A picture of three boats in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam at sunset with the sun setting behind them. The middle boat has a Vietnamese flag which is lined up perfectly with the sun behind. The sunset is also reflected in the water in front of the boats.

DAN MOLD PHOTOGRAPHY

I started writing for photography magazines and websites back in 2012 and in that time was a gear reviewer, Photoshop specialist and deputy editor of some of the world’s most beloved photography magazines including Digital Photo, Digital Photographer, Practical Photography, Digital Camera, Amateur Photographer, EOS Magazine and PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine to name but a few.

Below are some of my career highlights working in the publishing industry. If you would like to book me for any editorial work please get in touch via the button below.

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My editorial journey so far…

Where it all began.

I’ve always had a passion for creativity and the arts but ended up gravitating towards photography after studying it at college and with digital cameras making it more accessible (it also had the benefit of being less messy than painting). I became a camera salesman at my local John Lewis which would help me to land my first writing job on Digital Photo when the editor Jon Adams took a chance on hiring me as the gear guy (technical editor) when I was just 19 years old.

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A page from Digital Photo magazine's gear section showing one of the filter review articles written by Dan Mold who also took the supplied pack shot of the three filters at the top of the page.

A picture of a Panasonic LUMIX GH4 photographed in a studio on a metallic surface with a reflection.

Product photography for Digital Photo and Practical Photography

If I was reviewing a piece of kit for Digital Photo or Practical Photography we’d always try to do better than the generic stock shots the camera companies would provide us with. This lead to getting all sorts of creative and interesting shots for gear tests in our photo studio.

Six mirrorless compact system cameras are stacked together and shot in a studio on an orange background with a reflective surface.

A picture of four wide angle lenses on test for Digital Photo magazine shot outside on a big boulder. It's a sunny day and a lake and trees can be seen in the background.

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Winning my first photography competition

The winning image Dan Mold took in Majorca at the Lumix press event. It's of a young woman throwing red and blue powder in the air. Her smiling face can be seen in the perfect gap between the two plumes of colourful powder.

In 2015 I attended Panasonic’s press event in Majorca, Spain to launch its LUMIX G7 camera. This was an incredible trip filled with activities to show off what the camera was capable of, including some then state of the art features like pre-capture and 4K still image extraction – now commonplace among modern cameras. Panasonic hosted a competition between the journalists who attended and my image here came first place and won me a Panasonic CM1 smartphone!

My first wildlife lead feature using all of my own images

As I learnt from the brilliant photographers I was working with I became more confident and discovered a passion for nature and wildlife photography. I eventually pitched these ideas to my editor and he allowed me to write my first wildlife feature which was a milestone achievement as I was able to use all of my own images of deer, owls, foxes and red squirrels.

A spread from Digital Photo magazine's 'Go Wild This Autumn' feature. The first spread has a big red deer with large antlers grazing the foreground in the golden hour at sunrise.

A spread from Digital Photo magazine's 'Go Wild This Autumn' feature. This second spread is for tips to photograph foxes.

A spread from Digital Photo magazine's 'Go Wild This Autumn' feature. This is the third spread which has tips for photographing red deer in the golden hour.

A spread from Digital Photo magazine's 'Go Wild This Autumn' feature. This is the fourth spread which has tips on where and how to photograph British red squirrels in the UK.

A spread from Digital Photo magazine's 'Go Wild This Autumn' feature. The fifth and final spread is about how to photograph owls and pictures a barn owl flying over a field towards the camera.

Taking some time out

After writing for Digital Photo magazine for four years I decided to take a break and travel the world whilst I was still young – I also wanted to put what I’d learnt about photography into practice. The trip around Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and Australia was simply stunning. I couldn’t be happier with the images I came back with, many of which I still use in travel photography features that I’m writing to this day. I’ve even turned some of my favourites into prints and if you’d like to help support my photography and fund future trips please consider purchasing one via the link below.

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A picture of Dan Mold's photo of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam mocked up in a white frame and lifestyle setting with a coffee table and chairs underneath it and plant pots either side with green plants growing out of them. The walls of the room are white.

The annual celebration of Tết is celebrated in Vietnam, with this fabulous display of fireworks taken over the Hoàn Kiếm Lake in Hanoi

The magnificent temples of Angkor Wat taken from afar with a telephoto lens that show off the lush green scenery that surrounds the temples

A statue in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam of Ho Chi Minh saluting with the Vietnamese flag being flown behind. It's a sunny day with blue sky and a cloud seen behind.

This is a portrait of a man taken in Philippines in a tribal setting with a shirt on his head and holding a spear close to his face. The image has been converted to black and white.

