After a few weeks of ”lurking” in the shadows, I now thought that it was time to take a little deeper look at what the very nice looking NPN has to offer as well as what I might offer back. I live and do most of my photography in a secluded and rural area of Sweden called Dalsland and started the more ”intentional” part of my photography journey about 12 years ago. Although I’ve often been tempted to do more with it, photography is still ”just” a hobby, often referred to as my “sanity pill” in an often stressful life with a demanding day job.
During these years, my main focus has been on nature/landscape photography and as time has passed, I’ve become more and more drawn to a minimalistic style, using macro, techniques like long exposures and ICM to shoot intimate and/or abstract scenes in my local area. Furthermore, water in all its shapes and forms has become my main subject. I also enjoy shooting the odd animal portrait and have recently re-kindled my love for aerial photography, having re-added a drone to my camera bag.
As time is always scarce, I’ve mostly stayed relatively close to home for photography. But while I’m very fortunate to have nature close by, it’s rarely as breathtaking and grand as the places many landscape photographers tend to flock to. I’m convinced that this, as much as my somewhat introverted personality, has slowly tuned my vision and creativity towards the smaller and more unique facets of nature, often the stuff hidden in plain sight, just beyond the seemingly mundane backdrop of everyday life. This has also helped me not feel obliged to travel for photography, turning it into a mission to look deeper, closer and for longer rather than further away. Trying to minimize my photography related carbon footprint and wear and tear on nature also fits into this idea.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you and your photography!
I realise that I might’ve started off by breaching protocol, posting several photos in one in this introduction, but I just wanted try and give a more full picture of who I am photographically than I could with just a single image. I hope that’s OK, as an exception that won’t happen again…?
Välkommen till NPN, Stéphane! Thank you for the great introduction of yourself as a photographer. I also find interest and great joy in trying to find interesting things to photograph in somewhat mundane surroundings.
This is a great place to grow and evolve as a photographer by getting comments on images posted and by comment on other members images.
What a nice and interesting set of images, I am really looking forward to see more of your images.
I’m glad you liked the intro and the photo(s). To be honest, I’m not very good at staying connected and sharing online but I think that’s mostly true for social media (hence my very poor update rate on IG).
I tend to enjoy the shooting part of photography much more then sitting in front of a computer monitor, culling and processing the results, which means that most of my photos can take months or sometimes even years to reach a final stage.
But I also enjoy helping others grow and improve, so am hoping to be able to contribute with good things here.
P.S. Jag är också i praktiken från Malmö, fast jag bott i Dalsland i över 25 år nu.
Roligt att se att du också kör med Olympus!
Welcome to NPN, Stephane. I don’t think there is anything wrong with you providing a collage of images, and boy are they good! I love taking small scenes but especially macro. It is like a whole universe that I hadn’t realized was there until I started shooting macro. Looking forward to seeing more of your work and your contributions to the site. Again, welcome to a wonderful community of photographers.
Welcome to NPN, Stéphane. It sounds like you’ll fit in quite well! I enjoyed your collage of photos - it’s actually a great idea for an intro post (and I’m sure it didn’t breach any protocols).
I appreciate your approach to photography - it’s much like mine. Seeing (and photographing) the things hidden in plain sight and elevating the mundane to beauty is quite satisfying. Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
Hi Stéphane, welcome to NPN! I quite enjoyed your collage of images. Your introspective approach comes through. Over the past few years I too have looked inward and have embraced the quiet scenes. The slow photography approach is a welcomed change of pace to our busy lives. I look forward to seeing more of your work especially in the Abstract channel. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions. Great having you here in the community!
Looks like I’m a little late to the “Välkommen till naturfotografernas nätverk” wagon. (translated - Welcome to Nature Photographers Network).
I have visited Sweden a couple of times, my father was from Göteborg (Gothenburg). To be honest, I’m not very good at speaking or writing Swedish, I just learned a few key words for the trips so I could understand at least some of what Swedish people were saying in their native language.
I really like your intro collage, it showcases your diversity in genre as well as your creativity, and the placement of the horse’s eye in the center is a nice touch (assuming that was on purpose, if it wasn’t on purpose, it was a “Happy Accident” in my view)!
I feel certain you’ll have a lot of fun with everyone and I feel you’ll fit right in with the mission of learning and growing for all.
I know I’ve learned a lot since joining and it would be difficult to find a nicer, more experienced group of people to interact with.
Tack @Merv! How long ago was your last visit to Sweden? I live fairly close to Gothenburg btw (about a 1.5hr drive NNW from Gbg). I have a friend there and we try to meet up and do some shooting on the amazing west coast (the top and right middle photos in the collage are from the west coast).
I’m happy to hear that you like the collage as I feel like it turned out pretty nicely. The eye found it’s place in the center pretty quickly once I started working on the layout, so I guess that’s the most natural and effective spot for it.
Looking forward to interacting some more and seeing your work.
It’s been just over two years since my last visit.
I remember the coast (west of Gothenburg) well, I made my way down to Saltholmen via trolley, then took a boat ride over to a place called Fotö, that was gorgeous! it was mostly just a community of homes but there were a few beach access points that I really enjoyed.
I hope to make my where over there again sometime but first, I’m planning a trip up the east coast of the U.S. to the New England states, I’m working on the next item on our bucket list
There’s so incredibly much to explore along the west coast, both south and especially north of Gothenburg and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.
I hope you had a wonderful dinner and wish you a great east coast trip, Merv!
Hi Stéphane,
Your photos look amazing. I am a new member as well and can relate to a lot of what you wrote. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos.
