Starting From Scratch: From Painting to Photography

I spent years studying painting, learning how to see light, composition, and colour in a very deliberate way. But after leaving university, I found myself stepping away from it—and picking up a camera instead.

At first, it felt like starting over.

In reality, the beginning of this journey wasn’t the camera—it was hiking. Being out in landscapes, walking through them rather than simply observing, made me notice things differently. Light, weather, and space—things I had studied before, but now experienced in a more immediate way.

Photography came naturally from that.

It started with a secondhand Canon EOS 2000D, bought from Facebook Marketplace, with no real expectation of building a portfolio—something that only came later through trial and error.

Showing up and experimenting without expectation became the foundation.

Even though I’m new to photography, I’ve realised I didn’t start from zero. Painting taught me how to look at a scene—how light shapes a subject, how composition guides the eye, and how small details can change an image entirely. Now I’m learning how to apply that through a different medium.

Over the past year, I’ve learned a few things:

The camera captures light to form an image.
Equipment can influence image quality, but it isn’t everything.
The shutter count often far exceeds the final results—but that’s where the learning happens.
Even small details, like the type of SD card, can make a difference.

At the same time, there have been challenges:

Understanding how to navigate changing weather conditions is part of working in the landscape.
Keeping subjects in focus—especially moving and unpredictable wildlife—has been one of the most difficult aspects.
Alongside learning the technical side, I’m still trying to establish a niche, particularly through post-processing.

Below are some early attempts—an unedited reflection of mistakes and progress, captured across different points in time.

Right now, I’m focused on improving my post-processing using Adobe Lightroom—experimenting with tone curves, colour, and cropping, with the intent to emphasise nature’s beauty rather than alter it, while developing a more consistent style.

This is just the start. I’ve got a lot to learn, but that’s what makes it interesting—I’ll be sharing the process as I go.