Steve Day
1949 - 2003

Landscape photographer Steve Day had a special relationship with OP's readers from the launch issue.
Keith Wilson pays tribute to the man who found his artistry with the camera.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN January 2000 when I first spoke to Steve Day. I was looking for new contributors for the launch of OP and Ailsa recommended 'this guy in Wiltshire who's really into nature photography and pretty good at it too.' Never one to doubt her word, I gave him a call. Steve listened intently as I described
the kind of magazine we were launching. 'Would you like to be a part of it?' I asked. 'Would I, what!' he snapped back. About bloody time we had a magazine like that. I'd love to be involved, whatever you want.' Of course, Steve became more than just a part of this magazine.

In less than three years he stood out from dozens of other contributors, many far better known, because of a straight-talking style that resonated through his copy and in the uncluttered beauty of his compositions.

I thought he had been a professional for years so was surprised to learn that he'd only decided to become a photographer nine years earlier, when he was 42. That immediately said something about the character of the man. It wasn't just the confidence he exuded to change careers at a time when most of us think our best years are behind us, Steve displayed a sense of purpose that
was total. The man had passion.

Charlie Waite experienced this for himself when Steve turned up at his doorstep and sought his advice about becoming a professional photographer. 'He came to see me 11 years ago and asked if I would have a look at his pictures,' Charlie recalls. 'He showed me the first page of his portfolio and asked if he should go professional. By the time we finished talking it was patently obvious that he must.' Previously Steve had worked in the IT business and by all accounts was very successful, but his desire to change profession was inevitable given the artistic interests and accomplishments of his youth.

As a young man he wrote songs and poetry, made and played guitar and hammer dulcimer, learnt to process and print black & white negatives, made candles, and even became a free fall parachuting instructor. In 1991, he expressed his thoughts in a poem, confronting the fears that prevent people from pursuing their dreams:

And so they nurse unhappiness and rock their lives away,
Surviving, more or less, the same each dragging day.
Shadow people in shaded lives in jaded, faded teams.
Sullen husbands and sullen wives amidst their sullied dreams'
(One verse from Steve's poem)

Steve stepped out of the shadows and chased the light. Anyone who has seen his early morning shot of wild orchids at Alderbury (the cover image of this issue), or the red dawn over the coast of Djerba, Tunisia, knows that he succeeded on countless occasions. He was also lucky in that he was able to rely on the support and inspiration of his wife Sue. His new workplace of bluebell woods, chalk downs and hedgerows rekindled her childhood interest in the natural world, and she proved adept at naming species of wildflower and butterfly that he had photographed, but couldn't identify.

Theirs has been consummate partnership, generously laced with wry humour that gave Steve's Day by Day column a personable style that proved so irresistible to readers. For example, on the crawlier moments of photographing spiders' webs he
wrote:

'I'm always left wondering if that tickle down the back of my neck is a bit of leaf or the web's former inhabitants. That's why I'm always the gentleman and
allow Sue to go first when we're out walking. I tell her it's so she can see the wildlife before me...'


One month Sue got her own back by writing his column from her perspective. The resulting piece, Day by Mrs Day — random notes of a photographic martyr,
had many humorous anecdotes, but the lasting image was of a man unable to come to the phone to say why his copy was late because he was too absorbed in
thought about his next picture. Some call this trait determination, others call it stubborn disregard, but Steve's life-long motto was best summed up by his
favourite song, I Won't Back Down, by Tom Petty. 'It really is rather me,' he once said.

There were so many comments to me repeatedly about my stroppiness and curmudgeonly attitude. Ah well...'
I'm not ashamed to say that I took great delight in his love for my own country, and the sound of joyful warmth in his voice when describing his visits to Australia will remain among my strongest memories.

Prior to one trip he asked me where was the best place for getting photographs of of wild kangaroos. He thought I was pulling his leg when I suggested Kangaroo Island. Soon after his return he rang, singing the country's praises: 'What a place! The light was just amazing. I've got some great pictures.'
'What about Kangaroo Island?'
Pregnant pause, then. It rained every day we were there. Didn't rain anywhere else in Australia. Last time I ask you where to go! It didn't stop him from telling me though ...

After Steve was diagnosed with cancer in late 2001, a return to Australia was high on his list of objectives.
Despite a couple of setbacks, he and Sue made their trip last August, travelling down the west Australian coast and exploring the Outback. Grinning like
a Cheshire cat with his beloved wife by his side and the ochre-coloured Olgas in the background, you can tell trom the picture here that this was a crowning
achievement.

A postcard sent to the OP office showed
he was still determined to contribute to the magazine. Greetings from Oz; he writes. Tf you want a feature on the West Coast then I have more than 4,000 pics to choose from and I'm only half way through the trip!' For a postscript, Sue chips in: -We've done whales, coral reefs, wallabies (cute!) and thousands of miles, Steves got about 10 decent snaps!'

