Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Eplefat

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Eplefat


-- from eplefat - (?)
I don't have any favorite photos, it's just some photos I like better than others. This one of Solveig is shot some weeks ago. What I like about it is that you can see some kind of expression behind her hair, but it's hard to figure exactly what. I just hope that someone will discover Solveig and her talent someday. She is awesome!


-- from eplefat - (?)
This is Kamilla, the fur coat belongs to her grandma. I had a desperate try to make it look more feminine and interesting by shaping it like her hips. What I like about this is her expression against the styling. She looks so good with long hair.

1: How long have you been involved in photography?

The day my father bought the Canon EOS 350D, my interest in photography started growing. It took about 9 months before I created my Flickr profile. At that time, my photography was simply all about capturing something special, or something that was pure and beautiful in my opinion. Photography wasn't my biggest interest back then, I was planning to keep up with graphics design or interior design. Things changed when I got my 50mm f/1.8 lens for christmas in 2006, and after two months I started with portraiture. With lots of inspiration from Lara Jade Coton and similar portraiture photographers at my age, my interest in portraiture just grew. Now I've had my 50mm for about a year, and now I'm kinda in need of a new one, mine is well used.

2: Equipment you use?

98% of my photos is taken with the EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT). Recently I bought a EOS 40D, and now I only shoot in RAW, which I never did with the 350D. I mostly use my 50mm f/1.8 and my 85mm f/1.8 portraiture lenses for my photos, mostly because of the DoF they make.

3: Mac or PC?

I've used Macs for about seven years now. I love them, they inspire me. I think that's all there is to say.

4: What inspires you?

What inspires me is the hardcore experimental fashion. I love looking through old editorials from Italian Vogue for inspiration. I also admire the works of some really good photographers at my age, their style and their processing work inspire me a lot.

5: Preferred subject matter?

I would say fashion, but I'm also into capturing different moods of things and people. I love to use my camera as a way of communicating a mood or a very strong expression. I'm very fascinated by the fashion industry as you probably know by now.

6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.

I never plan my personal photoshoots, and that's something I want to do more. I want to make a specific theme/setting and plan every detail from make-up to background details. I think that this will help me to focus more on the pure photography part than the other involved stuff. So, that's something I haven't captured yet, and I would very much like to do it. But, to answer the question, there is a lot of "things" i would love to capture, and by "things" i mean models. Right now Alice Gibb is on the top of my wishlist, but I could keep on for hours just writing a list of models I would have loved to shoot.

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?

I often take some time without personal projects, to focus on the commissions I get, like family/children portraiture and other. Mostly because it is "boring" work, where I don't actually need to be so creative. When I take a little time off, my mind gets inspiration from things I see in daily life and at school and such.

8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop

Fact is, I'm totally self-taught. For about 5 years I've been messing around in photoshop, and you sure do learn something from that. I'm self-taught when it comes to photography too. It would have been nice to have friends with a similar interest in photography that I have.

9: Plans for the future?

I'll probably finish high-school first, and try to develop my art a lot while I have the time and live with my parents. Then I'm going to live in Oslo for some time, supposedly to become an intern with a great photographer. My dream is to study at Brooks Institute of Photography in California for some years, and I'll probably to that if I get the money. After that I want to have my own fashion studio in New York. Ok, so it seems like it's all kinda planned.

10: In one word, describe your photography.

I think it's a quite impossible task to describe my photography in one word. A lot of my photos looks like a frozen moment, with a frozen expression.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Lars Van de Goor

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Lars Van de Goor

1. when the leaves start talking, i will be silent

-- from Lars van de Goor - (?)
What i like about this image is that although i did some editing, i did'nt had to do too much about it.
I had shot some pictures in the forest and was focused on some sunrays. At home i discovered the shape of a face in the leaves.
I love editing, but nothing can beats "Mother Nature" !

Towards the Light

-- from Lars van de Goor - (?)

1: How long have you been involved in photography?

Music was my first love and photography seems to be the latest :-)
Am i a musician taking pictures or a photographer making music.
Anyway I like to create!
I am involved in photography since march 2007

2: Equipment you use?

I have a Panasonic DMC FZ 50, which has everything on board for an amateur who wants to learn to shoot manually and develop his skills.
For post-processing, I use Aperture and i have an old version of Photoshop elements "3.0."
In the future i would like to work with CS3, because i like the post work as much as the shooting itself.

