About Me | Malkin Photography

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Contact me at: hmshaw1a@gmail.com 01434 381834 / 07733 010915

I'm a photographer and writer. Those are and always have been the greatest passions in my life.(Apart from my husband Bob of course!).

Even when working as an HR Manager, photography ruled my life; it was what I lived for. And as for writing, during coffee breaks I would sit with a notebook and scribble away furiously, the words pouring out of my head so fast I could barely keep up.

Eventually I came to realise that my photography was the doorway to a better and happier life. After 25 years in HR I changed my life completely. I became a photographer and author, and for the last 15 years I have worked hard at being the best I can be at these passions of mine. They have given me so much joy and such freedom, that I only wish I'd made the career change sooner.

And I hope and believe that I give some joy too. For myself, I know the delight that I get in looking at a wonderful image, or reading some great writing, so I hope that here and there people look at my photographs or read my books and gain some pleasure from them.

My greatest desire is to produce amazing images of our incredible world, and for that I travel as much as I am able, but I do of course have clients and a publisher and need to work with them to meet their needs too. I work hard to establish a relationship with all my clients; for me it's important that we get on and understand each other.

My time is split between photography for my books, landscape photography for commercial work (and for pleasure) and commercial/advertising work. I still occasionally photograph weddings, having spent 10 years as a wedding and portrait photographer too. I'm lucky that each photography discipline gives me equal pleasure.

I am now also designing websites for people, including doing the photography for a website if required.

I use the Canon 5D Mark IV as my main camera with the Canon 5D as my backup and have wide angle (17- 40mm) 50mm, and 70 - 200mm professional prime lenses.

The name Malkin Photography originates from the old Lancashire word for hare - a "Malkin". When I set up my business I regularly saw hares out of my window and my house was called Malkin Cottage. I now live several miles away from that house but am lucky enough to still have hares visiting my garden on a regular basis.

I am married to Bob who is just wonderful. We live out on the fells above Garrigill and we are very informal, happy people. Bob has 3 great sons who I love to bits and are my friends. We love to be outdoors, we play sport all the time, we travel. Our aim is to live life as fully as possible and never waste a moment. We are currently walking from Land's End to John o'Groats for the second time(!!) (in stages as we cannot leave our work for months), having arrived for the first time at John O'Groats in October 2014 and subsequently having a book published about the journey. Bob is equally dedicated to his work. He works for himself fixing computers and dealing with software but is also a great photographer and writer with a very quirky, creative side and together we hope we make a great team.