Introducing myself :) - updated 03/19/2010

Hi, I'm Steppeland, female, born 1958


I'm a world citizen, Flemish (Northern, Dutch speaking part of Belgium) and living in the Netherlands (Amsterdam South East, a very multicultural neighbourhood). And since I have been living in Amsterdam for more than 20 years now, I like to call myself a Fl-Amsterdammer

I am a general photographer, with special focus on nature photography, street and photo journalism, and stock photography. And occasionally, I like to experiment a little with digital art as well.

My tools of the trade:
Since the beginning of 2008, I switched from a Pentax MEsuper film camera to a Pentax K10d digital camera.
As lenses I use a Tamron 70-300mm tele-macro1:2 ,
Pentax-M zoom1:2.8-4 40-80mm and Pentax-DA 18-55
And for the post processing and photo-editing I use Adobe Lightroom 2.0, Photoshop 7.0 and occasionally DynamicPhotoHDR

I have always been fascinated by beauty in nature and people, and by the possibility to capture that in photography and art. I enjoy looking at the work of others, and supporting their art, as much as photographing myself.
Since I got my first camera (a codac instamatic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instamat… ), when I was 12 - looong time ago now -  I have been photographing occasionally, as a hobby, but actually never had the time and/ or resources to really commit myself to it.
When I was in my early twenties, I bought a Pentax ME super, and this camera, with my single 40-80 zoom-macro lens (Pentax-M zoom1:2.8-4 40-80mm ) has been my companion for more then 20 years.

During a long period of illness and recovery, as from 2007 onwards, I got more time and possibilities to pick up this old hobby. In February 2008, I became an active member of deviantART, and this has been a great incentive to further develop my skills, and discover new possibilities. Especially the friendship with a few great artists and photographers here at deviantART has been (and still is!) very enriching and inspiring to me.
I am very grateful to each one of them!

I switched to digital photography in April 2008 only, when I bought my Pentax K10d camera. Since then, photography has been one great adventure, and I engaged in one big learning curve. A close observer will be able to trace the result of that throughout my gallery.  By now, photography has become much more than just a hobby, but an essential part of my life.

Feel free to browse and look around in my gallery, and never hesitate to let me know what you think about my work. I always appreciate constructive comments and feedback, and love sharing experiences with other photographers and artists – it's the best way to learn!

Hope to see you around!

Steppeland