Chromasia is the website of a Blackpool, U.K based photographer by the name of David Nightingale. Really, if you don’t know this man and his work, go and check it out.

What’s most interesting to me about Chromasia, apart from the fabulous photography, is how it has developed. I first ran across the site several years back, in the first year of his blog back in 2003. I quickly became a regular visitor and watched with fascination as David’s photography seemed to improve visibly from post to post. At that point in my life I was also becoming more interested in photography again, and thinking about returning to school for more training. Chromasia inspired me in a big way.

David was a lecturer in Higher Education (lecturing in psychology at the University of Bolton), and photography was just a hobby. He had just bought a new camera (an EOS 20D) when I found his site, and I often wondered how he found time for photography considering his work load and the fact he already had three children at that point.

The man is obviously a bundle of energy, apart from being very gifted. Looking at chromasia today, less than 4 years later, it’s astounding to see how much he has achieved in such a short time. Apart from the fact he has added 3(?) more children to his family, you only have to have a good look round on the site to see what’s happened on a professional level. It was clear there was a lot of attention being paid to his site just by looking at how many comments he was getting, and I once worked out that even if only 1% of his visitors purchased a print, he was beginning to make some good money. Obviously it was going very well, because suddenly he quit his job, and started chromasia as a limited company, with his wife Libby doing the admin and David concentrating on what he does best. These days he has started with both online and private tutorials, as well as weekend tutorials in Blackpool and his site lists an impressive range of private commissions.

His journey is an inspiration to many photographers the world round no doubt, but it is clear that talent and energy are two things David has in abundance.

I could have unspoken aspirations to achieve as he has, but I certainly need to work on the energy side. The talent I can’t really do anything about, and it’s up to others beside myself to judge that area anyway, but I hold no real illusions of emulating his feats. I admire them greatly however, and can only use his journey as an inspiration to my own. Go David!

[tags]chromasia, photoblog, David Nightingale, Blackpool [/tags]