His enthusiasm wasn't misplaced - Steve was too smart in that respect. He was smart because he could make his own luck, recognising an opportunity and
seizing it with aplomb. A prime example was finding out that his adopted home county of Wiltshire did not have a dedicated image library, so he duly established the Wiltshire Slide Library and went about filling it with pictures from his daily assignments around the
county This led to regular contributions to Wiltshire Life magazine, the Salisbury Festival the local councils and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

Today his library contains more than
25000 images of the landscape, landmarks and wildlife of Wiltshire.
All that from just one English county - imagine what he could have done if he had been given the whole world to cover.

But I'm sure that's exactly what he was thinking of when he was too busy to come to the phone Yes his life has been too short, but what a life. And what light
you gave us through your pictures. Thank you, Steve.

16 Outdoor Photography No 39 August 2003

In Djerba, Tunisia, Steve got up before dawn to take some pictures of the sunrise. 'He came back for breakfast at the
hotel, just grinning from ear to ear after a fantastic photo session,' says Sue. No wonder.

Above At a festival in Tunisia, Steve asked this man (in poor French) for permission to photograph him. His subject ,a horseman, replied (in perfect Oxford English) that he could!


Steve helped monitor dormice in Blackmoor copse, a nature reserve across the road from where he lived. He applied for a grant from Rural Action to photograph the dormice under licence from English Nature. This specimen is torpid in its nest box and the lid removed so Steve could take a few pictures on a cold May morning.

On an overnight stop in their campervan while on their honeymoon, Steve and Sue woke up to be greeted with this stunning view of Piano Grande, Umbria.

Steve and Sue in front of the Olgas in Australia's Northern Territory during their six week trip last year. Steve used a digital camera for the first time and returned with his film untouched. Like everything else he tried in life, he learnt how to use it skillfully.

'6 o'clock will always be Chardonnay time'

If there's one story that sums up Steve for me, it's this. A couple of years ago,
while chatting on the phone, I remarked, 'I suppose I'll be seeing you In a couple
of weeks, at the BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards?' We'd learned a few
weeks earlier that his glorious shot of a misty dawn over a field of orchids had
been Highly Commended in the British Wildlife category.
'No, I'm not going,' was the surprising response. 'I'm an also-ran in that
competition.'
•Whaaaat???!!! Your picture has been selected from more than 17,000 entries,
whittled down to the last 100 or so, and you're a failure???'
He really did think so. it took 10 minutes of cajoling and abuse for me to
convince him that he'd achieved something a lot of us could only dream of. But the
reason for his disappointment was simple, I realise now. His standards were so
high, anything less than top marks just wasn't good enough. He must have been
a nightmare at school...

Steve was an immaculate technician, and liked nothing better than to share his
knowledge of photography. A challenge, to him, was something to be relished, and
faced head on. 1 shall miss him for many things. Above all, I loved seeing his name
pop up in my e-mail inbox, never knowing whether the message would contain
something stroppy, followed by a list of unpaid invoices, highlighted in angry red, or
a gem of an anecdote or bad joke. Whatever its subject, it was guaranteed to be
delivered with a healthy dose of sarcasm and personal insult - something he liked
to weave into his copy whenever possible, too. More often than not, I was only too
glad to reciprocate, as regular readers will have noticed!
Steve, it's been a privilege and. above all, a pleasure. And, from now on,
6 o'clock will always be Chardonnay time.
Ailsa McWhinnIe, Deputy Editor

He took landscape photography by the scruff of the neck and totally immersed
himself in It. It was as if this desire had been inside him all of the time. He never
had the chance in the first part of his life, but he created the chance and more than
made up for the time lost. He loved every aspect of photography and proved a huge
inspiration for others.
Charlie Waite

Although we never met personally, Steve and I corresponded frequently over tne ^
past year or so, and kept in touch by e-mail. Although I did not know It when t wrote
to seek advice regarding launching my own photographic career, he was seriously ill
then. Nevertheless, he still took time out to write me two full pages crammed with
tips and hints, and even helped me earn my first commission. From that day. we
swapped yarns and experiences and his indomitable sense of humour always shone
through despite his situation. He was a superb photographer and a wonderful man.
Nick Jenkins


As soon as 1 moved to Wiltshire I began to tread in Steve's footsteps. Every client
I met had worked with him in the past and It was a real testament to the man's
popularity that no-one had a bad word to say about him. To everyone he was
cheerful smiling Steve, for whom no job was too much, and it is that face, smiling
out of the pages of OP, that I will remember him for.
Andy Rouse