About

My name is Mike Osborn and I live and work in west London. I have taken photographs for most of my life.

My main interests are travel, architecture and capturing the smaller details around this city and beyond, including Essex where I was born and grew up. I’m very fond of low light photography and the power of monochrome.

A recent project is the acquisition of a vintage Soviet Zenit film camera, which is completely manual. It’s been an experience getting to grips with it and I hope to share its fruits with you.

My primary camera is the Fuji X-E1, which is bristling with digital function but has retro styling. I prefer to stay in manual mode.

I previously used the compact zoom Lumix TZ-20, which is more portable and continues to be a nifty macro camera – that is until I invest in a secondary lens for my Fuji.

Enjoy the stories and ideas that go with my photographs. I look forward to hearing from you. Please find my contact details here.

65 thoughts on “About”

Emma on April 3, 2012 at 13:44 said:

Congratulations Mike – very professional! Some stunning photographs on here. Em xx

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 3, 2012 at 18:31 said:
  
  Thanks for taking a look, Em – much appreciated! There’ll be more to come.
  
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adrianduque89 on April 10, 2012 at 19:16 said:

Thank you for following my blog! You are my 60th follower! Your photography is amazing!

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 10, 2012 at 19:23 said:
  
  My pleasure, Adrian, you have a great site. Thanks for your support of my site – it’s only in its infancy so there is plenty more to come. Keep in touch.
  
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  - adrianduque89 on April 10, 2012 at 19:30 said:
    
    I sure will.
    
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Clive Jennings on April 15, 2012 at 12:44 said:

Thanks Mike for look at my basic blog, your photos are brilliant will keep you followed, keep clicking…

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 15, 2012 at 15:10 said:
  
  Thank you very much, Clive. Liking your photos and the tales that go with them… sometimes the picture alone isn’t quite enough. Good to be following you.
  
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kerryl29 on May 3, 2012 at 23:30 said:

Thanks for the recent comment and follow on my blog. I look forward to seeing how you translate your vision via the camera and lens.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 3, 2012 at 23:35 said:
  
  Thank you Kerry. I’ll be very interested to keep track of your photographic endeavours.
  
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dianne on May 15, 2012 at 10:50 said:

you have a lovely blog, absoutely beautiful photography, i’m enjoying my visits.. : )

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 16, 2012 at 18:50 said:
  
  Dianne, thank you so much. That’s very much appreciated. I hope to publish regular posts, so I hope you have many more visits to make yet! Greetings from London.
  
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R C Norman on June 7, 2012 at 19:31 said:

Great photos, Mike. Look forward to seeing more. — Rob

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- mikeosbornphoto on June 7, 2012 at 19:34 said:
  
  Thank you very much, Rob.I’m enjoying yours too and look forward to updates now that we’re following one another. Greetings from a soggy London!
  
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  - R C Norman on June 7, 2012 at 19:36 said:
    
    Great. Thanks for following me too. It’s sunny and warm here in Virginia today. I was in Ireland a few weeks ago, so I know the kind of weather you speak of. Cheers!
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on June 7, 2012 at 19:37 said:
      
      We had about five days of summer a while back… I blame the Atlantic weather systems!
      
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oneowner on June 14, 2012 at 21:36 said:

This is my first visit here, Mike, and I’m very impressed. Great photography, consistently. I’ll be back!

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- mikeosbornphoto on June 14, 2012 at 21:46 said:
  
  Glad you came by, thank you very much for your comments. I’m exploring your site now, enjoying it very much.
  
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plainphotography on June 19, 2012 at 01:29 said:

It is interesting how taking pictures changes the way that you look at the world. Thanks for following my blog.

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- mikeosbornphoto on June 20, 2012 at 17:58 said:
  
  It’s a thing of fascination. Thanks for dropping by!
  
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Russell Chapman on June 22, 2012 at 05:12 said:

I really like the quality of your work. You can see immediately that you really love photography.

