Do you know the feeling that you're taking pictures for quite some time now and you don't really notice any progress? Ok, the pictures you take are nice but you always think higher of the pictures other people take. I guess you're lucky if you don't recognise the feeling, I on the other hand are less fortunate in that respect. When I write about Islay on my blog I regularly find people who have absolutely stunning pics of Islay and when I received a stunning picture by email early December I was quiet for a moment. The image I was looking at was the now famous stars at night image taken by James Deane. And here I was sitting quietly on my sofa admiring this beautiful picture and thinking who is this guy? Where does he come from? And how are his other Islay images? Why can't I take pictures like that? Why haven't I heard of him before?

Oh wait, I did hear of him before, he was the one that won the INHT photo competition, you know, the picture with the Buzzard, Hen Harrier and geese. Now it's hard enough for folks like you and me to take a picture of a buzzard, even harder to have it together with a Hen Harrier and almost impossible to have both of them with Islay's wild geese as a backdrop. Not for James though, he used his patience and talent to take not only this picture but later on I found out James had many more stunning pictures, mostly of Islay. The great thing about all this was that James sent me images for my blog every now and then and I was very proud to show them to you all. And in return James received many oooh's and aaaah's from people who admired his pictures and talent. Continue reading.....

Now who is this James Deane? Since he started sending me pictures we've emailed quite often so I've come to know him a little bit better. Because you will be seeing a lot more of his work I've asked James to write something about himself for the readers of this blog. James Deane: "Nearly a year has passed since I moved to Islay, giving up my job in the West Midlands to follow Vanessa to her new teaching role. It has given me the opportunity that I would never have had; the time to go out into the everchanging environment and take photos of what I see. It's been a steep learning curve in many respects, living on a space that is .......square miles should be a limitation. Far from it, our island has lots going on and I'm always discovering new subjects to photograph. I guess sometimes its not just about seeking a new landscape, but instead seeing it with new eyes, and that's what I've set out to do in these images. This website was developed in response to the many positive comments I've received, and encouraged by many requests to get my photos 'out there' where both Ileachs and Islay-Lovers everywhere can enjoy them. The images speak for themself, but the bigger story is about the opportunity that living on Islay has given me. That's more important than anything, and that makes me very lucky indeed. It would have all worked out differently if I was still photographing Birmingham!"

An overview of one of James's Galleries

What happened next was a logical step, as you can read above James was encouraged to show his pictures to a wider audience, thank god he did, and he started a website to show off his work. Today is the day that his website goes online and it is now ready for the hopefully large audience he deserves. So if you're looking for beautiful Islay pictures, framed and unframed, for yourself or as a gift, or just to stare in awe and enjoy, go visit www.jamesdeanephotography.com, you will love it!

Tag: photography