The early days
From the age of eighteen I have been in love with photography on an on/off basis. I somehow got my first camera but can't remember how I got it and which one I had. I do remember going out with a friend on our bicycles around the area we lived in for the sole purpose of making pictures. We had no specific interest in what to photograph, so we shot anything that caught our interest. In my case the focus happened to be on nature and buildings/structures. Since film and developing was expensive, especially when still in school, I couldn't do too much with it though.
Travelling
By the time I was around thirty years old I started to take up travelling and decided I needed a serious camera. I bought my first DSLR camera which I believed was a NIKON. Even though it had all these fantastic options I only used it in automatic mode which in hindsight was a pity. It was still the time of old fashioned film and associated developing, so the number of photos I took on my travels was limited. Still, I managed to make some fine photos and really enjoyed making them. Nature was still my favourite subject. After a few years I found it to be too heavy to carry around all the time, especially with kids. So I went for point-and-click cameras and basically only to photograph the kids.
The digital age
Around 2000 (I was 44 then) I started using digital cameras and still mainly point-and-click ones, primarily from Sony. I loved being able to make as many photos as I wanted and sort out the results later. In 2012 I went back to DSLR after taking some photography courses. Started using a NIKON D3200, later replaced by a NIKON D5300 which I am still using today. They are surely not the best of the best cameras available, but they suited my needs for travel photography and still do. I am tempted though to try out the new mirrorless cameras.
My way of working
I am not specifically going out with the sole purpose of taking photos. As said, I mostly take photos when travelling. It also means I hardly ever make use of a tripod as I find it too much of a hassle to carry around and set up. On my travels I try to pay attention to the shots I make which means not just clicking away at random. I don't believe I have a specific style but I do like perfection to a certain extent. The composition is the most important part of any photo I think. It could be a certain angle, subjects in the foreground, following the rule of thirds and straight horizons and buildings. I also prefer to keep my travel photos the way they were taken with minimal editing. I will not exchange the sky for a prettier one, nor will I excessively remove things I don't like or overcolourize the shots.
I have never been a fan of Photoshop as I find it ridiculously complex, but there are some really nice tools from other vendors like Topaz and InPixio and I have fun editing some photos into something a bit more artsy.
Contact
I can be contacted by email at fvdridder@google.com.
All photos can be purchased through my shop on artheroes.com and links can be found with every photo.