unwilling or unable to prevent abusive and criminal use of their services and people are already becoming more wary of having their photo taken and used online where it will be vulnerable to being repurposed.

One of the key problems with how Gen AI models are trained is that they scrape content regardless of copyright (on the creator’s side) or usage restrictions (on both the creator’s and the subject’s side). Images which were destined only to be used in a single or restricted context can easily be scraped and repurposed for uses as-yet unimagined.

A blonde female professional wearing a black satin blouse, standing with her arms folded, is looking to camera but her face is obscured behind an oval black blob to illustrate how AI will make people less willing to have their photos posted online in future.

Is this how an online profile photo has to be made safe from AI manipulation?

Will the About Us sections of corporate websites disappear in favour of anonymity?

Vanishing Culture

The natural wariness this generates in the minds of the general public extends beyond the question of allowing (or not) the use of one’s image in a professional setting. It’s already quite challenging to document news events or even everyday culture as people have become more inclined to say no to anything which might be used in ways they cannot imagine. If AI can be used to repurpose images for uses which have yet to be invented, I believe people will become increasingly hostile to having their likeness recorded in almost any setting.

It has felt for some time as though there was a golden age when photographers could document a street scene and, if not always welcomed, were at least mostly tolerated or ignored. We have a rich archive of historical photos showing people in everyday situations. From beach holidays to Sunday fairs, or simply out shopping, eating, drinking, entertaining or being entertained.

Photographing children in public spaces is an especially dangerous occupation now. The late Martin Parr and other documentarians covering everyday life simply couldn’t do today what they did until 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

The internet has already made people more sensitive to anyone taking pictures in these situations, but add the potential threat of AI abuse and I can see a time when not only will it not be possible to record public life at any level, but public life itself could start to withdraw into purely private spaces.

Where could all of this lead?

I could be wrong and I hope I am, but where social media has already caused harm to the traditional organs of democracy (I’m thinking specifically here of the demise of newspapers and professional journalism), the very hint of a threat of AI being at the service of criminals or government controls could very easily freeze the future expressions of our society and culture; both the ‘performative’ culture, such as public activities, protests and the like, and the documenting of these activities by photographers.

It’s not as if the warning signs aren’t already there, with journalists, and photo-journalists in particular, being targeted by states, the military, police and even citizens wishing not to be documented for any reason.

Conclusion

It’s tempting to only consider the immediate threats posed by Gen AI on one’s ability to earn a living. The Brave New World report also touches on the threat to UK culture and the future viability of the creative industries, and I won’t say anything to diminish the importance of the message contained in the report. The UK government would be unforgivably foolish to believe Gen AI can create sufficient jobs to replace those displaced by AI, but I wanted to set out a handful of other areas we must also be deeply concerned about. It’s not even an exhaustive list, but I’d exhaust myself if I tried to list and examine them all. Perhaps I’ll come back to this subject to take a further look at those issues.

If you think this article went awful dark awful fast, it’s probably not a bad metaphor for how AI could turn society and culture awful dark, awful fast.

*Gen AI refers to Generative Artificial Intelligence which requires continuous training on fresh data (words, photos, illustrations, music and so on) in order to be able to ‘create’ new ‘works’. I dislike the term ‘data’ in this context and the output of Gen AI services cannot be described as ‘creative works’.

in Point of View / Uncategorized 0 comments

February 2, 2026February 2, 2026 by Tim Gander

Back to the Future

While Marty McFly’s time-traveling DeLorean might still be a thing of science fiction, there’s still plenty of scope for Doc Brown-style WOWs! at IAAPS, including a gull-winged test car. This time though, it’s a BMW. Probably somewhat more reliable than a DeLorean, albeit lacking a flux capacitor.

Instead of Doc or Marty though, it was the turn of Helen Godwin, West of England Mayor, to be wowed by the work going on at the propulsion systems research centre near Bristol.

No Need for Roads

The purpose of Helen’s trip was to discover more about how IAAPS and University of Bath work to connect research with industry, creating real-world benefit from what could otherwise be siloed into pure academic study. Also to then explore how this work can be used to help promote the region to the wider country and indeed the world.

My humble task, as I have done on previous occasions, was to document the visit and generate media-ready images to help get IAAPS’ and the Mayor’s message out there.

With this kind of event it isn’t always easy to encapsulate the entire message into a single image, or even a handful of them, but it’s also not good enough to just hang around with a camera and hope something presents itself.

