I have always had a creative instinct. As a child and into my adulthood I have loved to draw & design. I guess photography is just an extension of this artistic nature. Initially, I bought my first digital camera, a Canon 350D SLR, to aid me while studying Art & Design while I was in education.
Its sole purpose was to capture snap-shots, which would guide me while completing drawings. It wasn’t until I’d left education behind, in recent years, that I developed an interest in photography as a creative medium, in its own right. By finding this interest in photography, it opened up a whole new world of discovery and exploration.
Currently, my main souce of inspiration comes from the diverse work of fellow photographers on Flickr. It hosts a wealth of very talented photographers, and looking at their images provides the desire for my own work to be even remotely as good as theirs. I’m still very much on a learning curve, teaching myself as I go along.
I enjoy all aspects of photography, and I haven’t found a particular niche yet. I love taking landscape images as much as I do macro, or portraits. Landscape offers you time alone to capture the beauty of nature, which I find very therapeutic. While taking portraits allows you to spend time in the company of others and capture the beauty of them instead. There’s beauty in nearly everything and I try to convey this through my photography, where possible.
It’s probably true for every photographer, that you evolve as time goes on. I’d like to think that I take better images now than I did a year ago. Likewise, a few years down the line, I hope I can look back on my current photographic work and think to myself “you’ve come a long way from then”. Personally, I constantly want to be learning, improving and evolving.
I’ve so much to learn, especially when it comes to the technicalities of photography. If anyone asks which basic camera settings i used to take an image, like ISO, aperture, shutter speed etc… I still look at them with a blank expression. I can take a photo but I have a limited grasp of the technicle lingo.
However, while knowledge of camera technicalities are all well and good, I don’t consider it to be of the greatest importance. Rather, I believe a good imagination is key to a good photo. After all, one of the most intelligent men to have lived, Albert Einstein, once stated: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create”.
There’s always something new to be discovered, and I think that’s part of the fun of it; you never know what you will discover or create next. I don’t know where my love for photography will lead me in the future. Presently, photography is a hobby… sometimes I think I would love it to be my full-time career, but currently that’s a dream, not a reality. Whether it remains a dream or not, I can’t imagine loosing interest in taking images.
When I have a camera in my hand, my imagination takes over and I feel truly alive. I couldn’t ask for any more.
Links:
Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/people/yvonne_martin/
Website : www.creativelycaptured.co.uk
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Striking images, technically perfect and great compositions… jealous? yes! Would like to see more please!
Interestingly diverse flickr stream of high quality images. Well done!
Thanks for a great read Yvonne. I cannot agree with you more about the technical lingo, I myself am still trying to grasps the concepts. However that Albert Einstein quote hits the nail on the coffin. Often, I just rather take the shot than worry about what aperture setting or shutter speed I should have it at..I more fiddle around with those settings not realising one turn could alter this and that. those two shots you have there are absolutly stunning. My favourite would have to be the lighthouse one. Being a huge fan of landscape photos, the colour and details of the photos are superb.
Many thanks for your kind comments.
Wow! Your photography gets more stunning every time I see it. Congratulations on article, interesting read. You have an exceptional talent and a very bright future ahead. Keep up good work!!
Robin: Just checked this after you were talking about it in work, didn’t realize that you had left a comment. Thank-you! 🙂
Love the lighthouse shot!
Your work is so beautiful and fantastic! I’m glad I came across your photo profile. I browsed your Flickr page and added you as a contact! your work is so diverse and that’s was I love about it. You bring so many different things to the table and they’re all so interesting and beautiful to look at. Lovely write up! and amazing work 🙂
@ Brian – thank-you.
@ Valerie – awh thanks so much, i feel honoured that you think so. 🙂
Just wanted to say that I really like your work and your website – it has a bit more character and interest than a lot of photography portfolios out there (even just little touches like the custom header, and interesting gallery titles) – I love that your drawing is on there as well. You are definitely a very talented artist and I really love some of the images on there. Your flora section is stunning!