It was 11 years ago that Dennis Rickard’s journey in photography first began. Travelling frequently with work – Rickard has worked in the telecommunications industry for the past 34 years – he thought it would be fantastic to capture some of the amazing sights he was taking in. This interest lay mainly with landscape photography, and Rickard was fascinated with both the natural world and the man-made. While he has an affinity for black and white imagery, Rickard also captures striking images in colour.
In terms of the images he enjoys shooting, Rickard says that he’s trying to convey the sense of space in his images, but at the same time keep the subject as simple as possible and showcase what nature has to offer, which will “hopefully engage the viewer and cause them to ponder on what the world has to offer outside of their world”. Having recently discovered the joys of aerial photography, which he finds gives everything a whole new perspective, to his dismay, Rickard didn’t take long to realise that he was prone to airsickness travelling in small planes, and so plans to supplement his kit with a drone.
Self-taught, Rickard has sought to hone his skills acquiring knowledge through magazines, books, the Internet, a local camera club, and workshops and tours, always striving to improve his photography. “The learning process is ongoing,” he says, “and I am open to new ideas in the capture of my images. I really love the processing of them through Lightroom and Photoshop.”
To date, his accolades include winning the Aerial category of the 2018 Australian Photography’s Photographer of the Year competition, being a Top 10 finalist in the Landscape category of Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2019, and winning the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies (VAPS) Digital Image of the Year 2018. Rickard’s primary ambition in photography is to be the best photographer that he can be. “To me, it helps alleviate the stresses and pressures of this fast-paced world that we now live in,” he says.
www.instagram.com/dennisrickard
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