Bill Atkinson

"Photography begins not in the camera but in the mind and the eye. The real work is one of noticing and appreciating, seeing things clearly and differently, and sharing that vision with others."

Bill Atkinson has spent over 40 years in the world of photography. From an early age, he began taking clips out of magazines and appreciating the way in which images are created.

He attained an undergraduate degree from the University of San Diego (California) where he met Apple Mac developer Jeff Raskin. He continued his university studies as a Graduate at the University of Washington.

Bill was a pioneer within the digital imaging revolution having originally been a computer engineer, working for Apple between 1978 and 1990. As a member of the original Macintosh team at Apple Computer, Atkinson designed much of the initial Macintosh user interface and wrote the original QuickDraw, MacPaint and HyperCard software.

After spending years developing software to assist others in their creativity, he is now furthering his own art, increasing his control and the accuracy of his work through enhancements in digital processing.

His passion is to explore 'nature' in all it's giuses, from mountain ranges to deserts to the intimate nature of macro photography, using animals, insects and flowers. He especially likes to get the light right, to make full use of all of the colours available to him. This is especially prevalent in the selection of images I have chosen to review hereafter.


The vibrant colours in this image are amazing. Whether they have been enhanced or not is difficult to tell, but the clarity of the blue sky and the gold of the leaves creates a striking contrast.

Conversely, this image doe not need to use shockingly vibrant blue sky. Rather it uses softer tones to create a  very colourful image.

Whilst this image is taken into the sky, it is not the vibrancy of the blue sky that wins over this image. It is the use of the light through the leaves, which creates a mess of colours that all bleed into each other.
Contract this with the dark lines created by the branches and the image is subdivided into numerous segments, each of which has strengths of their own.








I am especially interested in this image as it contrast yellow, reds and blue all in one image. Yet again, the sunlight shining on certain areas exaggerates the golds in the leaves.

I am not even sure if there is a focal point in this image. It is just such a riot of colour that your eye runs riot across the image.






Finally, with this image you get the very best of all worlds. Fantastic use of light in the gold leaves, highlighted in the centre of the image.

Darker greens and blues surround the outer edges, enhancing the lightness and the sunlight. Indeed even the tree trunks draw the eye towards the centre of the image.