3: Mac or PC?

iMac 24"

4: What inspires you?

I get inspired by almost anything. Like you can see in my stream, there is a great variety.
The moment you look true a camera, you look at your surrounding in an other way. For me it's like discovering the world again,...and again..
And of course all the photographers here on Flickr, we all inspire and get inspired by each other,...so wonderful!


5: Preferred subject matter?

I am a sucker for perspective and I like to shoot objects from a uncommon angle.
When it's bad weather, i search for small objects in my house and try to make them look interesting.
And i love to take pictures of animals.

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6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.

I really want to capture people on the street, "a caught in the act situation" not from a distance, but close by. A frozen moment that shows a story that can be told in many ways!



7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?

When i am in doubt i first create a distance, try to look at it as if it were not my pictures. But that's not so easy.
Put it aside and look at it a couple of days later. And i can always ask my children 16 & 11.
They almost always pick without hesitation the one they think is the best :-)


8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop

Never had any training, i would like to do a training in PS


9: Plans for the future?

I have a fulltime job, therefore less time for photography!
So, my plan would be to create more time and
really dive in Photography and Photoshop and who knows, make a living out of that :-)


10: In one word, describe your photography.

To answer this is as difficult as choosing two of my pictures showing up here.
At this moment i would just say : Dreamlike
I did not found out yet if i have a particular style, i better leave that to others :-)

Kim Denise

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Kim Denise

I've chosen two images that appear side-by-side in my photostream. The first shows my fascination with post-processing and montage-making, driven by a desire to create the most painterly images possible. The second shows my fondness for making painterly images in-camera, without any post-processing beyond levels adjustments. I love playing with shallow depth-of-field and bokeh effects. Perhaps it's my lack of quality lenses, or maybe it's the fact that I paint in a very realistic style and need some relief from it, but I enjoy making soft, mysterious, dreamlike images that suggest rather than tell. Both images show my love for the frozen moment, that brief glimpse from the corner of your eye that evokes a mood or a memory.

-- from Kim Denise - (?)


-- from Kim Denise - (?)

1: How long have you been involved in photography?
I've been involved in photography for about a year and a half. I bought my DSLR so I could take better photos of my paintings, and I got so hooked on photography and Flickr that I didn't paint at all for over a year. Now I'm back at the easel again, and I am a better painter because of the lessons photography has taught me.

2: Equipment you use?
I have a Nikon D50, a wonderful Nikkor 50mm/f 1.8 lens, and an inexpensive Tamron 18-200mm/f 3.5-6.2 macro zoom. It's interesting how the equipment has affected my work. The 50mm/f 1.8, with its sharpness, fine control over DoF, and lush bokeh, encourages me to take the sorts of dreamy images I enjoy. The Tamron, with its regrettable lack of sharpness, does the same. For post-processing, I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. Oh, and I have an old tripod of my dad's that gets a lot of use.

3: Mac or PC?
I use a PC. Not that I wouldn't love to have a Mac someday!

4: What inspires you?
I am inspired by other artists, here on Flickr and elsewhere. I am inspired by music, the radio news, chance comments and barely-seen scenes between people. I am constantly inspired by those brief flashes of time where all the sensory elements converge to create a sense of something larger than the moment. In fact, I live for those brief flashes. The connectedness and immanence and heightened awareness experienced in those fleeting seconds are really a spiritual experience for me.

5: Preferred subject matter?
The everyday. I can't walk by the dish drainer without wanting to take a photo of it, LOL. I am fascinated by the play of light on the various surfaces in my home and I often have to stop myself from getting the camera or I would be late for work! I'm a fool for reflected light and color...and of course, I can't resist photographing my cats. I am drawn to shape, color and mood more than to particular subjects (except the cats), and I especially love images that capture how a moment feels, rather than just how it looks.
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6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.
That thing I talk about in #4. I'll be chasing it always...but the satisfaction is in the pursuit.

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?
Flickr friends, other artist friends...but mostly, I just keep working. The skills acquired making unsuccessful images are just as important as those acquired making our most exciting and successful ones. In fact, we learn more from our mistakes.

8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop
I'm self-taught.

9: Plans for the future?
My focus right now is on painting. My work is selling well and I have another show to prepare for. Since I work full-time outside the home, this doesn't leave me much time for anything but the easel. I don't have a lot of aspirations for selling my photography at this point, although I certainly wouldn't mind it! At some point, I'd like to get the real Photoshop and take classes with an expert. And I definitely want some better lenses!

