I haven't written for a while, so I thought I would take some time to write about where I am with my photography.
I honestly change my mind on an almost daily basis, ask my wife this and she will strongly agree.
The problem is I am spoilt for choice around here, I have so many opportunities to create a great image.
Recently I have taken a bit of a plunge into wildlife photography, it is something that I have always been interested in finding out more about, and find it very therapeutic.
We walk the dogs at a local woodland, it is only a 5-minute drive from where we live and it is a pretty quiet location. We have three rescue dogs, Mia, Daisy, and Suzy, Daisy is very sweet, but also very reactive, so it is a great place for her to unwind and enjoy a walk where there are few dogs, ponies, or people.
We have walked her for a good few years and each year we see the beech trees change, the dragonflies emerge, and the fallow deer change their routines to keep up with the seasons.
Thanks to this routine we know the land, the paths, and the habits of the deers and this has become a great tool to help me with photographing them.
It is definitely a learning curve and one which I am really enjoying, for a person who had little patience before, I am now happily sitting for hours waiting for a deer to emerge from behind the trees. I have even brought a hide and trail camera and a 100-400 lens for my Fuji's. Yeah, I am also an all-in kinda guy.
I have even found a local badger set where I have been lucky to have photographed a family of them.
No matter how many times we see deer, I still find them magical, I guess this is the same for many people, but also I think from coming from a big city estate I find it even more so.
The deer in the forest are everywhere, it is very rare I go out to photograph landscapes that I don't see any.
There are some moments that I have been privileged to photograph which will last with me forever.
Me being me, and changing my mind all the time almost made me go into nothing but wildlife photography and move away completely from landscapes, I was very close to this but. I can't.
I love to capture the moments. I want people to see what I felt when they see the final image. for me that is the purpose of why I do photography, It is to showcase the beauty of our island and the drama, feelings, and atmosphere that nature can show us.
This is why I can not step away from landscapes.
A good image can tell a story, I want that to be what you see, it should be about feelings and moods.
I may have made some bad calls on some of my images, but, as I found in photographing wildlife, there is a learning curve.
I will always be learning and finding new techniques, and I will pass these on to others who want to learn.
So. for the first time ever ( I think ) I am content with my photography. ( Liv will be happy )
I know when to take an image and when not to, where to go and where not to go, and also to take a break when I need to.
Going forward ( I am not a fan of saying this ) I am going to learn from every mistake I have made.
I can have the very best of both worlds by photographing wildlife and landscape, I don't need to dedicate myself to just one genera.
I would still like to turn my photography into a full-time job, which will take a lot of work and a lot of time, trust me, I know as I have tried before, it is slowly getting there with some pretty good commissions and magazine features coming up.
This time I feel I am up for the challenge, no more changing my mind and my focus is completely different.
This is also why I updated my website, I just wanted to make it a bit less one-dimensional, with the focus mainly on landscapes, I now feel I can cover both.
I guess at the age of 46 I have finally matured.
Thanks for reading my ramblings, I will do a gear post next week.
Stay safe,
Matt