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- mikeosbornphoto on June 22, 2012 at 13:28 said:
  
  Russell, thank you very much, that’s much appreciated.
  
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JM on September 25, 2012 at 01:44 said:

Hi, Thank you for stopping by my corner of the web and following my blog! I really enjoyed exploring your site and look forward to seeing more posts in the future.

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- mikeosbornphoto on September 25, 2012 at 19:52 said:
  
  Many thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing more of your work. Greetings from London.
  
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circaliquidedeux on October 4, 2012 at 22:09 said:

Thanks for the follow, Mike. It’s taken me a few days to make contact, but I got there in the end! Your shots of colour and water are quite beautiful. Everywhere I go I can learn and see something new.

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- mikeosbornphoto on October 5, 2012 at 18:24 said:
  
  Very much appreciated, thank you. I must say your posts are always eye-catching in the reader. Look forward to seeing more.
  
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Photographer Ravi on October 16, 2012 at 21:25 said:

Great work. Thanks for following me.

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- mikeosbornphoto on October 16, 2012 at 22:25 said:
  
  Much appreciated, Ravi. Enjoying your site – the “mega” gallery is great!
  
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Globe Runner on October 25, 2012 at 22:46 said:

Hello and Congratulations, I have nominated you for “Beautiful Blogger Award”. Please visit the following link to see how it works.
http://journeyaroundtheglobe.com/my-awards/beautiful-blogger-award/

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- mikeosbornphoto on October 27, 2012 at 16:36 said:
  
  Thank you for the mention, much appreciated!
  
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  - Globe Runner on October 28, 2012 at 01:17 said:
    
    You are welcome…enjoy
    
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mariadesuede on November 4, 2012 at 18:32 said:

Very good blog,

I received “The Very Inspiring Blogger Award” and give it to you.
http://mariadesuede.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/#comment-1328

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- mikeosbornphoto on November 4, 2012 at 18:35 said:
  
  Thank you very much!
  
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  - mariadesuede on November 4, 2012 at 18:36 said:
    
    Your welcome!
    
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2Spools on November 4, 2012 at 19:36 said:

Look forward to turning the pages through your work. Pretty neat stuff.

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- mikeosbornphoto on November 4, 2012 at 19:59 said:
  
  Thanks very much. Likewise. Greetings from London.
  
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ckponderings on November 12, 2012 at 17:42 said:

http://ckponderings.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/liebster-blog-award/

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- mikeosbornphoto on November 12, 2012 at 19:32 said:
  
  Much appreciated, Richard, thank you for the mention!
  
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  - ckponderings on November 13, 2012 at 06:44 said:
    
    No worries! :)
    
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filmcamera999 on November 22, 2012 at 19:33 said:

hey, mike!
just love your work on here…makes my shots look like….well…you know what i mean!
anyway…maybe there is such a thing as synchronicity! i say that cos i too have a couple cameras from the old USSR…one is a zenit e that my mother gave me as a gift when i was 16 yrs old (i still have that and still use it)…and the other one is a zorki (the one that takes leica lenses)…both good cameras and of course, built like tanks! have fun!

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- mikeosbornphoto on November 25, 2012 at 23:56 said:
  
  Thank you very much! And glad to hear you have a real interest in vintage Soviet cameras. Taking pictures with these fine machines is a whole different ball game. When my first film has finally been processed I’ll share the results, or at least my thoughts on them if it turns out to be a disaster!
  
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  - filmcamera999 on November 26, 2012 at 08:33 said:
    
    ..i was gonna say..about some russian cameras…the first film i tried in my zenit e got stuck and to get it out i had to open the back of the camera, thereby ruining the film! i’d be careful when winding the film on and winding it back for removal from the camera…you also need to make sure you follow a set sequence when taking a shot…cant remember how it goes…but its about setting the shutter speed before winding on to the next frame or something….good luck!
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on November 26, 2012 at 15:17 said:
      
      Well I found loading the first film a bit of a sweat, but it’s wound on smoothly since. And that sequence… set the aperture and shutter speed, focus, stop the aperture before taking the shot. Manually stopping takes a while to get used to! I’ve been taking different shots with it… still testing, I suppose!
      
