Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Brown.
Douglas, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have been passionate about the outdoors and photography since my youth. I was heavily involved in team sports growing up and was blessed with parents that gave us the opportunity to travel in my youth. My parents recognized my interest in photography, and I was fortunate enough to have access to cameras early in my life and enjoyed capturing our travel on film. I have maintained that passion throughout my life capturing highlights from throughout my life to share with family and friends. Although I have loved photography throughout my life, it was purely a hobby for me.
About ten years ago, I found myself gaining weight and needing to change my lifestyle. I started hiking and found a second passion which has fueled my growing love for the outdoors and nature. It also rekindled my waning passion for photography, and both have blossomed. I now hike almost every weekend and have grown from local casual hikes to more and more adventurous hikes around the world. During these adventures, I capture the many amazing experiences through my photography. What started as sharing the work with family and friends from those hikes, I’ve grown an audience who enjoy seeing the results of my hiking adventures. In addition, I have slowly grown some followers who have purchased some of my work allowing me to slowly grow a business based upon my hobbies. Though I continue to treat the effort as a hobby, I now get great joy when my work strikes a chord with someone who chooses to purchase one of my works.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a landscape and wildlife photographer who has combined my love of hiking and the outdoors with my love of photography. During my hiking adventures throughout the Southwest, I look to capture highlights from my special encounters with Mother Nature and turn them into artwork which will help bring an awareness and appreciation for her special gifts she has to offer. Whether it be capturing magical landscapes with the unique beauty of the southwest desert; remote interaction with Desert or Sierra Bighorn; the many interesting reptiles of the desert; or the many amazing wildflowers I encounter I look for the unique aspects to present in my art.
In my work, I try to capture the magic of nature and bring my audience an appreciation and hopefully gain a passion for what the outdoors has to offer. Through my work, I attempt to inspire my audience to go out and encounter nature for themselves and develop a love for what she has to offer them. My greatest excitement comes when I meet young hikers and photographers who are just getting into the hobbies and sharing my stories with them.
Although on occasion I will create an artistic print based upon my photography, it is my primary objective to capture the beauty of nature as close as possible to her natural beauty and share it with my audience.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I have been a hobbyist photographer since I was in high school. My camera is almost always with me when I travel and on my adventures allowing me to capture my experiences for memories and to share with family and friends. When I started hiking seriously again about ten years ago, I continued to use my passion for photography to capture my adventures and share with my fellow hikers. It is the passion for my two hobbies of photography and hiking which drives me. I share my work because of the joy it brings me when people enjoy my work.
As my hobbies have slowly developed into an emerging business, I have come to learn that growing a business is not easy. Finding your audience and potential customers is a challenge, and there are many fantastic photographers who are competing for the market. I have learned that the most important thing I can do is to continue to focus on what I love and produce photographic art that I enjoy. Though it is tempting to try to adapt your art to a potential audience in the end when you do what you love you are more likely to translate that love into your work.
It is always an honor to have a customer place an order for one of my works. It is exciting when your lover and passion is recognized by a customer. It is my goal always to maintain the passion behind my work and not let the business side drive me. I encourage other artists to do the same.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My photography is at its core a hobby of love and a way to capture and share my love for the outdoors and nature. I do not have a physical location and primarily share my work through social media and through my website. It has been inspirational to me to learn that my photography has been followed and liked by so many. People follow my work through my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages as well as through my webpage. I hike almost every week and share the highlights from my adventures on a regular basis with my audience that follows me. I encourage those who love landscape and wildlife photography to view, follow and share my social media sites and webpage with others they know who have similar passions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://douglassbrownphotography.smugmug.com
- Email: douglassbrownphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douglassbrownphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DouglasSBrownPhotography/
- Twitter: Douglassbrownphotography @Douglassbrownp1
Image Credit:
All images are my own work
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