deviantART: AndyMumford's Journal: Two Years on DA

Hello everyone, hope you’re having a good week.

First of all, news of a contest.
Kozy *KirlianCamera is organising a "19 seconds" contest....Have a look at his journal for more information. I'm one of the judges.

[link]

Long journal this week, so either skip over it to the features at the bottom, or make sure you’re sitting comfortably….

Summer is finally coming to an end in Portugal, and we’re finally getting some better conditions for landscape photography.

Hopefully some time in the coming months I’ll get the chance to get out into the countryside or to the coast and do some landscape photography.
Having said that, it’s been fun going out and shooting different aspects of the city. It requires completely different discipline to shooting landscapes, and it’s been educational to look at compositon and metering in a different way.

So I’ve uploaded a few shots to scraps that I’ve done in the last few weeks which I’m really happy with. Each one challenged me in a different way; focusing, panning, composing, light etc, and I’m as happy with a couple of these shots as I am any landscape shots I’ve taken this year.

I hope you like them

Oh, and this week I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a Nikon D3 from BH Photo. I've had it posted to my brother-in-law's place in LA, so I won't actually get it for another month or so...but after a year of waiting, the deed is now done. It's bought and paid for

I'll write a little more about it in another journal...

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Two Years

Today is my 2nd anniversary on DA, and probably a good time to reflect on photography.

I joined DA a couple of months after I had picked up a camera for the first time (apart from holiday snaps with friend’s compacts). I’d spent a few months just browsing DA before I joined, and was amazed and intimidated by the quality of photography here. I remember seeing the galleries of people like Juha =jjuuhhaa and José *Inebriantia and wondering how they could possibly create such incredible images.

So to find that a couple of years later my own images are relatively popular here, to have passed the 100 000 views mark this week, is a very big surprise and leaves me scratching my head, as well as feeling very flattered and humbled.

I’ve always loved nature, enjoyed hiking and travelling….photography is just an addition to that, not a means to an end. I take pictures because photography is a wonderful way of distilling the beauty of the world around me, of opening my own eyes to nature and the places I see.

My aim with photography has always been to try to make images that match the way I feel about what I see around me. I’ve never been interested in capturing perfectly realistic views, nor do I ever want photography to be an exercise in creating technically perfect images….it’s about feeling and expression. Nothing more.

So while I feel better able to take images that I’m happy with than I was two years ago, it’s also true that the more I learn, the more I realize how much more I have to learn, how much I have to improve before I can call myself a competent photographer.
I still consider myself a beginner….I’m just a little further along the curve than I was when I joined here.

The only aspiration I have from my photography is for it to be a pleasure, to capture what I feel when I see the world. I have no desire to make a living from it, I’m perfectly happy with the way my professional life is right now,
and so I’m content to let my photography develop at it’s own pace, in it’s own way. By that I mean slowly moving towards a point where I can capture the way I feel on a digital sensor to my own satisfaction, NOT make photos that are considered technically perfect, or commercially successful.

Of course it’s nice to sell prints here on DA, and in the local places where my images are displayed. It brings in a bit of money that makes it easier to justify the expense of equipment, but outside of DA, I’ve never been bothered about displaying my work on other internet sites, nor submitting them for stock.

Which brings me to why I think DA is unique.

I come her e to be inspired by the work of others, and in the two years I’ve been here, this place has never let me down. On a daily basis there are fantastic images submitted, and I’m still as inspired and awe struck by some of the photography I see here as I was two years ago. I’ve been lucky to get to know many artists who I have a really deep respect for on DA, and I hope that the inspiration they have given me has improved my own work…if only by a little bit.

DA has given me so much inspiration and knowledge, and in return I’ve tried to pass on what I’ve learned on my own photographic journey. It’s really important for me to say here that the descriptions I put on my own images have never been intended to be instructions on how to take photographs, they are nothing more than a description of the steps I took to create that particular image and an attempt to share what I’ve learned along the way.
I really believe that a community is about sharing…sharing inspiration, sharing knowledge, sharing tips…so with my journals and with the descriptions I’ve always wanted to say “Have you seen this artist’s work?” or “ Have you tried doing this?”

As for the future, well other projects are starting to take precedence in my life, so while photography will always be around, time for the internet, and for DA is getting more and more limited….I’m already submitting less and less work (although I am shooting as much as I ever have done) and this is a trend that will continue. I’d like to think that I’ll continue to submit work here for a while yet, but who can say what will happen in the future.

So I’ll finish by saying a big THANK YOU to everyone who has inspired me and supported me over the last 2 years. I’ve been honoured to read your comments, and inspired by the work you have shown me.

Thanks so much, and take care everyone.

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