Plant Life The pride of Mother Nature: after a lot of time and effort spent looking after your garden, it is very satisfying to finally have the possibility to put all the beauty of a flower, leaf or tree in a camera shot... or at least try for it. Most flowers wither soon, but their charm will be preserved in a photo like if time had frozen over... Photographing flowers is relaxing to me, but also a difficult art, since it isn't just about having a good camera, you're also going to need pretty subjects, creativity, still hands for hand-held shots, and the patience to seek for something more than the usual flower capture, like an interesting composition, light or DOF. Questions for the Photographer How important do you feel it is to specialize in one area or genre of photography? Nature photography has always been my favourite genre, but I don't think it really matters to be specialized in one or more fields, as long as you photograph with passion. I'm interested in all photographic genres and whenever I have the opportunity to learn something new I don't miss it out. What distinguishes your work? It's hard to tell when there's still so much to shoot and learn. Some say my photos have a "dream-effect lighting" but I wouldn't know if my images possess a style that can be put into words. It's up to others to judge, I just try my best and hope that my effort and commitment is evident. As you have developed, how have you changed? My vision has changed: how I "see", the way I observe the world and look at the beauty and frailty of what surrounds me. I feel more self-confident now and have become more sensitive to the features of the scene before my eyes, even when I don't have a camera with me. My sense of observation has improved over time. What has been the biggest influence on your development and maturing as a photographer? Digital photography is about my age: the world's first commercial digital camera was the Fuji DS-1P, launched in 1988, the year I was born. I suffer from some complicated sight issues that would have severely limited me in my activity as a photographer, hadn't it been for the digital revolution and the cool gadgets it brought like built-in LCD camera monitors, I wouldn't be able to shoot without these and I'm not ashamed to admit that I've never used the viewfinder in any of my digital cameras. What would you like to be remembered for? For my love and respect of nature and animals. For taking good photos with relatively cheap compact/bridge cameras. And I'd be happy if those who see my photos could appreciate them and then ask "Nice photo, whose is it?". IMPORTANT © COPYRIGHT NOTICE All the work contained in my gallery is copyrighted © 2006-2016 Silvia Colombo All rights reserved. All the materials contained in my deviantART gallery may NOT be reproduced, copied, edited, manipulated, altered, published, printed, transmitted, sold, or uploaded in any way without my written permission. My work does not belong to the public domain. If you have doubts about this matter email me to silvyfirst@libero.it