When I first started out as a Pro (or trying to earn money to be a Pro) I decided to concentrate my photography on three areas- wildflowers, forests and harbors. There wasn’t much fore thought into this decision, there was no market analysis or saleability review on my part nor did I look into the future and try to predict where these three areas of concentration might lead me. I just know I loved wildflowers, forests and harbors, it was that simple.
It was a good decision. In all of my photography and in all of my books I have included lots of photos of wildflowers and forests and I am still drawn to them and enjoy photographing them. Harbors though, while I still love to wander around in them, have never been a big seller for me. I use photos of harbors in my introductory shows but I don’t think I have ever sold one (probably because I have never sent them out to be considered for sale!). So why is it that I keep taking pictures of harbors? I think it is the colors.
No matter the time of year or business of the harbor there are always bright colors to be found. You can go on the drabbest of winter days or the rainiest of summer days and there are colors every where in a harbor. This is in contrast to most other outdoor subjects that have definite times of the year when they are prime and other times of the year when they are nonexistent. Try photographing wildflowers in November or forests in the heat of summer and you will soon be craving the bright, eternal colors of harbors.
Finally, after 25 years as a professional photographer, I have a project, The Lobstering Life, that will actually pay me to photograph the colors of the harbor. This book will not only be full of colorful lobstering gear but also full of colorful lobstermen but that is for a different post. Today I am happy to wallow in the bright and sometimes bizarre colors found in the harbors of the Gulf of Maine. Hope you enjoy them too!