The early years
My first experiments in photography began in the early 90s when I was still living in Germany. After purchasing my first SLR camera, a Canon T60, with my own money, I was excited about the possibilities of this new camera.
Up until this point, I had only used traditional pocket cameras (e.g. Agfamatic or similar models) to take some pictures during holidays or family events.
Later I started playing around with effects and colors, which just meant putting a color filter in front of the flash or using a prism in front of the lens to add some flare to the image. If I was lucky, I would be able to pick up the images at our local camera store after a few days (after paying for them) and see the results of my work. Of course, some of them went straight into the nearest trash can… Yes, it was often a waste of money, but I enjoyed taking the pictures and proudly displaying them to friends and family.
Since I had my driving license and now needed money for gas or car insurance and weekly visits to the discotheque in the neighboring town, I decided a few years later to sell my photography equipment.
This was the temporary end of my photographic activities and although I regretted the decision on some days, the T60 was my last SLR camera for many years.
Ireland – A new inspiration
After working as a car mechanic and later as an office clerk in my father’s company, I moved to Ireland at the end of September 2011.
Since there are so many beautiful motifs in this country, I started taking more and more pictures of landscapes, ruins, castles and other interesting places. First with my cell phone and later with a bridge camera (Fujifilm FinePix S8600) that I bought after being invited to a wedding. The wedding took place in a beautiful old castle, so I wanted to take reasonably decent photos of the event.
Now I had a better camera and that inspired me to visit more beautiful places to take some pictures. This was also a good opportunity to travel around the country and enjoy nature instead of sitting at home. But after a while I wanted better results in terms of image quality. This led me to buying a used APSC camera, a Nikon D3100, and of course that made a big difference because now I could shoot in RAW format images, which gave me the opportunity to get more out of the images.
Over time I improved my skills and decided to buy a new full frame camera, some lenses, filters and other accessories. This was the time when my hobby became more serious and after I learned more and more about different techniques, composition and editing, my dedication paid off. In 2018 I created a website, registered a company and sold the first pictures and calendars in my online shop.
Emerald Captures 