About Us
My father, now a retired fisherman, bought me a camera when I was five. It was a Zenit B. The B stands for Basic and for those who have actually used one, Bombproof. It did not have the luxuries of a meter or an automatic aperture. With two aperture rings on the lens, one to set the limit and one to close down, you could never call it point and shoot!! However it taught me a lot and made me work quite slowly (you have no choice with one of these). By the way, don't drop this camera on your foot!
I'll always remember that Christmas morning, unwrapping it, my hands shaking with excitement! I had been on at my dad for months to get me a camera after my uncle came to visit. He had a Nikon in a flight case, I can't remember which model, but opening the case was a real event and clearly it was his pride and joy. I was smitten the moment he let me take a picture. My Zenit came with a couple of lenses; pretty beaten up and looking back could probably have done with a good service.
I think my dad thought this was just another of my two week fancies! How wrong he was, as the fun and sense of anticipation I had from every roll of exposed film was amazing.
I knew absolutely nothing about photography, I was never any good at drawing and the artistic side of me was very frustrated by that, my camera allowed me complete artistic licence - we were never apart. In the beginning it was all about reading books, getting out taking photographs and then on my bike down to Doigs the Chemist in Anstruther to send the film away for processing. The days seemed like years until my film came back and let’s just say in the early days there were no award winners, plenty of blurred negatives, pretty dodgy exposures and shockingly bad composition. However, as the years went by, my skills improved, mostly by trial and error and always with enthusiasm.
I was always very appreciative of any advice I was given and my Chemistry Teacher, Dr John Henry, who also ran the school photography club, was always on hand to give me feedback on the shots I had taken. This was also when I started developing my own films.
I wanted to improve things like image sharpness and have a camera that alowed me to work a little quicker, so in came the Minolta XD-7. It was the worlds first AE SLR. Saving up for this camera took me a long time. I had two jobs, a paper round, which meant getting up at 5.30am every morning, then at night, drying dishes at the Craws Nest Hotel in Anstruther for 50p per hour! I have fond memories of summer holidays on my dad's fishing boat taking pictures of nets being landed and other fishing boats in the fleet. As I got older and actually had a disposable income, I invested in more exotic equipment, such as a Rollei Medium Format camera (left); a real favourite of mine and finally being able to realise my lifelong ambition - working as a professional.
I never use film cameras in the teaching process, as the advent of digital photography has meant that the learning process is now much quicker with the ability to instantly review your images. In addition there is now no need to painstakingly write down the details of every shot taken, i.e. focal length, shutter speed, aperture, as this is all recorded in the exif information on the digital file.
I have been passionate all my life about photography and image creation. I have worked on commercial projects involving The Royal Bank Of Scotland, Baxters Foods, Skibo Castle and The Old Course Hotel St Andrews to name a few. My work has been published in numerous journals and was used to launch a haggis factory in Chicago. I have successfully sold my fine art prints all round the world and have photographed 100’s of weddings. I have enthusiasm and drive and also the desire to continually improve what I do and help others do the same.
Despite all these achievements, I have always felt very privileged to be a photographer, in that something that was once a hobby is now my means to earn a living. I guess I am lucky, as it never feels like work!
I really love teaching, meeting new people (and old friends) seeing people improve their skills, whilst enjoying the journey and getting excited and enthusiastic about the pictures they have taken.
I have no 
doubts that whatever your level of ability, you will thoroughly enjoy your visit and it won’t be long before you want to come back again.
Participating in a photography course with Mark Cargill is like doing your most favourite thing with someone who is as passionate about photography as you are, with the added bonus of being in the picturesque surroundings of Fife and the East Neuk.
About Us
My father, now a retired fisherman, bought me a camera when I was five. It was a Zenit B. The B stands for Basic and for those who have actually used one, Bombproof. It did not have the luxuries of a meter or an automatic aperture. With two aperture rings on the lens, one to set the limit and one to close down, you could never call it point and shoot!! However it taught me a lot and made me work quite slowly (you have no choice with one of these). By the way, don't drop this camera on your foot!
I'll always remember that Christmas morning, unwrapping it, my hands shaking with excitement! I had been on at my dad for months to get me a camera after my uncle came to visit. He had a Nikon in a flight case, I can't remember which model, but opening the case was a real event and clearly it was his pride and joy. I was smitten the moment he let me take a picture. My Zenit came with a couple of lenses; pretty beaten up and looking back could probably have done with a good service.
I think my dad thought this was just another of my two week fancies! How wrong he was, as the fun and sense of anticipation I had from every roll of exposed film was amazing.
I knew absolutely nothing about photography, I was never any good at drawing and the artistic side of me was very frustrated by that, my camera allowed me complete artistic licence - we were never apart. In the beginning it was all about reading books, getting out taking photographs and then on my bike down to Doigs the Chemist in Anstruther to send the film away for processing. The days seemed like years until my film came back and let’s just say in the early days there were no award winners, plenty of blurred negatives, pretty dodgy exposures and shockingly bad composition. However, as the years went by, my skills improved, mostly by trial and error and always with enthusiasm.
I was always very appreciative of any advice I was given and my Chemistry Teacher, Dr John Henry, who also ran the school photography club, was always on hand to give me feedback on the shots I had taken. This was also when I started developing my own films.
I wanted to improve things like image sharpness and have a camera that alowed me to work a little quicker, so in came the Minolta XD-7. It was the worlds first AE SLR. Saving up for this camera took me a long time. I had two jobs, a paper round, which meant getting up at 5.30am every morning, then at night, drying dishes at the Craws Nest Hotel in Anstruther for 50p per hour! I have fond memories of summer holidays on my dad's fishing boat taking pictures of nets being landed and other fishing boats in the fleet. As I got older and actually had a disposable income, I invested in more exotic equipment, such as a Rollei Medium Format camera (left); a real favourite of mine and finally being able to realise my lifelong ambition - working as a professional.
I never use film cameras in the teaching process, as the advent of digital photography has meant that the learning process is now much quicker with the ability to instantly review your images. In addition there is now no need to painstakingly write down the details of every shot taken, i.e. focal length, shutter speed, aperture, as this is all recorded in the exif information on the digital file.
I have been passionate all my life about photography and image creation. I have worked on commercial projects involving The Royal Bank Of Scotland, Baxters Foods, Skibo Castle and The Old Course Hotel St Andrews to name a few. My work has been published in numerous journals and was used to launch a haggis factory in Chicago. I have successfully sold my fine art prints all round the world and have photographed 100’s of weddings. I have enthusiasm and drive and also the desire to continually improve what I do and help others do the same.
Despite all these achievements, I have always felt very privileged to be a photographer, in that something that was once a hobby is now my means to earn a living. I guess I am lucky, as it never feels like work!
I really love teaching, meeting new people (and old friends) seeing people improve their skills, whilst enjoying the journey and getting excited and enthusiastic about the pictures they have taken.
I have no doubts that whatever your level of ability, you will thoroughly enjoy your visit and it won’t be long before you want to come back again.
Participating in a photography course with Mark Cargill is like doing your most favourite thing with someone who is as passionate about photography as you are, with the added bonus of being in the picturesque surroundings of Fife and the East Neuk.