Awards/News

Some thoughts about my site Finally managed to finish the update of my site. There are some more things/updates i need to do but i leave it for later. As you can probably see there is a new look concerning the layering of the pages, the appearance of my portfolio and especially the presentation of my photos. A highly recommended plugin (unfortunately you have to buy it) is the FooBox. Actually this was the reason i did the whole update since my previous wordpress theme had some problems with it. Feel quite comfortable with this new theme and i think i will keep it for quite some time. I did a major update of my portfolio adding my newest collections, updating some old ones, deleting some others. Also decided to present only two color collections since, i think, my “color vision” has changed considerably the last year. I will add soon a post about this new vision when i will describe my latest color photo “never ending journey_the color version”. So stay tuned.. Goodbye 500px I decided about a week ago to leave 500px after a year and something of active appearance there. I had a very successful profile with more than 700.000 views and high numbers concerning their favorite/like metric system. Unfortunately, for me, this social network had nothing to give me except for an easy way to show my work to people. But i guess this is something you can do with your website. I have been four times selected by Editor and some of my pictures there had more than 30.000 views. Although “exposure” is the magic word you hear all around about these sites believe me it is just an illusion. Nothing exciting really happened but instead i was seeing people asking me to take a look at their photos and give my “like” vote. And then i asked my self “Is this the real meaning of art? Begging people to vote for your vision?” I couldn’t stand reading all these comments any more..so goodbye 500px. So for me there is the Facebook (with many problems dealing with it also but i keep it), my Flickr account and Behance network which i think it is the best network by far. I will come on this on a later post I have a dream… What is actually the dream of an amateur photographer? I’ve heard many thoughts on this closely related with public exposure and becoming a successful pro photographer. For me an amateur should stay amateur, at least i will keep it this way. An amateur has the unique privilege to photograph when he/she wants, when he/she feels being in that special mood to express his/her inner world with a picture. This magic moment is gone when you become a pro and you may have to shoot many times you really hate to do that. My dreams are simple and difficult at the same time. I want to master my technique and control my feelings in order to reveal them in my photos..Controlling your mind and soul is always the most important ingredient of a good photo. The skill to process a photo can be learned, the skill to capture your feelings and thoughts in a 2D layer (i.e. photo) is more like a gift from your inner self. Although i try to evolve my processing skills my main concern is to control my feelings and emotions that is why i need motivation to shoot. Public exposure is always a great gift for an amateur photographer. I started last year to participate in international contests and to my surprise i received many recognitions. Taking, two years in the row, the Second place in International photography Awards (IPA) is such a great bonus for my work-Last year in Advertising/Self Promotion and this year in Nature/Landscapes. The most important achievement nevertheless is that i took many Honorable Mentions in so different categories like People/Self-Portrait, Architecture, Abstract, Digital Enhancing, Special Panoramic. Although i consider my self as a dedicated landscape photographer i want to evolve my vision and technique to other photographic genres. And having all these prizes is a strong motivation to continue. So i guess these are my dreams, nothing more or nothing less. Last but not least i love to hear the voices of the people looking at my work. This is also a great gift for me and when by any chance i hear words like “your work is inspirational” then i know that being an amateur will be always my main concern. A big welcome to my site and thank you for your visit.