So my strategy on this kind of job is to be the fly on the wall, but with an eye for an opportunity to step in and arrange (with the lightest possible touch) a picture which looks natural, includes key people while also helping to tell the story.

Of course moments such as when Helen was in the driving simulator always make for a good photo, but it’s in the test cells that the story becomes somewhat clearer, visually at least.

A woman with shoulder length straight hair and wearing glasses and a blue suit laughs as she holds the steering wheel of a driving simulator with large monitor screens showing a simulation of city streets. A bearded man in a white shirt and chinos is standing next to her, smiling.

Helen Godwin enjoys her time on the simulator.

Back to the Future, or Back of the Heads?

The only problem with taking photos of people looking at things is that you either end up with photos showing the the they’re looking at (but you just get the backs of heads of the on-lookers), or you see the people doing the looking, but now you can’t see what it is they’re looking at.

On this occasion I stepped in and asked that for a few moments at least, they discuss the car and the test cell, while pretending there was something more interesting than an observation window behind me. With the cell and test vehicle behind them, I could get a photo that made it look as though they were engaged in lively discussion, I could see their faces and gesticulations, but also that sense of what it was they were talking about because the background is part of the illustration.

Beware the Brand Hammer™

There was also a handy bit of branding in there too (note the number plate), but the branding is there without being ‘in your face’. Too often PRs will insist on plastering their client’s branding all over a photo, but this often dilutes the impact, and a picture without impact will be ignored. So beware the Brand Hammer™!

Three people stand talking in a high-tech testing room for cars. A bearded man in white shirt to the left of the photo is gesticulating towards a BMW car on a test rig while a woman in suit, trousers and glasses listens, smiling. Another man on the right of the photo, wearing a suit and open-neck shirt and glasses is also listening to the first man.

Branding doesn't have to be brutal.

All of this is to say that with an event such as a VIP visit, it’s worth thinking ahead about how key images might be engineered to happen. Of course you can’t always plan things to the smallest detail, and sometimes I’ll need to step in and gently guide people to make a more complete picture, but having a key moment or two when the proceedings can be paused and adjusted to make more compelling images is never a bad thing.

It’s always a balance between micro-managing and under-planning, but if in either case the pictures don’t happen, you can’t get into your DeLorean to zoom back and do the job again. Even IAAPS aren’t working on that!

in Case Studies / corporate communications / coverage / event photographic / Event Photography / press release photography / Uncategorized 0 comments

January 8, 2026January 8, 2026 by Tim Gander

Happy New Year!

How was your Christmas and New Year? Are you all re-invigorated, set and ready to take 2026 by the chestnuts and give it a good twist?

Well if not, don’t worry; there is no law which says you have to be a new you just because it’s a new year. Don’t put that pressure on yourself. Maybe spend a little time putting together your short term, medium term and long term to-do list, then stick it in a drawer and wing it like you always do! It works for me!

Being a little more serious for a moment, I know I have some challenges to face and some tricky decisions to wrestle with this year, and I will be working through them in my usual, slightly random way. However, I did at least end 2025 and start 2026 with some relaxing family time followed by a fun adventure in wildest West Wales.

And as always, my camera was with me.

So to kick off the year nice and gently, here’s a handful of random images from the Wales trip.

Aberaeron, West Wales.

A female whose face is only dimly visible is smiling at camera while her head torch shines two red beams which also illuminate the faux fur lining of the hood she is wearing. The surrounding picture is in blackness.

Helen looking like a Dr Who monster.

Looking down a supermarket aisle with shelves filled with sugary breakfast cereals on the left, green footprint stickers leading away from the viewer on the speckled beige tiled floor and freezer cabinets to the right.

Signage...

Sea foam

A full moon is visible between power lines against a dusk sky.

Full moon from M25

Close-up view of a display panel in the Science Museum showing a scientist at work next to text of his quote.

I'm in the Science Museum!

It was a fun start to the year and it gave me a little time to reflect and consider what goals I might actually have. Here’s the thing though; I didn’t have any revelatory moments during the couple of weeks I was away, but I know thoughts were churning in the back of my mind.

Now that I’m back, some of those thoughts have turned into outline plans which have floated to the surface like messages in a Magic 8 Ball. I’m determined to get some of them out of my brain and into reality.

So here goes 2026! I hope your plans emerge too and that you manage to make them tangible.

Happy New Year!

in Personal Work / photographer / Point of View / Uncategorized 0 comments

December 22, 2025 by Tim Gander

2025 in Pictures

I’m rounding up this year with a selection of images, one for each month, which help illustrate what I’ve taken to calling a “textured” year.

