Brian Watson Photography
Brian Watson
A retired anaesthetist in Newcastle upon Tyne, I now have the time to take a
renewed interest in photography and to struggle with web site design.
Interests
My main interest is in making pictures with impact. This is always my first consideration,
and is more often achieved by with spectacularly lit subjects than by spectacular subjects.
Pictures should be sharp and correctly exposed.
My secondary interests are in using computational photography, having
realistic and not overdone results in mind, including photo-stacking for both focus
and exposure optimization, and photo-merging to produce high-resolution
pictures, particularly panoramas. These techniques need to be used
effectively but not obtrusively as often is seen today.
I enjoy making 360 degree virtual reality panoramas, wide-angle and
close-up photographs, and night photographs. A new interest is in the
use of a 10-stop neutral density filter to facilitate very long exposures
where these would otherwise not be possible.
Web site
My interest in computer programming led naturally into web site design,
mainly to showcase my photographs. This web site is my own work and has
been written by hand. It incorporates features of my own design such as
galleries with thumbnails which auto-scale, and mean scrolling is not required.
I try to make the site appear fast, by adopting a minimalist design, pre-loading
images in the background so they appear quickly: no waiting for slow Flash animations!
My web site currently gets around 1,000 visits and 20,000
page views each month.
The galleries have pictures on a wide variety of subjects. Some are zoomable,
and many panoramas also have high-resolution versions: both reveal great detail.
Panoramic photographs are a speciality,
including Lake District views, and QuickTime Virtual Reality
panoramic movies, which are displayed here in two ways,
using Flash (QuickTime isn't needed), and in a separate iPod/iPhone/iPad-friendly page.
Most of the panoramas are made from several exposures, and make beautiful high-resolution
large prints. All can be printed to order, and all files can be purchased to use as wallpaper.
My large collection of historic motor racing
photos from the 1960s and 1970s is very
popular, as are my Super8 movies (also on YouTube)
from the same period, which have been viewed
over 420,000 times, and are (available on DVD).
Purchasers of my work receive a prompt, personal, and flexible service.
I have written tutorials on
photographic
gallery design for web sites (my own design utilising floating auto-scaling images
to fit any screen resolution without scrolling), and a Photoshop technique for making
"Little Planet" pictures.
Photography
Being an active member of Newcastle Photographic Society for many years was a pleasure, and
the Society's competitions were a great help in developing my photography, the
constructive criticisms of judges being particularly valuable.
I was President in 1980-81, but work commitments eventually prevented me from attending
meetings. The Society no longer exists (no connection). Since retiring, photography is
once again a major interest.
Competitions
Numerous competition successes within Newcastle Photographic Society. In addition, the following were while a member:
1976/77 1st Place in Bonsor Colour Slide Competition
1980 & 1984 Represented Northern Counties Photographic Federation in Alliance Competition
1980/81 Joint 1st place Jessops of Leicester Newcastle 900 Festival
1986 Represented Northern Counties Photographic Federation in Colour Slide Competition
2011 Semi-finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year with this photograph:
Exhibitions
1976, 1977, 1982, 1983 Slides selected for Northern Counties Photographic Federation Portfolio.
Two acceptances for Stockton on Tees International Festival of Colour Photography.
2006 Exhibition of framed prints for sale in
The Travel Bureau
Gosforth
Two of my QuickTime Virtual Reality panoramas,
Millennium Bridge, and
Swing Bridge
are on BBC Tyne's web site, where there is also
a page of my pictures.
Commercial
Three of my QTVR movies are used to great effect on the
Willow Bog Bonsai
web site.
Three of my Lake District movies of views during walks and climbs appear in the
Lake District Guide.
My photographs have been used as illustrations in Freeman Hospital's Annual Reports and others.
My old Super 8 motor racing movies on YouTube
have been described as a priceless historical record, and have been viewed over 340,000 times. They are available on DVD for purchase.
My old Super 8 motor racing movies
are featured on the Vintage Racing League's web site.
A number of my original 35mm transparencies of motor racing in the '60s and 70s have been purchased
by JARROTTS, from whom high quality framed prints may be purchased.
They are still displayed here, by kind agreement.
Career
After training in medicine and going straight into anaesthesia (it looked much more
interesting) in Newcastle upon Tyne, I worked at Alder Hey in Liverpool,
Baragwanath Hospital
in Johannesburg (the biggest hospital in the world), and
Groote Schuur in Cape Town.
Hair styles were different...
Twenty-nine years as a cardiothoracic anaesthetist at
Freeman Hospital,
Newcastle upon Tyne were rewarding and satisfying, and led to interests in both programming
and the design of treatment protocols, both for the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit.
I wrote the software for our patient management system:
It wasn't rocket science but it worked well for many years!
This used a computer at the end of each bed and replaced paper charts, ink, Tippex, and
calculators, and changed the way we managed patient care. It is still in daily use, setting
records for length of use. It managed me in 2011: an expression of some confidence!
My enthusiasm for programming led into
database programming with FoxPro 2.6 which was sufficiently challenging for me: it was
as rewarding to get right as it was difficult. It was used to design a database of activity
and outcomes in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, which was a useful management tool.
Publications
My motor racing photographs have been published in:
• "More Sun, More Rain, and Even...More Snow" by Dereck Lawson, 2009.
• "Formula 5000 Motor Racing – Back then, and back now", by Derek Lawson, 2009.
• "The Mini Cooper Register", September 2009 and March 2010.
• "Ultimate E-type: The Competition Cars" by Philip Porter, 2011.
• "Brands Hatch, BOAC 500 and BOAC 1000, 1967-1972" by Christian Naviaux (in French), 2012.
I have a pathetically small number of academic publications.
