I am an avid amateur photographer.  So, not surprisingly, I appreciate great photography when I see it.  I came across Patrick Smith’s work in a photography magazine, and proceeded to check out his online gallery.  It turns out he’s one of the most popular photographers on Flickr, and it’s not hard to see why.

Smith creates truly stunning (and I don’t use that word liberally) seascapes.  He shoots other landscapes and buildings as well, but it’s his seascapes that truly stand out.  What’s really amazing is that, so far as I can tell, he’s not a full-time professional photographer, but rather a database programmer who shoots pictures as an increasingly remnunerative side business.

He shoots with a Canon 5D Mk II usually with a 17-40L lens, and one or more graduated Neutral Density filters (that’s for you photo geeks out there).

You can view his work at his site [1] here and I strongly suggest you do.  I think you’ll also find his work beautiful.  I particularly like his photograph of Isla Mujeres at sunset.  I now use it as my desktop wallpaper.  I haven’t inserted any of his images here because I’m not sure that he permits it.