Packed with work, swimming, cycling, professional and personal ups and downs, challenges and triumphs 2025 has been pretty interesting in both good and less good ways.

This gallery represents a very small selection of the assignments I’ve undertaken, and while they might not all be “bangers” they do represent a flavour of the work I’ve done and the personal images which interest me.

The majority of my professional photographic work has been with University of Bath, but other clients have also kept me out of mischief.

In the middle of it all my mum passed away in July which, while not entirely unexpected, did add another emotional dimension to the year.

A female Asian student in blue, yellow and black cap and gown is looking up, smiling and clapping. Other students are visible around her.

January - University of Bath Winter Graduations

Low Winter sun casts shadows of wooden benches and people across a textured concrete patio area. Trees are visible in the background.

February - I'm often on the look out for interesting light.

In a large sports hall a group of young wheelchair basketball players are being organised for a group photo. Large studio lights can be seen to left and right of the photo and a videographer is kneeling to capture some footage.

March - BTS of a PR shoot for Omaze

A female Asian student in denim jacket, pink sweater and black jeans is standing in a street of shops in Bath, smiling to camera with out-of-focus students in the background behind her.

April - Stock photo for University of Bath

A family group of two boys, two girls a mum and dad leaping into an open air swimming pool in the sunshine.

May - Shepton Lido official opening.

An engineer in orange high-vis jacket, safety hat and glasses uses a head torch to inspect a diagram. he's standing in a welding workshop.

June - IRTE Skills Challenge, Bristol.

A window sill with pot plants and a face mirror on, with a view of green hedging beyond. Below the window sill is a wooden cupboard with various personal items arranged such as a jewellery tree, a glass pot and drinks coaster

July - Mum's room.

A young woman with blonde hair wearing a peach top stands at a glass patio door holding a cup of tea and smiling. She is looking out through the window into the garden beyond, which is only seen as blurry foliage.

August - Eva Abley for Irwin Mitchell's piece on medical negligence.

A researcher stands at a lecture console with a projected image of his research on a screen behind him.

September - International antibody validation meeting.

A male conference delegate in a burgundy cap, his face illuminated by a laptop screen, glances up to whatever is happening on the stage. A bright spot light from the ceiling casts a light rim around his head and other delegates are discernible in the background.

October - IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025.

A super-wide angle view of the Roman Baths in Bath with evening event guests milling and drinking.

November - Back to Bath.

Three modern plastic chairs with wooden legs have been left on the pavement for anyone who wants them. There's a blue one, a white one and a red one. The red one is turned side on. There is a stucco wall behind them with a pale pented oblong higher up on the wall. The bonnet of a parked car is just visible around the corner. It is sunny and some blue sky is visible in the top-right quarter of the photo.

December - I have a bit of a thing for abandoned chairs.

It just remains for me to wish you all the best Christmas possible and every success in 2026. I want to say a personal thank you to all my clients and indeed to the friends who have supported me though this “textured” year. Thank you; I may not always manage to acknowledge your contribution directly, but it is very much appreciated.

in My News / Uncategorized 0 comments

November 14, 2025 by Tim Gander

A Goodall Moment

A few weeks ago we learned of the passing of pioneering primatologist Dame Jane Goodall.

It was additionally sad because Jane was to be the keynote speaker at this year’s IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, which as I said in my previous post, I covered alongside a team of photographers from the UK. Jane would have been addressing hundreds of climate leaders from around the world, but passed away just a few days before the event.

It would have been a huge honour to have been there to photograph her, but at the grand age of 91, we can be thankful she had such a long and impactful life.

On a more personal note, I shall now always share my birthday with the anniversary of her death.

But on the subject of tenuous connections between myself and Dame Jane, here’s another for you; I once had what I call a “Jane Goodall moment”.

In 2004 (April 21st to be precise) I was engaged to take photos at Howletts Wild Animal Park for their marketing. At one point during the day I was asked to go to the medical unit where a female gorilla was undergoing a hysterectomy. She’d had a baby, but she had a condition which meant that another pregnancy could kill her. I was asked to do a few photos to document her aftercare, but I was probably in there for no more than five or ten minutes.

After I came back outside I saw that the father of the baby, a large silverback, was in a nearby enclosure so he could be close to where the mother was having her operation. We looked at each other and he came over to the wire fence, turned side-on to me and with a definite look of pride, indicated for me to see what was clinging to his back; his young son.

