Follow Friday – Cast a light on great photography

Over the last ten years of taking pictures, sharing them online, and being involved in the photography scene, I have come to realize that „success“ depends on two factors – the quality of the work and the size of the social media following. However, there is tons of great work being created beyond the scope of most people’s radar, outshined by the noise of some social media influencers which so many of us seem to follow. This is what the Follow Friday series is all about.

In the series, I’d like to contribute my (admittedly quite small) share to shed some light on the photographic greatness out there and steer some attention and exposure in their direction.

Daniel Böttcher – Landscape and wildlife photography

In this first installment of the series, I’d like to introduce you to the work of Daniel Böttcher from Oberhausen, Germany. I have found Daniel’s work on FlickR where he has been posting since 2010 now. We even met a couple of times and went shooting together, mostly in zoos or in the landscape.

Both, in his personal style and his approach to photography, we couldn’t be more different. While I work primarily (and since last year exclusively) in black and white, Daniel’s work oozes lush colors. While I look for shapes, lines, patterns, and textures, Daniel has an impeccable eye for good light. When I am in the field, I often work intuitively and am always ready to experiment and try new things even if the outcome is uncertain. Daniel, however, is a very deliberate shooter who more often than not decides not to press the shutter because some detail isn’t quite right, even if this means he won’t get any shot at all.

Daniel and I share some degree of skepticism concerning the reservations many people on the web have about constructive criticism and the unspoken peer pressure to only comment positively on other people’s photographs. All too often we have seen people praise average work as „fantastic“ or „masterpiece.” And we can’t stop shaking our head about this. We both prefer honest opinions over uncritical or unjustified praise. For this reason, I have the highest respect for his feedback. We even have an ongoing iMessage chat where we share work in progress with each other before we share it on the web.

Here are the photos

So without further ado, grab your favorite drink and allow yourself to indulge in a small collection of Daniel’s work. And if you like what you see, head over to Daniel’s FlickR or Instagram stream and start following him.

Fire Sunset. © Daniel Böttcher

Blue 2. © Daniel Böttcher

Sunset swing. © Daniel Böttcher

Tranquility. © Daniel Böttcher

Tiny Wings. © Daniel Böttcher

Kleines Wiesenvögelchen. © Daniel Böttcher