The Lancashire coast is a constant inspiration for photographer Jeanie Lazenby
Growing up in Blackpool instilled a love of seascapes in photographer Jeanie Lazenby. ‘I’ve always had a camera in my hand. I remember standing on the prom in Blackpool when I was 16 wishing I could catch that sunset,’ she says.
‘No matter what time of the year you go down to the beach from Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Blackpool, St Annes or Lytham, the sun’s always in a different place so you’ve always got something else in your foreground. No picture’s the same. The water’s different, the tide’s different. The sunset is different.
‘You don’t get it every time. Sometimes a bank of cloud steals your sun. That’s frustrating but it’s part of the fun when you do catch it. If I could choose a particular place it would be Rossall Beach on Cleveleys seafront. It’s really pretty with the timber groynes and stones on the beach.’
Now living in Preston, Jeanie travels the UK in search of the right light and best opportunities – her website includes shots from Cornwall and the Outer Hebrides and plenty of spots in-between.
And while for many photographers the hard work begins after the image has been shot, with hours of computer work going into creating the perfect picture, for Jeanie it’s all about the moment. It’s not a principled stance, she says she’s simply doesn’t have the patience. ‘If it takes me longer than 10 minutes to do something on the computer I get bored.’
When she’s on a shoot though she has infinite patience. ‘If I want something special I’ll sit there for two or three hours waiting for the light to hit. People just see the photograph but they might not see the time it’s taken or the preparation, recceing the location, checking the weather forecast, when the sun’s going to rise or set.’
In spite of the work which goes into her photography, Jeanie is an amateur and is keen to stay that way. ‘Photography is a passion,’ she says. ‘I do it purely for the pleasure of catching the light. I think that once it became my bread and butter, I’d lose the passion. If I was thinking, “I have to get this right” then the fun would, perhaps, be gone. If someone wants to buy my work, that’s the icing on the cake.’
Nine of Jeanie’s landscapes appear in this year’s Wild Nature Diary and Calendar. To view more of Jeanie’s images go to jeanielazenby.co.uk. To buy the 2018 Wild Nature Diary (£16) and Calendar (£12), visit wild-nature.co.uk.
