We are lucky to have so many wonderful views in this country and many of you who love the outdoors are also keen photographers. We know from the quality of the pictures you send us when we run a photography competition, that you know your stuff, but the scenery in this country certainly lends a hand. Many of our staff are also keen photographers and we spend a lot of time making sure that the photographs we use really show off the best the country has to offer.

Good photography is an integral part of our paper maps and the images we use on the covers are carefully selected to tempt you to explore the area inside, but also to provide a range of views of the British Landscape. We regularly use photographs by Tom Mackie and are delighted that he’s going to come along to visit our Photography Society next week and share a bit about his life and (hopefully!) some hints and tips for getting the best results.

Ordnance Survey’s Corporate Picture Library Manager, Julia Maltby tells us more:

Tom Mackie graduated with a degree in Commercial Photography.  After spending five years as an Industrial and Architectural Photographer in Los Angeles, his travels in the Western United States ignited a desire to capture the majesty of the breath-taking scenery there, and so a passion was born.  He moved to the UK in 1985 to pursue a career as a full-time Landscape Photographer.  The quality of Tom’s images has made him into one of the world’s leading landscape photographers with an extensive collection of material. It is this reputation that has led to an invitation to come and give a talk to the Ordnance Survey Photographic Society next week at the beginning of their 60^th Birthday Celebrations.

Tom has been providing images to Ordnance Survey for about twenty years, and the cover of many a Landranger map has been graced with a Tom Mackie original!  Current covers include 21 Dornoch & Alness, 25 Glen Carron & Glen Affric, 36 Grantown & Aviemore, 45 Stonehaven & Banchory, 51 Loch Tay & Glen Dochart, 54 Dundee & Montrose, 75 Berwick upon Tweed, 94 Whitby & Esk Dale, 118 Stoke on Trent & Macclesfield and 169 Ipswich & The Naze, and looking further back will reveal many more.

Tom states his aim ‘… was to develop a clearly defined style of my own by simplifying images down to their basic elements, I consciously attempt to give my compositions more power.’  Browsing Tom’s website www.tommackie.com will testify that Tom has fully achieved this aim.  Tom is also in demand as a speaker and lectures to other professional photographers about landscape photography as well as running workshops both in the UK and abroad.

If you are interested in his hints and tips, let us know and we’ll try and include them on the blog after his talk.