Mark Hemmings, photographer, Saint Johner, and poorly disguised international man of mystery, has been living out his habitual jet-set life – travelling around the world photographing all manner of things. Just the typical sort of stuff Mark gets up to, and the rest of us dream about. Fortunately, before you keel over from an acute case of lifestyle envy, Hemmings has just self-published his second book, ‘A Well-Lit Path’, and not only is it full of his photographs of beautiful and exotic far-off-lands, but it also contains a helpful instructional guide, so that you too may someday be a skilled jet-set photographer.
Hemmings’ first book was published last year under the iPhone Photography School. The book was specifically geared towards taking the best photos you can, wherever you can, with what you’ve got. It’s been a handy go-to tool in Mark’s kit for a while now; he’s often teaching courses on the subject of how to make the best of your phone’s camera. He’s even got a whole Instagram dedicated to showing off the possibilities.
‘A Well-Lit Path’ carries on the theme of getting started with the basics, touching only lightly on the functionality of cameras, but really digs into technique. It’s a great place to start if you’re just starting out and looking to learn about colour balances, compositions, and lighting.
Hemmings has been travelling to Japan fairly regularly over the better part of two decades, often teaching photography courses as he goes. This January will be his eleventh trip, and the results make for an excellent demonstrative showcase. Every page of the book reads likes a subtle tourism ad, cleverly disguised as an educational guide. “All of the photography lessons in the book are illustrated by a specific image that I have taken from Japan. As for what draws me about the country . . . it is probably the mystery of the culture, the mastery of arts and crafts, and diverse natural beauty. Plus thousands of hot springs for soaking!”
The book is being released digitally as a pdf, but Hemmings is looking to expand into iBook and Kindle, and even a print format if there proves to be sufficient demand for it. His first book on travel photography was well received, and while that’s been some encouragement, Hemmings accepts that there are limitation is self-publishing a digital book. “As the first time my only responsibility was giving the editors the words and sample photos . . . this time I also needed to do the graphic design as well. I really enjoyed the process of putting all of the various elements together into one package. Also it was a great journey down memory lane going through my entire collection of photos from Japan.”
“A Well-Lit Path” is available immediately, for more information check out the links.