In The Beginning
About 10 years ago when my late husband and I gave up playing the Euphonium for Military Band. I was in need of a hobby to concentrate the mind away from working. I took up photography again. I shot film back in the day, although not very well. So I started my new journey into the world of Landscape photography on a digital camera with a Canon 550d and a couple of kit lenses.
After a couple of years I moved to micro-four thirds on the Olympus EM5 M1 with a couple of zooms and a 12mm prime. However, the low light capabilities of that camera were not the best. I then shot the Nikon D7100 DSLR before moving to full frame in the Nikon Z7ii. and then added Nikon ZF. Both Nikon cameras suffered with the same issue of not being able to assign minimum shutter speed to a button. This became a real issue after only a year of owning the ZF. My Nikon full frame days really saw my landscape imagery move up several levels and my images were becoming more portfolio worthy.
Then last summer I took the plunge and moved to Sony full frame with A7RV and the A7C. and 3 zooms and 3 primes. it was then my photography skills were really tested, because I was asked to photograph my friend’s son’s wedding. That was a nerve racking and very tiring experience. However, my previous landscape photography experience, understanding light and composition stood me in good stead. The family were over the moon with the images and a good day was had by all. Wedding photography is hard work and stressful and I learned very quickly that it is not a genre I wish to pursue in the future.
The ressume above of gear and photographic experiences has demonstrated to me that the camera and gear should not be the main focus. If I had my time again, I would explain to any budding photographer, choose a kit and stick to it. Learn the craft first and foremost.
So I had a camera and lenses and went out locally taking pictures. Then came the steep learning curve of editing those images and reading many articles about developing a photographic style. This takes time, taking thousands of images and deciding what works and what doesn’t. I found the editing process help me take better images in the field.
Now, with those improved knowledge and skills, I had started to take images I could be proud of, so I wanted to complete the journey by printing them and put them on the walls at home. Then I moved into the world of printing. Learning about paper, paper profiles, screen calibration and even rendering intent. I eventually got the idea of how it all worked together to produce an image on a piece of paper.
My late husband bought my first pro level printer in the form of the Canon Pro 100 and until recently, when I wanted to print slightly bigger prints and so I moved to the Epson P700. A printer I have been extremely pleased with.
I, like all other photographers am still learning the craft, still making mistakes and that photographic style we all pursue, ever changing and still yearning to produce the ultimate images. Art work on the walls in the stairs as gallery has become a driving force to do that.
The ever changing gallery of photographs all mounted and framed gives me a lot of satisfaction and pride. Especially when I look back at my early work, really I thought that was good. Now I just strive to produce better and better photographs and share them with others. Hoping they gain a similar pleasure and appreciation from that particular photograph.
In the beginning, I thought I knew what I was doing. On reflection I actually knew nothing about what makes a good photograph. Now, I still don’t have the answer to that question, because it is art. I love my art and that drives me to go out and take something even better. Going out to enjoy mother natures beauty.