Long before I focused on nature photography, I started in a very different world: games journalism. First with Nintendo 64 Magazine in 1996, later at N-Europe, and eventually founding my own media company in 2004 while still writing for others. Back then, if you wanted photos for an interview, you took them yourself.
And looking back now… let’s just say photography was not yet my strongest skill.
This image is one of my first photographs I considered “good” at the time: a portrait of Shigeru Miyamoto, the creative mind behind Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and so many worlds that shaped my youth.
Shot on what I believe was a film-based Canon EOS Rebel with what was probably the kit lens, it reminds me how far both technology and skill have come. At the time, I thought this was a great portrait. Today, I would never frame or light it like this.
And that’s exactly the point.
If you look at your old work and feel a little embarrassed, that’s not failure. That’s proof you’ve grown. The eye that critiques your past is the same eye that has learned to see better.
And years from now, the images you are proud of today may teach you that same lesson all over again.
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