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Ian Smith
I am a former tennis trainer who became a full-time landscape photographer in 2016. The landscape is my inspiration and photography is my passion. It helps me be a better father.
In June of 2015, I moved my family lock, stock and barrel to start a new life in Sweden. It wasn't a decision taken lightly! We had a 2 houses and a business in Malta, my wife had just given birth to my daughter Chloe and we were to turn our backs on Malta for good and move, more or less, blindly to Sweden.
Let me explain....
I am 52 and having taught tennis at all levels for over 30 years, I desperately needed a change. I was feeling drained of enthusiasm for the sport and tired of the routine. Sometimes in order to make a change, it needs to be a complete change, so we agreed we would start a new adventure with our baby in Sweden. Yes, we sold up in Malta, we bought a house in Sweden and here we are, very happy and very contented as a family.
What has all this got to with photography?
This is where the changes happened... I found a new passion, a learned new skills and after 3 years, I started a new business - landscape photography!
After 3 years of learning about using a camera in full manual mode, becoming more creative with compositions, developing a photographic style and adapting to different conditions, or more specifically learning about light!
By no means am I suggesting that the journey of learning is complete, in fact, I am an apprentice but having looked back at my early work, I do see the improvement which gives me the drive to keep moving forward.
Living in Österlen, in the south-east corner of Sweden is very easy and although more or less flat in terms of terrain, it has some of the most stunning beaches and seascapes as well as fantastic forests a rural scenes to give the landscape photographer a myriad of choice of subject to shoot depending on the weather and conditions.
This article features some of the seascapes all within 20 minutes drive and most within walking distance.
My aim as a photographer to create images that I am pleased with and that it makes me feel calm. I feel a connection to the landscape and my environment, that creates an emotion within my sole and I try to convey those emotions through my images.
It has become a life experience through the art of photography, rather than all about camera settings (although important). The therapy of photography wields a magic and one that I highly recommend to everyone. Being in the great outdoors experiencing nature in all conditions is more important than Facebook!
I hope this journey resonates with some and I would love to hear your experiences.