A woman is photographed in Sa Pa, Vietnam wearing a striped red shirt and a red headpiece. She is smiling and looking directly towards the camera. The portrait was taken outdoors with the rice fields in the background blurred with a shallow depth of

This is a photo of a soldier stood in a guard station in Hanoi, Vietnam in green military uniform wearing a rifle across his chest.

A Vietnamese man is photographed on the streets. He is wearing casual military green clothing and is looking towards the camera and smiling.

A street scene of a busy intersection in Hanoi, Vietnam with scooter riders whizzing past in the distance. In the foreground there is a blue pedestrian crossing sign where the pictured man crossing is wearing a hat.

Stunning landscapes from Coron on a sunny day, Philippines.

A sunrise taken at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. The beautiful temples from Angkor Wat are silhouetted against the bright morning sun. Shooting in the golden hour has given this photo warm sunrise tones, the landscape is also reflected in the reflection pool

A woman pictured on the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam at night throwing fake money into a fire on the street. She's wearing red and a face mask.

A man stops on a busy street in Hanoi to buy balloons from a balloon salesman. It's a comical shot with him pictured on a scooter pointing towards a huge mass of balloons which takes up half the frame.

A street shot of Hanoi, Vietnam looking at buildings.

A low angle photo of the underneath of roads and intersections taken from a cycle lane in Brisbane, Australia. It's a night scene with a dark sky and bright street lights that have a starburst effect. The roads spiral together and lead the eye toward

A night shot taken in Hanoi, Vietnam. It's taken at night and low angle showing several scooter riders on motorbikes.

Sand dunes of Mui Ne in Vietnam at sunset with the low sun picking out the ridges of the dunes beautifully. A few people are on the dunes and have been turned into silhouettes.

A black and white photograph of Ho Chi Minh City showing a cluttered street of motorbikes and telephone wires with a man say on motorbike wearing glasses and looking at his phone.

A night scene of Ho Chi Minh city with a woman on a scooter motorbike riding down a small crowded backstreet.

A picturesque sunset over Luang Prabang in Laos. This image shows the sun setting in the distance over the Mekong river with the sun light reflected beautifully in the ripples of the water. It's a tranquil scene with no boats in the river making it v

A monkey in Cambodia photographed and converted to black and white.

A busy evening street scene in Melbourne taken in the blue hour at evening. The photographer has used a slow shutter speed to turn the movement of the trams and cars passing at a bust intersection into a rush of colour.

The caves of Battambang, Cambodia are said to be home to one million bats. In this photo the photographer has managed to take a photo of two streams of bats against the sunset sky and the two rows of bats have aligned to make a cross X shape.

At the top of the Taal volcano in the Philippines is a lake filled with wonderful blue and green colours caused by algae blooms

The tail of a wrecked plane stands on end and is pictured next to skyscrapers in the distance for scale. Taken in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The photographer used a long exposure to blur this night scene of two roads. The results is elongated colourful red and white lines created from car headlights and brakes passing through the scene.

Being the Photoshop editor on Practical Photography

As the Photoshop editor on Practical Photography magazine for two years, I edited the Digital Photo mini-mag 32 page supplement stitched and had a lot of fun coming up with weird and wonderful digital art tutorials and techniques for our readers.

A double page spread for Practical Photography's Photoshop section called Tool Up - this article is about using the Crop Tool.

A montage of four images of the same woman with her hair being changed in Photoshop to different colours in each image.

A picture of a woman turned into a polygonal effect for a Photoshop tutorial in Practical Photography magazine

A glitch effect of a woman looking towards the camera

Presenting videos for Practical Photography

During my time working on Practical Photography magazine I was also able to present videos on all manner of photographic subjects from family portraits to macro, but usually were based on my specialist ares of interest: nature, wildlife and landscapes. I think I probably moaned a bit too much about doing these videos at the time because they took so much work to put together, but they were always worth the pain and I grew to love presenting and made some great memories working with an amazing group of people and going on adventures all over the UK. Some of the highlights included filming a 24 hour shooting challenge and visiting Norway!

The front cover of Digital Camera magazine issue 251 with a large red strawberry splash being dropped in water, the cover photo is taken by Dan Mold.

My first cover image

I always thought my first magazine cover would be one of my wildlife or landscape nature images so I was pleasantly surprised when Digital Camera magazine chose this strawberry splash image from the still life feature I wrote for them in issue 251 for their front cover image as this was a defining moment.

A behind the scenes photo of Dan Mold with a camera set up on a tripod, shutter release in one hand and dropping a strawberry into a clear vase with his other hand

A vibrant image of a strawberry being dropped into a glass of water with splashes going upwards. It's been shot against a blue background and was used for the cover artwork in Digital Camera magazine issue 251.

