About Me
My name is Martin Anderson, I am an amateur photographer from Sydney Australia. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by the diversity, functionality and beauty found with in nature. Unfortunately, not everything in life is as functional as the nature world. My whole life I have suffered from mental illness, in the form of depression and anxiety disorders. When things become too much for me, I suffer from nervous breakdowns, my anxiety level increases making it impossible to do simple things like shopping and socializing with people, worse yet my self-confidence is destroyed. Recovering is a slow and exhausting process, due to the anguish and turmoil I experience during a breakdown. With time, I realized my life had become a vicious cycle of breaking down and then rebuilding, and it had taken it's toll on me, I was not sure how much more I could take. While talking to my psychologist about these issues, it was suggested I take up a hobby, the problem was my confidence was so low I doubted I would be good at any hobby.
A few months passed and I still didn't have a hobby, I had interests but still lacked the confidence to try new things. On Christmas day 2012 my mother in law Sylvia gave me the best gift ever, a Nikon D5000 camera. Cameras have always been a part of my life to capture family moments and memories, but the cameras I owned were point and shoot cameras, so I never tried to be creative with them. When I started playing with the D5000 I quickly realized that having control over the camera allowed me to use it in ways I could never have imagined. I started out taking nature shots, mostly of birds, I enjoyed the adventure of finding them and the variety of species was interesting too.
Finally I had found a hobby that I enjoyed, and it made a massive improvement in my life. Photography is by no means a cure for my mental illness, my depression and anxiety will always be there and I will require medication to help me cope. What I have gained is a completely different outlook on life, now when I look out the window in the morning I see opportunities, not pitfalls. When life becomes too stressful and starts to bring me down, I can always see things differently through my view finder.
While out exploring nature reserves looking for birds, I started to notice many of the smaller creatures nature has to offer, this triggered my curious nature, so I looked into cheap ways to get into macro photography. After a $20 investment in some extension tubes, I started taking macro shots of all the little critters I encountered on my adventures. I discovered through my macro photography, that these small often unnoticed creatures are amazingly built and often incredibly beautiful. The more creatures I found the more intrigued I became by nature and it's diversity, I was even more amazed by the intelligence displayed by a lot of these tiny critters.
The main focus of my photography, is to show the amazing diversity and beauty of the creatures, that I find in my local area. I prefer to shoot on site in a natural environment, to show these beautiful creatures behaving naturally. However, sometimes I have to temporarily move camera shy subjects, to an area that is easier and safer to photograph them. I like to observe my subject before photographing them, as it allows me to get a feel for the creatures personality, I try to portray this in my photos, to make the subject more like-able. My favorite subjects to photograph are Spiders, Jumping Spiders in particular, they are very small, cute, incredibly curious and fun to photograph as they are intrigued by the camera.
I hope you enjoy the photographs on this site, as much as I have enjoyed the adventure of finding and photographing these amazing creatures, big and small. I will be updating this site regularly so don't forget to bookmark and come back soon for more amazing photos. If you have enjoyed my work and would like to purchase one of my images please visit my store, the best way to show support is to purchase one of my prints or products as you get to keep a beautiful piece for your home or business. If you can't afford to purchase an item and would still like to help out you can make a donation via the donate button below or on the home page, a percentage of all donations goes to wildlife protection organisations and to the maintenance of nature reserves. Otherwise, a page share or like helps out a lot, if you can't make a financial contribution. If you do make a donation please contact me so I can thank you personally, all your support is greatly appreciated.
Mental illness is a serous issue that effects many. If you know anyone that seems depressed or someone who has dropped of the social radar, be a good friend and give them a call to see if they are o.k.. Sometimes just a call can make a big difference in someones life. Please check out this site called beyondblue if you are depressed, or know of someone suffering depression, it is a great resource with plenty of useful information to help people get their life back in control.
A few months passed and I still didn't have a hobby, I had interests but still lacked the confidence to try new things. On Christmas day 2012 my mother in law Sylvia gave me the best gift ever, a Nikon D5000 camera. Cameras have always been a part of my life to capture family moments and memories, but the cameras I owned were point and shoot cameras, so I never tried to be creative with them. When I started playing with the D5000 I quickly realized that having control over the camera allowed me to use it in ways I could never have imagined. I started out taking nature shots, mostly of birds, I enjoyed the adventure of finding them and the variety of species was interesting too.
Finally I had found a hobby that I enjoyed, and it made a massive improvement in my life. Photography is by no means a cure for my mental illness, my depression and anxiety will always be there and I will require medication to help me cope. What I have gained is a completely different outlook on life, now when I look out the window in the morning I see opportunities, not pitfalls. When life becomes too stressful and starts to bring me down, I can always see things differently through my view finder.
While out exploring nature reserves looking for birds, I started to notice many of the smaller creatures nature has to offer, this triggered my curious nature, so I looked into cheap ways to get into macro photography. After a $20 investment in some extension tubes, I started taking macro shots of all the little critters I encountered on my adventures. I discovered through my macro photography, that these small often unnoticed creatures are amazingly built and often incredibly beautiful. The more creatures I found the more intrigued I became by nature and it's diversity, I was even more amazed by the intelligence displayed by a lot of these tiny critters.
The main focus of my photography, is to show the amazing diversity and beauty of the creatures, that I find in my local area. I prefer to shoot on site in a natural environment, to show these beautiful creatures behaving naturally. However, sometimes I have to temporarily move camera shy subjects, to an area that is easier and safer to photograph them. I like to observe my subject before photographing them, as it allows me to get a feel for the creatures personality, I try to portray this in my photos, to make the subject more like-able. My favorite subjects to photograph are Spiders, Jumping Spiders in particular, they are very small, cute, incredibly curious and fun to photograph as they are intrigued by the camera.
I hope you enjoy the photographs on this site, as much as I have enjoyed the adventure of finding and photographing these amazing creatures, big and small. I will be updating this site regularly so don't forget to bookmark and come back soon for more amazing photos. If you have enjoyed my work and would like to purchase one of my images please visit my store, the best way to show support is to purchase one of my prints or products as you get to keep a beautiful piece for your home or business. If you can't afford to purchase an item and would still like to help out you can make a donation via the donate button below or on the home page, a percentage of all donations goes to wildlife protection organisations and to the maintenance of nature reserves. Otherwise, a page share or like helps out a lot, if you can't make a financial contribution. If you do make a donation please contact me so I can thank you personally, all your support is greatly appreciated.
Mental illness is a serous issue that effects many. If you know anyone that seems depressed or someone who has dropped of the social radar, be a good friend and give them a call to see if they are o.k.. Sometimes just a call can make a big difference in someones life. Please check out this site called beyondblue if you are depressed, or know of someone suffering depression, it is a great resource with plenty of useful information to help people get their life back in control.
30% of money raised by donating goes to organisations involved in maintaining and protecting the nature reserves I frequent to bring you these photos. Money will also go to organisations involved in the protection of native species such as Birdlife Australia. The remaining money will be used to upgrade equipment and to grow awareness of Martin Anderson's Nature Photography websites. Do not donate if you can't afford it, I do not want to take food off tables, but if you can afford a small donation it will go to good use. All your support is greatly appreciated.
All rights reserved. Copyright © Martin Anderson. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. 2014