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      - filmcamera999 on November 26, 2012 at 17:45 said:
        
        good luck!
      - mikeosbornphoto on November 26, 2012 at 17:46 said:
        
        Thanks :-)
Jared van Bergen on November 28, 2012 at 21:34 said:

Hi Mike,

Thanks for following my photography blog! You have some amazing images here man! Keep it up!

Regards
Jared

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- mikeosbornphoto on November 28, 2012 at 21:36 said:
  
  Thank you Jared, good to be in touch. Keep capturing those superb sunsets!
  
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Scott on December 29, 2012 at 16:49 said:

My very first camera was a Zenit – back when I was 13 or 14 I guess. Processed my own B&W films and prints too!

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- mikeosbornphoto on December 29, 2012 at 16:54 said:
  
  Excellent! Do you still have any of those early shots? Any desire to go retro?
  
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snappy~speak on January 1, 2013 at 18:25 said:

Glad I found your blog, Mike! Great stuff!
Happy New Year!
~Christy

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- mikeosbornphoto on January 1, 2013 at 18:42 said:
  
  Thanks Christy, glad you enjoyed it, good to have your visit. Happy New Year to you too!
  
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Allan Richardson on February 16, 2013 at 07:20 said:

Mike, Hi again. I stumbled across across a collection of your pictures as I was looking at Flickr and thought to myself … why didn’t I signed up at his site? I enjoy your work so sign up I did. Curious thing is a fellow from my town (Steven Grover), who’s work I was looking for in the first palce, had you as a link on his page.

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- mikeosbornphoto on February 17, 2013 at 19:46 said:
  
  Hi Allan, very pleased you came by. Well there’s a coincidence – there seem to be a lot of us out there but it can be quite a small community. I look forward to keeping in touch.
  
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Simon Hawketts on March 5, 2013 at 18:42 said:

Hi Mike, I wanted to say thanks for visiting my blog and deciding to follow my posts.

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 5, 2013 at 19:08 said:
  
  You’re very welcome, Simon. It’s always good to see new work and widen the circle.
  
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Globe Runner on March 22, 2013 at 22:41 said:

Congratulations, I have nominated you for “Best Moment Award”. Please visit the following link to accept it and see how it works. Keep up the good work.
http://journeyaroundtheglobe.com/best-moment-award/

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 22, 2013 at 22:48 said:
  
  Thank you very much!
  
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ckponderings on March 23, 2013 at 17:18 said:

Great programme on TVC last night – a lot of heart-wringing and brow-bashing, but an intriguing look behind the scenes! :)

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 23, 2013 at 18:09 said:
  
  I went to that recording and could just about see myself in the audience! Very good, full of nostalgia.
  
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  - ckponderings on March 24, 2013 at 14:08 said:
    
    Haha! Nice one! :)
    
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edmooneyphotography on April 10, 2013 at 18:39 said:

Hey Mike, Thanks for stopping by and the follow. I look forward to checking out your posts :-)

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 10, 2013 at 18:42 said:
  
  Hi Ed, good to connect. I look forward to keeping up with your work too!
  
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adventurouslaura on April 23, 2013 at 14:12 said:

I love your photos!! I can’t wait to see more. Feel free to check out my new blog also: adventurousglasses.wordpress.com.

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 23, 2013 at 20:34 said:
  
  Thank you very much! I look forward to exploring your site.
  
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Evez on April 29, 2013 at 11:06 said:

low light photography, huh? Pretty cool. You have to be really good at it though to get a good picture. *looking for LLpictures on your blog

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- mikeosbornphoto on April 29, 2013 at 18:04 said:
  
  There’s a set of night photos from Dubai – a wonderful place for low light work. There are many sources of light to work with! http://mikeosbornphoto.com/2012/09/26/the-bright-lights-of-dubai-2/
  
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