William Cheung's Professional Portfolio

United Kingdom

William Cheung has been editing photography magazine for longer than most of us have been taking photos. After 19 years at the helm of Practical Photography he left the title and hasn't been seen for three months. We caught up with him to find out what's happeneing and take a look at his latest photographs from his recent trip to Antarctica.

ePHOTOzine Will, you've left Practical Photography after nearly 20 years. What are you up to?
Will Cheung I've had a brilliant time at EMAP, PP's publishing company, and have worked with and met many wonderful people. But I also felt it was time to move on. I'm 46 years old so I'm no spring chicken and I wanted a fresh challenge before I'm past it.
I've joined Archant Specialist as editorial director and will be in charge of eight imaging titles including Photography Monthly, Total Digital Photography and Which Camera?. Archant is keen to enhance the quality of its portfolio and that's the challenge they offered me. It'll be hard work but should be great fun too.

ePz Are there are opportunities for photographers on your titles?
WC Absolutely, I know the editors are gagging for great images, especially good digitally manipulated stuff, so I suggest if anyone
wants to contribute, grab a copies of the magazines.

ePz How is your photography going amid your career change?
WC Amazingly, it's going better than ever in that I am taking lots and lots of pictures - some are even half-decent. Most of this shooting was been connected with a few recent trips but even in the flatlands of the Peterborough area, I am shooting more.

ePz What has given you this fresh lease of life?
WC I've always been passionate about taking pictures and have always consumed lots of film. My enthusiasm has been given a lift by digital, especially its convenience.I can now have excellent quality A3 prints in my portfolio within a very short time, compared with chemical printing.

ePz I thought you were a die-hard mono man. What has changed?
WC I am still very mono and my darkroom still sees use - just not as frequently as before. And I still love the look and feel of a
well-made fibre print. My camera set-up now is a Canon EOS 3 body for mono film and an EOS 10D for digital.
My films I still process and print on Ilford fibre-based Multigrade, while my digital stuff I tweak in Photoshop and print on a brace of
Epson 1290s printers. Both are fitted with continuous ink systems, the mono with a VT Blax system from PermaJet.

ePz Do you think the image quality from digital is good enough now?
WC Certainly. I am a Fuji Velvia man, but shooting high quality JPEGs or RAW files gives A3 prints no problem. I suppose my perspective would be different if I was selling to a library, but I'm not. I'm an amateur who is enjoying the freedom and convenience of digital.

ePz You mention the convenience of digital, what aspect in particular?
WC In many ways. Speed I've mentioned, but also for travel. For instance, no more X-ray worries and a small pack of CompactFlash cards is enough for a weekend away. Mind you, in Venice recently, despite being careful, I was pick-pocketed of several large capacity cards and left with just one 512Mb card, which was annoying. It was during the Carnavale and it was very busy, but I should have been extra, extra careful. Annoyingly enough, my tripod, which was in a separate bag, also vanished en route, though I got it back once back home. I got round the problem of having one card by regularly down-loading images onto my PhotoTainer. This has a 40Gb capacity and can be used on location. Once the card was downloaded, I reformatted and started shooting again.

ePz Did you get some good stuff in Venice?
WC Okay, but nothing sensational, just lots of pictures of people in wonderful costumes. Nothing that is different from the thousands of mask pix I've seen. Anyway, I was there for a romantic weekend with my girlfriend, Jo, rather than solely to take pictures.

ePz Where else have you been recently?
WC We had a fabulous trip to Antarctica over Christmas and the New Year with Exodus Travels. I was invited to be an expert guest on board ship, giving clients advice on making the most of the photo opportunities. I must admit, the photo opportunities were immense and I would recommend the place to anyone who wants a photo experience of a lifetime. I got some excellent pictures of penguins, some appear in this portfolio and others are on my website.

ePz What gear did you take for that trip?
WC I took loads including my Apple laptop to do Powerpoint presentations on. Apart from the two Canons and the PhotoTainer, I took a monopod and a tripod plus a bagful of lenses: 17-40mm, 28-135mm, 70-200mm, a 100-400mm and a x1.4 converter, all Canon. By the time I added battery chargers, mains adaptors and all the other stuff you need, our suitcases were very, very heavy, although the hand baggage allowance for two of us helped.

ePz Which lens proved most useful?
WC That Canon 100-400mm IS USM is stunning. Its sharp, not too bulky and the image stabilisation system really works. On the 10D with the x.14 converter I was getting the equivalent of an 840mm lens. The monopod was essential.

ePz What's your next big shooting trip?
WC I've nothing planned. I need to get my job sorted before I can even start thinking about planning another trip. I've still got loads of digital prints to make from Antarctica and Venice. Give me a chance.

For more of Will Cheung's work check out www.williamcheung.co.uk. For more details of trips to the Antarctic, check out www.exodus.co.uk

William Cheung's Images

 

 

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