The Irish Light Front Cover
In 2012, I self-published my first book of landscape photographs. I raised the funds to do this via the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com.
I needed $11,000 to produce 1,000 copies. By its completion, the project had raised $39,383 from 341 backers - 358% of the original goal. Due to the success of this campaign, I increased the size of the book from 112 to 128 pages, printed 3,000 copies and produced an additional luxury leather-bound edition.
The fundraising was so successful that the book was profitable before it ever went to press, and I'm going to share the details of how this was achieved below.
Background
What photographer, amateur or professional, hasn't dreamed of seeing their work published in a coffee-table book? It was certainly a dream of mine, and in 2009 I made some enquiries to publishers in Ireland to see if I could make it happen. I got a couple of responses that were polite rejections, saying that due to the state of the market and...
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I have had a lifelong love of imagery, particularly photography. I have been fascinated by the possibilities of imagemaking from the time I first held a camera as a child.
My enthusiasm for photography had increased steadily over many years, including ten years spent in America becoming expert in the field of computer systems. But my heart remained with photography. I experimented constantly and read voraciously. I was introduced to the works of master photographers such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston; they opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography as art.
Over time, my mastery of the technical aspects of photography matured. I applied myself more closely to the artistic elements of composition, light, colour and tone, the essential components of any great image. It is a study that I find intensely rewarding.
My wife, Ann, and I made the decision to move back to Dublin where I threw myself into the business of making and selling my fine art prints. I have recently moved to rural West Cork, and am busy making new images, as well as conducting my photographic workshops.
As Ireland is my home, it is my primary focus. I have many images from Dublin, Cork, Connemara and elsewhere. I also have many beautiful images from Scotland, Iceland and America. Please contact me if you don’t see an image from your favourite location. My portfolio is continuously growing, and your favourite haunt may well be my next destination.
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