Trips to the Isle of Skye with PhotoPlus

Over my five year tenure as the deputy editor for PhotoPlus magazine I was lucky enough to visit the landscape photographer’s paradise that is the Isle of Skye in Scotland. This was to photograph landscapes for a winter landscapes feature the first time and later to return, co-leading a landscape photography workshop for PhotoPlus with the legendary photograper Marcus McAdam who runs the Skye Photo Academy.

A waterfall cascades through a mossy autumnal scene in the Isle of Skye on a damp rainy day.

A landscape shot of the Old Man of Storr in Scotland's Isle of Skye. It's a sunrise photo and used a long exposure to achieve a five minute shutter speed to turn the clouds in the sky into a rush of colour.

Pro photographer Dan Mold is pictured in the Isle of Skye using a camera on a tripod in the landscape. He's wearing a blue coat and cream beanie hat.

A shot of the famous tree growing out of the landscape at the Quirang in the Isle of Skye, Scotland on a moody overcast day.

The sun rises over snowy mountains in the Isle of Skye. The clouds in the sky are lit up with beautiful orange and pink hues.

Murder on the Express Photoshoot

When the wonderful people at The Creativity Hub invited me to their Murder on the Express photography experience, hosted by Gavin Hoey and Jason Birth, I jumped at the chance! The event was also sponsored by Canon so I was able to try out some of their latest RF lenses and work on B&W film noir portraiture.

Models: Molly Shaw-Downie & Lee Jay Hoy

Model Molly Shaw-Downie is photographed on a steam train with her hand pushed up to a glass window while rain drops drip down on the outside. The picture has been converted to B&W.

Model Molly Shaw-Downie is photographed on The Creativity Hub's Murder on the Express photoshoot stood on train tracks and pulling up the fur of a vintage coat collar around her face. The picture has been converted to B&W.

Model Lee Jay Hoy is photographed on The Creativity Hub's Murder on the Express photoshoot inside a train carriage next to a window, adjusting his hat and looking directly towards the camera. He's wearing smart vintage clothing and there is also a ne

Co-leading a travel photography workshop in Budapest

I’d been on holiday to Budapest in the past and one my favourite moments from my time working on PhotoPlus magazine was being able to plan out a workshop covering all of the locations I had scouted out previously and put them into a travel photography workshop we could run with pro photographer Jeremy Flint and PhotoPlus subscriber Peter. Here’s a few of my favourite images from the trip.

A picture of the Hungarian Parliament at sunrise with two photographers in the foreground using their cameras set up on tripods.

A sunny travel landscape of the fisherman's Bastion in Budapest.

A sunrise shot of the Hungarian Parliament in Hungary.

A tram drives towards the camera at sunrise in Budapest, Hungary.

An old red car is parked underneath a tree in autumn in Budapest.

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary at blue hour before sunrise.

The Hungarian Parliament building is lit up at night in the blue hour.

The Hungarian Parliament building is framed by autumnal trees in daylight.

A city scene of Budapest with a tram and pedestrians walking past at sunrise with warm golden tones coming from the sun behind.

The Ferris Wheel of Budapest is lit up at night and reflected in a puddle in a skate park. The image is converted to black & white.

An interior shot looking up to the impressive dome ceiling and details inside of the St Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary.

A sunrise photo over Budapest, Hungary with boats in the Danube river with sunrise tones behind.

A tram rides on tracks towards the camera at night in Budapest, Hungary.

Sigma Press Trip - Japan

In 2025 I was fortunate enough to be invited to Sigma’s press tour to Japan in February just before PhotoPlus: the Canon magazine closed the following month. The trip was amazing and included a visit to Sigma’s HQ in Tokyo for the launch of its BF camera and two new 300-600mm f/4 and 16-300mm lenses, plus a tour of the Sigma factory up in snowy Aizu, capped off with CP+ and a farewell cruise in Yokohama.

A sunset scene taken in Yokohama, Japan with the sun setting over the city. This image was taken from a ferry and has just passed under a bridge which takes up most of the frame - the city skyline and sun are pictured underneath the bridge with the i

This image was taken with a very long focal length and zoomed in to compress the perspective so that the skyline of Yokohama's skyscrapers are silhouetted against the sunset but also the iconic shape of Mt Fuji is faintly seen behind the buildings.

Professional photographer Dan Mold is pictured wearing a bright orange coat holding a Canon camera surrounded by snow, taken in Aizu Japan.

Life as a freelancer

With the closure of PhotoPlus in March 2025 I was made redundant and dove head first into the world of freelance and while less secure than a ‘normal’ job it has been liberating in the work I get to pick and choose from. To date, this has included regular editorial work writing photography features, advertorials and gear reviews for the likes of Amateur Photographer and EOS Magazine as well as working on my own brand, running family portrait sessions and shooting weddings.