Meet Arch!

[TPF Staff]

By terri at Sun, 2006-10-01 11:29


Interview With a Mod: Archangel

Archangel first came to us in January 2006. Since then he has become an active, engaging member. His interest in "Photo of the Month" revitalized that contest, so his dubious reward was becoming Moderator of that contest, as well as Moderator of our Themes Forum and sub-forums. We thought it was high time to profile this high-flying Angel. So, without further delay, here he is!

1) All right, Arch, first tell us how you came to be part of The Photo Forum. How did you find us?

Good ol’ Google. I was looking for a forum shortly after buying my DSLR and this forum seemed to have the best community of a good range of professional and amateur members….. so I signed up…. Even though I never thought I’d be part of an internet forum, this one is fairly unique.

2) What's your camera lineup? Is there more equipment you'd like to add to the arsenal?

Im still mostly using my D50 which I’ve thought about selling recently and upgrading to something else. But to be honest, I still think there’s plenty I can achieve with this camera. I’m a firm believer that you can achieve good photographs with only moderate equipment….. also, why upgrade now, when in a year or so there will be more options (and I’ll have more money saved!).
I also have a Pentax and Praktica film SLRs with a few lenses, which I haven’t used for ages, but will go back to at some point.

As for adding to my arsenal, there’s tons of lenses I want, the list is endless really. I’d like to one day start collecting some older cameras too, and learn how to shoot with them….. I can see myself being a bit of a collector one day.

3) Your love of the Dark Side is becoming the stuff of TPF legend. What's the root of your fascination?

The root….. hmmm, that’s a tough one……
When I was a kid my favourite Star Wars character was Darth Vader, I was always kind of disappointed that Luke didn’t go over to the dark side!

But joking aside, I guess I’ve always had a preference for the darker side of things…. Visually, musically and creatively… it seems the dark side is the theme for a lot of my tastes.

When I went to Art College I developed a dark style to a lot of my design work for visual studies and creative imagery assignments.
I would use images of old doorways, church facades and dark urban alleyways as the basis for the graphic visual. I’d then put type and graphical devices on top to make it fairly unique looking. Although this went down well at Art College, its not too commercial!, so I haven’t used that style for any design work since, but enjoy incorporating it into photography.

4) Rumour has it you aren't really an angel. Can you explain your user name then, and why you think it fits you?

Not an angel?!…… me?!….. what ever gave you that idea?!

I named my graphic design business Archangel Design, when I started up four years ago. There are a few reasons why I used the name Archangel, the mains ones being;
I’ve always had a fascination with birds and wings….. and wanted my logo to have wings of some kind. This fascination is partly aesthetics, the way wings look, and partly semiotics, what wings stand for…..

Wings and birds have throughout history been used to denote prosperity and power…. From Ancient Egypt and Rome to the American symbol of the Bald Eagle. So I wanted to use wings for my company logo to show strength, reliability and prosperity.

Then I looked into Archangels and found they are depicted as only male (I’m a sole trader) and are messengers or guardians. So I liked the idea of say, a magazine advert design, being like a message that a company needs to be communicated to their potential customers.
So I’m like the guy in between, that creates a design that hits the target market and communicates the intended message. Therefore its really all about communication, and I thought an Archangel is an interesting approach to symbolise that, and because I’m so fond of my little business, I thought I’d use my company name as my username here.


5) Do you have a favorite subject matter? Tell us what that might be, and how it's come to be your favorite.

Landscapes and Dark Side are probably my favorite subjects to capture. Its been said why I like Dark Side, and I enjoy thinking of different ways to create a dark image…. Or just trying to capture my beloved crow shots.
But Landscapes I love because of the whole event that happens when you go out shooting. Its not difficult for me to enjoy being out in the countryside anyway, and having my cam and being able to record some of the amazing views I have here in the south west of England, just makes it better.

6) What's your day job? Would you say your love of photography relates to it at all?

Yea, as I mentioned I am a graphic designer so photography relates to my job a lot. I’m often dealing with images (mainly stock photography) when creating posters or adverts, so the two art forms are often used together.
I went to art college back in 1996, and gained my Honours Degree in 2001. Obviously there were photography assignments throughout the course…. So I’v done some time in the dark room, as well as doing ‘creative imagery’ modules as mentioned earlier, which are a kind of merge between photography, image manipulation and typography.

Composition on the other hand is something everyone learns at Art College and can be applied to any subject, whether it design, painting, photography or sculpture. So a lot of what I learned at college is being used now with my new found love of digital photography.

7) Other than photography, how do you spend your leisure time? Do you have other hobbies that consume as much of your time?

I have had a few different hobbies in the past, most of them on the creative side. But nowadays if I’m not shooting or editing pics, I’m either out running in the woods, sometimes play a bit of football (soccer), playing computer games, watching movies or listening to my vast and diverse music collection. I still sometimes pick up my guitar too….. but I really haven’t been practicing much in the last year or so.

8 ) You've just won an all-expenses paid trip to any destination you choose in the world. Where are you going? Why did you pick that location?

It would either be Egypt or Iceland….. Egypt for the ancient history which I’ve always had an interest in, or Iceland for the shear natural beauty and the awesome landscape shots I’d be able to capture.

9) Which members on the forum inspire you the most? Are there members whose posts you make sure you don’t miss?

Well, I try not to miss posts of anykind really…. But its impossible to keep on top of….. so there are a few names I make sure I check out, but the list is forever growing as we attract so many talented people here at TPF. I’m bound to forget people as I'm writing this, but I will anyways…..

I always look forward to the work of Chiller, Tuna, Mohain, Digital Matt, Sir Raymond of Barlow, crawdaddio and more recently Kenco……
But I also enjoy the work of loads of other members, some of which should post MORE!….. like Markc, Danalec99, Peanuts, nygus, Unimaxium, thebeginning etc etc….. the list goes on….. and on….

As for people who inspire me to love being part of the forum…. That’s easy, Antarctican. We joined around the same time and we have good banter in pm’s and on threads.



10) You're in charge of the Themes forum, which includes the Dark Side Gallery, Photoshop Challenges and several other sub-forums. You also run the Photo of the Month contest. How in the world do you keep up with it all? Is it every bit the challenge you thought it would be when you took it all on?


Yea, I quite enjoy it actually, it sometimes takes a while to edit one of the themes categories or to build the POTM thread, but it's quite satisfying once it's done. I like to promote the POTM because there are always great photos involved and, for a guest, it's good for them to see what TPF is about, and the high standard of photography we have here from people of all ages and backgrounds.


We'd like to thank Archangel for participating in our Interview, and more important, thank him for all the hard work he's put in on behalf of TPF. We're happy he is part of our team!