In our second interview we’re turning out attention to a different type of photographer. Let’s just say there’s a reason most of Patrick’s shots are aerial as you’ll find out!!
New here? Love for Somerset Stories is a quick fire Q&A with members of our community over on Instagram. You may recall, the idea is to give you a sneak peak behind the photos. Tell the photographer’s story and give context to the features we share on our Instagram page.
It’s easy to forget that behind each photo is a person, and someone who may spend lots of time training themselves, investing in equipment, taking shots! As a creator myself I know only to well, there’s still LOTS to do including uploading, editing and other bits and pieces too boring to mention before the image hits our screens to Like, Save and Share. Magic takes time and effort as every creative knows.
Here at LFS, we want to give our kudos to this incredible community of photographers, introduce them to a new audience and satisfy our own curiosity to know the story and the human behind camera!!
INTRODUCING PATRICK GEORGE WHITCOMB AKA @PATWHITCO
Patrick, welcome to LFS Stories! For the benefit of everyone here, tell us what your name is and where you grew up…
I worked a few seasonal jobs from boat building to hospitality, my favourite however was frying fish in a Falmouth chip shop. I’d row to work across the river each day and before the boss turned up have jousting matches with the Cod spines and anything else we could get our hands on. All this work supported my football passion, I played for the local Falmouth teams and just lived for the weekends until I got a pretty horrific injury that saw my kneecap on the opposite side of where it should be. I knew it was bad when my mate came over and started crying as he knew it would be the end of me for a long time.
During my recovery with my leg in plaster for months and months, I ended up living back with my parents on the farm they ran. As I became more mobile I really got into the farm work and thrived in the physicality and the outdoors however, I knew I needed to really think about a career. That was when I saw an advert just browsing on my computer for the Royal Navy and It seemed to tick a lot of boxes I had open at the time. So I went and did the interview thinking I would end up in the band service! However they persuaded me to join as an Aircraft Engineer and after a few years I realised that I wanted to fly in the helos instead of fixing them which leads me to where I am now; based at Yeovilton flying in helicopters as an instructor. I’ll leave the details of the debaucherous trips across the globe for another time!!
Sounds like quite a journey to get to where you are today, how did you go from injury, to the Navy to get into photography?
Well, following on from the travelling side of things, in late 2019 I found myself out in the UAE on a base near Dubai treading water awaiting the outcome of the Oil Tanker crisis the UK were involved in. About 2 weeks into that long period of waiting I started watching YouTube videos on photography, especially the hiking ones which is one of my biggest hobbies anyway.
The thought of being able to share what I experience on something other than my phone and the fact that there was actually a thought process behind it all just got me hooked. Night after night in the Desert outside Dubai I rinsed every video I could find until I thought right, now is the time to go into town and buy a camera!! After even more videos on which camera to get and huge pangs of anxiety on the money I’d have to spend (on what could end up just being a temporary end to my boredom), I succumbed and purchased a small (but expensive) point and shoot. That was it, from the outset I was more determined than I’d ever been to learn this dark art of shooting manual and probably to my detriment (at times) I’ve never used any other mode. Within a few days of shooting any object I could point my camera at and reading the manual back to front, I’d learnt to shoot manual. I then started obsessing about the classic things; composition, hyper-focal point, Editing, RAW vs JPEG, Full frame vs APS-C, the list as everyone knows, goes on and on…
I think a lot of the community are nodding along right now, you’ve already touched on this but what do you love about photography?
What’s not to love!! I could wax lyrical about the romanticism of wandering a local Somerset village, documenting and sharing the sights for others to enjoy, about flying into the sunset of a foreign country and capturing it in your own style, imprinting your own vision and personality in the editing stage, or the holy grail – someone telling you that your image has made them feel something. You don’t get a lot of that in my job however!! The best I get is ‘that’s hoofin’ Shippers’ but it’ll do….
Do you have a signature style? How would you describe your style of photography?
I’m going to reach out to the readers on this one!! Please go check my photos on social media and let me know haha, I’m still trying different things and styles and just having fun. I enjoy reactive action-style photography at work as much as tranquil early mornings at a pre-recce’d location. I do absolutely love portraits and especially environmental portraits, almost bordering on documentary photography. I aim to capture the people of these beautiful English counties we live in and tell their stories through my images, I have a lot of best laid plans…
Who inspires you?
Well, following on from the travelling side of things, in late 2019 I found myself out in the UAE on a base near Dubai treading water awaiting the outcome of the Oil Tanker crisis the UK were involved in. About 2 weeks into that long period of waiting I started watching YouTube videos on photography, especially the hiking ones which is one of my biggest hobbies anyway.
The thought of being able to share what I experience on something other than my phone and the fact that there was actually a thought process behind it all just got me hooked. Night after night in the Desert outside Dubai I rinsed every video I could find until I thought right, now is the time to go into town and buy a camera!! After even more videos on which camera to get and huge pangs of anxiety on the money I’d have to spend (on what could end up just being a temporary end to my boredom), I succumbed and purchased a small (but expensive) point and shoot. That was it, from the outset I was more determined than I’d ever been to learn this dark art of shooting manual and probably to my detriment (at times) I’ve never used any other mode. Within a few days of shooting any object I could point my camera at and reading the manual back to front, I’d learnt to shoot manual. I then started obsessing about the classic things; composition, hyper-focal point, Editing, RAW vs JPEG, Full frame vs APS-C, the list as everyone knows, goes on and on…
You showcase a lot of Somerset in your photography, apart from being based here, why do you love photographing Somerset?
Well out of the 1600 hours I have airborne in helicopters probably 2/3 of that has been out of Somerset!! Not only in the air but during the weeks when I have time I love to just pick a point on a map and go explore it, what better place to do that than right here!! Being based out of Yeovilton we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere (unless you love Glastonbury) but it’s also a plus as you’ve got options 360 degrees around you. My favourite places so far have included Wells, The Quantocks and Cheddar among others but there’s still so much more undiscovered.
Life sounds exciting and adventurous, what’s next for you?
Definitely building a website for a central location so people can catch my latest work and what I’m up to, I’m also starting to learn more on video and keen to get into that side of things and just continuing to learn as much as I can.
I think we’ll all look forward to seeing the website launch and wish you all of the best in your endeavours.
Follow Patrick @PATWHITCO for more incredible photography and follow us for more @LOVEFORSOMERSET on Instagram.
Want to join in and tell your story? Contact Elizabeth at lizziesomerset@gmail.com to find out more. This interview is part of the Love for Somerset Stories series and is copyright Love for Somerset.
