When I bought my first digital SLR camera I expected my photography to be transformed. I’d seen so many great images in magazines and on the web that I believed just having a better camera would mean that mine would suddenly compare. Needless to say they didn’t. I very quickly realised from that point on that despite all this great technology it is still the decisions you make before you press the shutter that will make or break your image.
After that I tried to absorb everything I could about photography; I read books, watched DVDs, looked at pictures and slowly over time I began to understand how to make better images. I unfortunately didn’t have the good fortune of studying photography at university as many photographers have. Firstly because I didn’t start using an SLR camera until I was 39 years old (18 years after I finished university) and secondly I now live in Japan – a country where I don’t speak the language well. All this means that I had to teach myself, and make a lot of mistakes along the way.
As a result of all the reading I have seen and felt my photography grow, as has my love for the topic. When I compare what and how I shoot now to four years ago when I got the camera I can see a big difference.
This doesn’t mean I’m satisfied. The more I learn, the more I realise there is to be learned, and this process never stops. And it’s not just me, I’ve had photographers with more than 20 years experience tell me this same thing.
This, for me, is one of the worst and best things about photography. Worst because it is a never-ending journey, a bus that will never reach its destination. And best because the journey itself is incredible – you see yourself grow and develop, experience new things, and learn to see and capture the world in a way that few others do. This for me is why I’m passionate about photography.
Another thing that I have discovered about myself is that I love photographing people. I didn’t start out expecting that to be the case, but no matter what else I photographed I always ended up coming back to people. Consequently, my work is mainly made up of portraits, travel photography and street photography. As such my influences are very much people photographers; Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yousef Karsh, David Bailey, Herb Ritts, Ellen von Unwerth, Patrick Demarchelier, the list goes on and on. Another big influence is Japan itself. I find myself constantly trying to show different sides of it, especially sides that people outside Japan rarely see.
This year I plan to become semi-professional and develop this hobby into much more. I’m happy that I can turn something I love into a job. So I will continue my everlasting bus journey and just enjoy the ride and see where it takes me.
Links:
Website: www.draycat.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/draycat.photography
Twiiter: www.twitter.com/draycat
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