Between us were two layers of fence and one language barrier, but I could tell he wanted me to look. I spoke softly in appreciation and at the same time, had to think quickly.

An unconscious female western lowland gorilla lies on her back on hay bales with a medical tube coming from her gaping mouth while a keeper and veterinary practitioner (both male, one crouching and holding her hand, the other standing over her checking her breathing) look on.

Still unconscious after her operation.

A baby western lowland gorilla is clinging to the fur of the father's back, looking directly into the camera.

A baby portrait with a difference.

One of my tasks that day was to find a cover image for the Howletts souvenir booklet, and here was the perfect moment. I managed to find an angle to make a portrait of his baby. You can just see a strip of green haze down the right-hand side of the frame where I couldn’t quite avoid the wire.

It was a magical moment and one not many people will have experienced except primatologists such as Dame Jane Goodall, and she wouldn’t have been fenced off from the experience. To be fair, I hadn’t spent years building up the trust of this gorilla, proud dad or not, so that fence was a welcome safety feature.

The photo did indeed make the book cover and of course I was pleased with that, but the longer-lasting memory for me was that moment of connection between myself, a proud dad and his baby.

A fleeting moment of course, and incomparable to the deep connections and impact Jane Goodall had throughout her career, but I like to think of it as my Jane Goodall Moment.

I very much hope her work will continue to influence our approach to, and understanding of, the impact of humans on the natural world. We still have a long way to go just implement what we already know.

in Older Work / Personal Opinion / photographer / Uncategorized 0 comments

November 5, 2025 by Tim Gander

Teamwork

While most of my photographic work involves working solo, when I do get to work with a team it is always rewarding and enlightening.

So it was a real thrill to be part of a team of photographers covering a huge conference in Abu Dhabi in October.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 was hosted at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) where representatives of national governments (more than 140 of them!) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from around the world gathered to network, share ideas, cultures, technologies and knowledge, and to discuss and thrash out international policy on climate and the environment. I understand there were more than 10,000 delegates there!

As a team of five, we faced a big challenge with many moving parts, but we quickly slipped into a method of working which felt almost psychic. With our leader Steve (second-left in the photo) handling the daily schedule, between us we were able to coordinate to ensure an even load across the team. Also that when one photographer’s pictures were urgent they had time to edit and deliver their work, and that when late nights were required of a photographer, they started later the following day.

We worked together to support each other, helping out with technical snags, exchanging tips and ideas – occasionally fetching coffee and food to help keep us fuelled.

The images we produced were used across the IUCN’s various social media channels and in their Daily Highlights page of the website, with the communications team keeping us updated on what they needed urgently.

The photography team L-R are: Marcus, Steve, Andy and Abhi

Flexibility was key to the success of the week, and we were constantly having to review and adapt plans to keep on top of what was required.

What was most valuable for me was having other photographers I respect peering over my shoulder as I edited and to have that exchange of ideas. I was able to learn from their approaches and styles and I like to think they learned from mine too. That can be a big boost to confidence and motivation when faced with a task as large as this was.

Working alongside other photographers also had a motivational effect in terms of seeking new angles or punchier compositions; an almost subliminal urge to get work noticed within the hundreds of pictures being submitted to the client every day. It’s not a question of being a sharp-elbow competition as it often was in press days, but definitely an underlying driver to keep looking with fresh eyes, even when those eyes have had little sleep for the best part of a week!

So I want to thank Steve, Marcus, Andy and Abhi for being there and for being the supportive, professional colleagues that they were. Photographers can be a prickly, defensive breed, but there were no egos on show here, just fellow photographers all pushing for the same outcome – successful coverage of a large conference under pressured circumstances.

This was a team I’d happily work with again.

Finally, I’d like to say thank you to Kathryn and Giulia from IUCN who, alongside their media and communications teams, worked closely with us in the media centre. Their calm humour kept us grounded at the most manic moments.

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September 23, 2025September 24, 2025 by Tim Gander

A Couple of Pointers

Many of my photographic jobs involve covering conferences, seminars and general get-togethers of science and industry leaders. The brief will usually involve fly-on-the-wall photography of delegates networking and exchanging ideas during the registration and coffee reception, followed by shots of the key speakers presenting their thoughts.

The spaces I’m working in can range from big lecture theatres with a capacity of 300+ to rooms barely large enough to hold 20 people, which can be a challenge when I’m trying to be discrete.

