I've always used a camera, initially to record my time in the hills and mountains of the UK as I climbed and walked there. At times, I have tried to develop my skills and eye for a picture, but there has always been restrictions due to work commitments. Now, I am trying to work less and photograph more.
The first part of my plan that aimed to realise my ambitions of becoming a more creative photographer was to set out some goals and targets in the various aspects of creating digital images. These I saw as:
- Equipment - hardware and software
- In-camera Skills & Techniques - capturing the image
- Post-Processing - developing the image
- Sharing and Using the Images
Once these goals had been identified, then I had to develop a realistic timeline and work out a means of funding all the things I wanted to do. I felt that such a personal journey of development would take years realistically but that this would have to fit in with continuing to work in order to pay for it all.
I have no ambitions or desire, as I write this, to earn any money from my photography. To do so would probably channel me down paths that I feel I have to take, rather than explore paths that I want to go down. Having no desire to make photography a 'commercial' venture will also allow me the freedom to take pictures purely for the pleasure in the images themselves, without any 'earning' expectation.
In my next blog, I hope to explain in more detail my photographic development plan which I hope will become the route map of my photography journey.