I've always believed that every photograph has a story behind it.

Actually, that's probably why I've spent so much of my life with a camera in my hand.

Long before I ever thought seriously about writing novels, I was telling stories with photographs. Photography gave me an excuse to explore, to get out of the house, to discover new places and, occasionally, to stand in exactly the same spot for twenty minutes waiting for a cloud to move three feet to the left.

It taught me to slow down and really look.

And somewhere along the way, photography became much more than simply taking pictures. It became about capturing moments — the kind that might only last a few seconds but somehow stay with you for years.

I'm based in the UK, and whenever I can, you'll find me exploring the coastlines and countryside of Cornwall and the South West. Cornwall has become a particular favourite of mine. The landscape, the sea, the weather, the light — there's always something different to photograph.

Although, despite what many landscape photographers would have you believe, I'm not one of those people who happily leaps out of bed at three o'clock in the morning to photograph a sunrise.

I've tried. It doesn't get easier.

I've discovered that there is a perfectly good reason sunsets happen at a much more civilised time of day.

Give me a dramatic evening sky, the last light hitting the cliffs, the sea reflecting the colours and the crowds beginning to disappear, and I'm very happy. There's something magical about those final minutes of daylight when everything seems to slow down and the landscape almost seems to take a breath.

Those are the moments I love chasing.

Landscape photography will always be my first creative love, and it's the work you'll find showcased throughout this website.

From the Premier League to non-league

Photography has also taken me somewhere I never expected.

Football has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, so combining the two seemed like a natural fit. For several years I worked as an agency photographer, covering everything from Premier League matches to international fixtures.

It was an incredible experience.

I've photographed some of the biggest games, biggest players and biggest stadiums in the country, and I've been fortunate enough to see a side of professional football that most supporters never get to experience.

These days, though, my Saturdays are rather different.

You'll usually find me at Frome Town FC, where I've discovered just how much I love non-league football.

There is something wonderfully genuine about it.

At this level, the football club isn't simply somewhere you turn up for ninety minutes. It's a community. Players, coaches, volunteers, supporters and people working behind the scenes all have a genuine stake in what happens.

Everyone knows everyone.

Or at least, everyone seems to know someone who knows everyone.

And every match has a story.

The dramatic wins, the frustrating defeats, the late goals, the rain, the arguments about refereeing decisions and the moments that somehow become part of the club's history.

I still take my camera, of course, but football has also given me another creative outlet. Away from the pitch, I produce a weekly podcast about the club and non-league football, which has become another way of telling the stories of the people and the game I enjoy so much.

So while you won't find a huge amount of football photography on this website, it's still a big part of my creative life.

And then there's the writing...

This is the part of my story that has surprised me most.

I've always had stories in me.

For years, they were there somewhere in the background — ideas, characters, conversations, situations and what if? moments that would pop into my head and then disappear again.

I always thought one day I'd write them.

"One day" is a surprisingly dangerous phrase.

Because one day can quite easily become next year.

Then the year after that.

Then suddenly you've got a head full of stories and absolutely no books.

It was only in the past year or so that something finally changed. I started finding a way to get those stories out of my head and onto the page.

And once I started, I couldn't really stop.

Characters appeared. Stories developed. Ideas that had been floating around for years suddenly had somewhere to go.

And I discovered that I absolutely love writing.

Today, I'm the author of The Light Between Us, Tracks in Time and the Galway Girl series — The Galway Girl, London Calling and Always, Galway.

My stories tend to explore the things that interest me most: love, friendship, family, nostalgia, second chances, missed opportunities and the strange ways in which our lives can change direction.

I'm particularly interested in what happens when people reach a point in life where they start looking back as well as forward.

The decisions we made. The people we lost. The roads we didn't take.

And the possibility that perhaps it isn't too late to take a different road.

Maybe that's because, the older I get, the more I realise that life rarely follows the neat plan we imagine when we're younger.

And perhaps that's exactly what makes it interesting.

Two ways of telling stories

The more I've written, the more I've realised that photography and fiction aren't really as different as they first appear.

They're both storytelling.

A photograph captures a single moment.

A novel explores everything that happened before it — and everything that happens afterwards.

With photography, I'm looking for the right light, the right composition and that fleeting moment when everything comes together.

With writing, I'm looking for the right character, the right emotion and that moment when a reader recognises something of themselves in the story.

Both require observation. Both require patience.

Both involve plenty of staring at something and wondering whether you can make it better.

And both are ultimately about making people feel something.

Where I want all this to go

I suppose this is the part where I'm meant to tell you that I have a carefully constructed five-year plan.

I don't. I have ideas.

Lots of them.

I have more books I want to write, characters I haven't met yet, stories that are still rattling around in my head and probably several notebooks containing things that will make absolutely no sense to me when I find them again.

I want to keep writing. I want more people to discover my books.

I'd love to build a genuine community around my stories — people who come along for the journey, talk about the characters, tell me which ones they love and, occasionally, tell me which ones they'd quite happily push off a cliff.

I want to keep exploring with my camera too.

There are still places I haven't photographed, roads I haven't travelled, beaches I haven't discovered and sunsets I've yet to stand underneath.

And I'd love to bring all of these creative interests together even more — writing, photography, travel, storytelling, football and the experiences that inspire all of them.

I don't know exactly where that will lead. And I'm increasingly comfortable with that.

Because perhaps the best thing about getting older is realising that you don't have to have everything figured out.

You can still start something new. You can still chase an idea.

You can still write the story that's been sitting in your head for years.

You can still get in the car and drive somewhere you've never been.

You can still stand on a beach waiting for the perfect light.

And you can still dream about what might be around the next corner.

That's where I am now.

Still taking photographs. Still writing stories. Still collecting ideas. Still exploring. Still wondering what comes next.

And, hopefully, still finding plenty of reasons to get excited about it.

This website is where all of those things come together.

You'll find my landscape photography, particularly from Cornwall and the South West. You'll find my books and news about what I'm writing. You'll find thoughts about creativity, photography and writing, along with the occasional behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes on when I'm trying to turn an idea into something real.

Whether you've arrived here because you've read one of my books, discovered one of my photographs, followed my football work, heard the podcast, found me through social media, or simply wandered in by accident... thank you for being here.

I hope you find something that makes you stop for a moment.

Something that makes you smile. Something that makes you remember.

Or perhaps something that makes you want to turn the next page, pick up a camera, get in the car and see where the road takes you.

Because I'm still figuring out where mine is going.

And honestly? I'm rather enjoying the journey.

Steve McCarthy

Photographer • Author • Storyteller