Part Six- A setback?

I found last week very enjoyable and became carried away by the positive reaction of Facebook friends to my images of snowdrops and roses. I started to experiment with one of the snowdrop images to create a more abstract image using Photoshop to overlay textures. I made a number of very different images and hoped for a continuation of the positive responses. Unfortunately the reaction was muted or if I am being totally honest non existent. I liked these images a lot and was very disappointed others did not share my view.

I decided to see if I could better understand the reason for this lack of reaction by asking my good friends at Ockbrook Photographic Club for advice. I was pleased that some of them took the time to give me their views and they suggested a number of courses of action that I intend to follow.
It is clear that, if I am to develop my artistic abilities I should be less concerned about the views of others and not constantly seek the reassurance of Facebook "Likes". Instead I need to be adventurous and experiment with new techniques and slowly develop my own style. I should also look to join groups of photographers using ICM and Double Exposure and review the work of others who have made their mark using these techniques.
It was suggested I seek-out videos by Doug Chinnery who is a well known exponent of ICM and Double exposure to better understand the techniques and how to use them to create original and striking images. I found three of his videos and learned a great deal about the techniques. He also suggested looking at the work of Chris Friel and Valda Bailey for inspiration. One link led to another and I eventually found the blog of an artist called Julia Anna Gospodarau who has taken ICM to another level by creating panoramic ICM images. She also blogs on Fine Art Photography and a new style called (en)Visionography whereby digital post processing techniques are used to create an image envisioned by the photographer when looking at the chosen scene but not able to be captured by the digital camera.

Part 5 A good week

Three trips out this week. Snowdrops are in bloom all over Derbyshire and the weather has been excellent. We went twice to Hopton Hall who open their woodland for 4 weeks each year. We also went to Elvaston Castle to see the carpet of snowdrops in the graveyard around St Bartholomew's. Church. I concentrated on framing and composition and getting down low to look up at the flowers and try to include sky in the shot.

This week also included St Valentine's Day and I took the chance to do some Intentional Camera Movement shots on the roses with very pleasing result.

A good few days!

Part 4 Changing Focus

After a couple of weeks of reading about the basic principles of art I have not found it easy to see how these can used to create a "better or more artistic" photograph. I have started to think I should concentrate on reading articles about composition and ones by highly regarded photographers whose work I like. I have found lots of good articles on Facebook and also found that I can read a digital Amateur Photographer Magazine for free by using my Library Subscription. Maybe I will return to basic principles later in my journey.