10: In one word, describe your photography.
Magical? I'd love it if that word could really describe my photography. It's more of a goal than an actuality at this point.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Quizz

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Quizz
1 The big love for the legless dog.

-- from Quizz... - (?)
This photo is my collection’s jewel.
I am really proud to capture this particular moment, as I said – street photography is hard task. To become “invisible” in the middle of some interesting situation, right with your camera and your photographic nosiness is a dream of any photographer.
I love that all three of them are looking somewhere but not me, still I was arm length away – precious.
Those two girls and the puppy always make me smile. So that’s one of my favorites.

My summer of love.

-- from Quizz... - (?)
So this are my Photoshop skills.
First of all – this is collaboration with AustinTX www.flickr.com/photos/austintx/.
It’s collage, I paste myself in there to join Austin’s model and create something virtually while she was staying in USA and I in my cozy bedroom in Poland. I challenged myself and I think I did it well.
I didn’t even had prints on shirt while making my part of collaboration
So I find it lovely and innovative – the idea itself – to make photos and then together with Flickr people play with them some more, exchange, replace even if miles set us apart. It’s great fun and you can learn so much! You should try it and show me results!


1: How long have you been involved in photography?

I have started making photos three years ago, when I have joined photo blog, which happened by big accident by the way.
I was bored during summer time and this way I found a new way of spending time online.
After joining photo blog I got pulled in by this form of art right away. I can’t name anything else that inspire me more than photography – both making it and looking at works of my Flickr friends.

2: Equipment you use?

For past three years I had two cameras – both were little point and shoot ones - Panasonic and Sony Cybershot.
I love them both because they were wonderful tools to start my adventure with photography. Also for the fact, that they were my company everywhere I went. They saw all my trips, all events I went on, all friends I have.
Now for few months I have Canon 20D, and I’m learning how to make photos BIG time. I say I got it just on time because my “little friends” are starting to fall apart, maybe due to the fact I had no mercy for them for past years and now they deserve retirement. At least they had long and interesting “lives”, at least for the cameras.

3: Mac or PC?

PC, but perhaps I will upgrade soon ;)

4: What inspires you?

Other people. Flickr people. With out doubt.
The huge, great bunch of people with ideas that blow minds. Greatest source of talent, innovation, sparkle, witness, sweetness, drive, passion.
Flickr people have it all, my friends who amaze me daily, for them and for that place I want to try harder.
So once again – *YOU* inspire me.

5: Preferred subject matter?

I have no idea how to answer to that question. I like self portraits – I always look different on my photos than from what I know from the reflection in the mirror, and that is a great fun for me to discover many faces of mine. Sometimes I would like to be like Quizz, because she is so very different from real me – so if I may say so – I like the subject of Quizz, character I created.
Also I like to photograph people - street photography – I don’t have many of those because I’m usually shy to take out my camera and “shoot people” – when I will learn more and break up timidness – I’m sure that will become my favorite subject.

6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that
you REALLY want to capture.


There are two things that I want to capture still – first thing is a big, fat lightning, I never managed catch that, mainly because I sit under the cover during storms.
Second is really nice, long and sharp sunbeam, like the ones I see sometimes on Flickr. I made one photo of that nature event so far, but I wish to have more of those (I guess you have to get up early first, Quizzy! ;)

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?

Ummmm… Flickr people again? lol
They are a little jokers sometimes, telling me I’m kind of *OK*, and even that I know those are white lies at times, it gives me a big boost and I can carry on with what I like, with much less doubts.


8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop

I’m Interior Designer, so I had something to do with graphic programs, yet mainly architectural ones and three dimension ones, like 3D MAX.
Photoshop I have learned on my own after joining Flickr, and then some of those “skills” I used at school, not the way around 

9: Plans for the future?

Oh my, where to start. I have just finished Academy of Fine Arts with Master’s Degree in Architectural Design, and the sky is the limit. I want to do something connected with photography, design…
I did many things already – paint, sculpt, made jewels, worked in Culture Centers…
I don’t have certain plan, but I just know that my future job will be my greatest hobby.
Naive? Oh well ;)


10: In one word, describe your photography.

MagicWorldWhereIcanRelaxAndInviteMyFriendsInto.