Lighting will also be mixed – it’s almost always terrible! I rarely get sufficient soft daylight to make the shots easy to edit, so I work with whatever is there. Then I go into battle at the edit stage to ensure skin tones don’t, at the very least, leave people looking ill. Sometimes I’ll use flash, but this can open a whole new can of worms and is often best avoided.

Regardless of the nature of the event, the size of the room or the lighting I’m working with, this work always boils down to ensuring I capture the speakers in a flattering and/or engaging way. One of the keys to this is the gestures people use as they speak.

My preference is to spend a minute observing the speaker to work out which area of the room they tend to address (there’s no point me taking a position to the speaker’s right when they only ever look left). I’ll try to work out if there is a pattern to when they look up and with their eyes open. And I’ll be watching to see if they make interesting hand gestures; again, I’ll look to position myself to capture this the best way possible.

A slim white male in a fine plaid shirt gesticulates with open hand towards a screen the viewer cannot see.

This tight space limited my options.

A young male academic in glasses, dark T shirt with pale green shirt over the top points as he looks to the top left of the image.

A nice strong pointing shot.

A balding white male in navy blue shirt speaks at a lectern while is image is mirrored by a large TV monitor to his side.

Using reflection to create interest.

A Japanese man in dark blue suit gesticulates with his hands up, palms forward in front of his face, towards a projection screen in a lecture theatre.

Enthusiastic gesticulation.

A white male academic speaks in front of a projected slide about his research. He is looking up and making a circle with the fingers of one hand. He wears glasses and a pale blue shirt under a dark blue sweater.

That hand gesture...

A white male with curly hair, a light beard and moustache wearing a mid-blue sweater lifts his hands, palms-up, as he speaks to his audience which we can't see.

Another expression.

Some people aren’t so easy to capture: They might only read from notes with their head down, or they might only look up with their eyes shut. If they move around a lot in a space that is dimly lit, keeping focus on them can be a challenge.

When it all comes together though, the speaker shots can work really well. They might never qualify as art, but since they’ve been taken to support on-going amplification of the event, they really should be as interesting and engaging as possible. Reaching and grabbing audience attention after the event is one of the hardest tasks for the communications manager, but it’s made all the more dispiriting if the photos are poor.

One other thing I try to ensure is that across the set there will be a variety of shots with emphasis to left and right of the frame, as well as some with design space should the client wish to drop text or a graphic into the image. It’s also important to have a mixture of upright and landscape formats for different publications and platforms.

So while this isn’t the most glamorous genre of photography, it’s interesting for me precisely because good results rely on some quick thinking and problem-solving. Sometimes an image will have an additional spark, which is usually down to the speaker’s gesticulation in the split second that I captured the image. That’s when I know all my calculations have paid off.

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August 13, 2025 by Tim Gander

When Life Gives You Plums…

The past couple of weeks have been blessedly quiet after what has been a somewhat ‘complex’ period.

A mixture of heavy workload, personal development plans and a bereavement (see previous blog) had left me feeling a little bit broken. No major breakdown, just like I’d been rinsed through and needed to refresh and reset.

However, one of the absolute pleasures of the freelance/work-from-home life is the ability to take a break, step into your garden and pick fruit. Or even just to sit in the garden and ponder the great imponderables.

So it was that yesterday, one of the hottest days of the year, I spent a precious few minutes picking plums in the garden. There is something about fruit picking that I find incredibly mindful. Like my other passion, swimming, I can just immerse myself as I check which fruit are ripe, which need more time and which have gone over and need to be composted.

Looking down on a steel colander of freshly-picked Victoria plums. The colander is standing on a steel work surface with kitchen utensils and condiments visible in the background.

1.6kg of plums looks like this

A table-level view of four jars, of different sizes, of plum jam, two of which have handwritten labels stating "Plum Jam 12.8.25." The jars are standing on a steel kitchen work surface with cooking utensils and condiments out of focus in the background.

1kg of plums made 2kg of jam.

And when you’re married to someone who enjoys making jam, I mean it just doesn’t get any better than that, does it? In fact we had more plums than jam sugar, so I made compote too.

So this very brief post is to remind you to take those little moments when you can. Simple pleasures bring great rewards. They’re the times when you can recharge your batteries, let your mind freewheel in the background, and maybe come up with some ideas and solutions to problems you thought intractible.

I still have some way to go before I’m on the other side of all the admin which follows a death, but at least I have the ability to recognise when I need to take a pause, and in turn this is allowing me to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

So whatever fruit life gives you, use it to make something positive. Preferably something you can spread on toast and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

in My News / Point of View 1 comments