Mick Vogel - you probably know him as the 'tyre guy' who used to work in the cycle and fishing shop on Station Parade. But did you also know that after losing heart in a life-long hobby, he turned to photography and now takes the most beautiful pictures of Cookham? He told me a little about his newfound passion...

 

Tell me about you and your family...

'I'm originally from Bootle, Liverpool. I've lived in the Maidenhead area for around 17 years. I moved to Cookham eight years ago after meeting my partner, Michelle. I have three lovely stepdaughters and a stepgranddaughter. By trade I'm a painter/decorator but I have spent the past few years working at the fishing shop on the Parade.'

 

How did you get into photography?

'I took up photography three years ago after losing heart in my life-long hobby of fishing. I felt I needed a change from just sitting on a riverbank, and taking photos was that change. When I bought my first Digital SLR, I didn't have a clue how to work it. I didn't know the foggiest about ISO, shutterspeeds and apertures, so I set to work on reading lots of magazines and watching hours of tutorials on YouTube, then getting
out there and practising. I've never had any kind of training and am therefore totally self-taught.'

 

Your pictures are incredible. Are they for sale?

'At the moment photography is still a hobby for me. Although I have sold a few prints of my shots, it's by no means a business. My great passion in photography is wildlife - I just love being outdoors, and the challenge of trying to outwit a wild animal/bird to get a good shot of it is a real buzz. It's a great feeling if I get "that shot'' that I had in mind before leaving home. I also love landscape photography, and living in Cookham means
I don't have too far to travel to find my next shot.' 

 

Where's your most favourite place to take photos in Cookham?

'What could be better than a summer sunrise at 5am down by the river? The whole area is so photogenic.'

 

What's your goal?

'In the not-too-distant future I'd like to get more into portraiture and family photography - it is a completely different side of photography to what I do now.

At the moment all my work is with natural ambient light - portraits and studio photography is artificial light, so I need to work on this.'

 

What if people want to see more of your work?

'I post photographs of Cookham on Cookham.com in the thread ''Cookham in pictures'', and to date that thread has had almost 20,000 views, which is great. You can also view photos on my website, 

My Facebook page is

Mick has also published his first photobook of his favourite shots from around Cookham, Bourne End and Marlow. To buy the book click here