Stefan Söderström

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER:Stefan Söderström


In this photo I like the composition. All the space above the cow really symbolize all the methane that cows produce, which in turn is a huge cause to climate change.


I wanted to include this one because it's one of my earlier photos. I think this photo is all about fun and joy. It makes me smile.

1: How long have you been involved in photography?
As a kid I had a small pocket camera which I mostly used for taking holiday pictures of my family. I bought my first digital at the turn of the millennium. It was a great little camera with 3,2 megapixels. Around 2005-2006 I took my photography to a new level. I got a DSLR camera and started to make photos instead of taking photos. I was hooked.

2: Equipment you use?
I mostly use a Canon 400D with a simple canon 50mm/1,8 and a Sigma 17-70 zoom. I also have a sturdy Manfrotto tripod. I am not the guy that needs to have the best and the most fancy equipment. I think one can take great photos with almost whatever camera if it's used in the right way. I have recently started to experiment with an old medium format camera, Agfa Isola, and I love it. For many years I have been a big fan of polaroid. I really hope that the production of the film soon will continue. New lenses are on my wish-list. Sharp lenses make it all so much easier...still if used right.


3: Mac or PC?
PC.....but I think my next one will be a Mac because they are so stylish ;)



4: What inspires you?
Other photographers. Flickr-ists are truly a great inspiration. Thank you! I often get inspiration from things or places I see. I like philosophy and often find myself conteplating, anything, and that's when ideas usually pop up.


5: Preferred subject matter?
I like to include something living in my photos. I am not very interested in looking at photos of subjects that are static and that I can view in reality with my own eyes. As I said earlier I like to make photos. That also means I like to be in control of things like composition and color. Whenever a living subjet is in front of the lens, that exact picture wont exist at any other given moment.


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

The photo that I really think is perfect. I don't think that day will come, because I can always do it better.....and that gives me the energy to keep going.


7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?
Everyone and no-one. There are as many opinions as there are people. Lastly I really have to confide in myself.

8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop
I am totally self taught. Trial and error!

9: Plans for the future?
I have recently started off as a freelance photographer. I have been lucky and I think I already this summer can make a living from it. This will, of course, only be my day job. It's a way to earn money on something I enjoy doing and it gives me the opportunity to do what I really love doing on my spare time: art photography. At the moment I have my first solo exhibition running. I hope there will be many more in the future.

10: In one word, describe your photography.
Heartily

Amythyst Lake

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: amythyst_lake!


This one was an easy choice. I was visiting my boyfriend’s family in France last spring and the weather was unseasonably cold. On Easter Sunday it snowed. We all went for walk in the hills above town and the kids had their toboggans and skis. The snow was coming down pretty hard all afternoon and my camera got very wet! On the way back, all of a sudden, and in spite of the heavily falling snow, the sun just popped out from behind a cloud and created the most amazing light. My boyfriend and his son were deep in conversation sheltering under a tree waiting for everyone to catch up – and I grabbed this shot.


Finding a second picture was much harder. I finally chose this one because I took it in Boston, where I live, and because it is representative of the sort of thing that I enjoy doing. In the summer, the Charles River fills up with little sailboats from Community Boating and the MIT sailing club. If you’ve seen an image of the Boston skyline you’ve probably seen them, they are very photogenic. As the sun sets on the Cambridge side of the Charles it hits the downtown skyscrapers and bounces back across the river. I waited on a bridge for one of the boats to sail into the light and then I snapped it.

1: How long have you been involved in photography?
On and off for a long time. My first camera was an Olympus OM10 which I bought in the late seventies. I was interested in drawing, and I thought that the camera would help me – but it turned me on to photography instead. I took many, many pictures with that camera, but after a while I put it to one side and got on with other things. Like many people, I got back on board when I bought my first digital camera (a Canon A540). The possibilities of digital were so exciting that I became hooked like never before.

2: Equipment you use?
I have a Nikon D80 with 18-200mm, 70-300mm (new!) and 50mm prime lenses and a Canon G9 for carrying around and for taking on bike rides etc. I also have a good lightweight tripod that I can sling over my shoulder. So much more is possible with a tripod.

3: Mac or PC?
I love my Mac.

4: What inspires you?
The seasons, the weather and any kind of interesting light. I like to go on long walks alone with my camera. Usually I have some sort of objective in mind, but invariably my best shot will be of something else entirely. This is the fun part of photography for me – never knowing just what is out there to be found.

5: Preferred subject matter?
The outdoors, especially beaches, but I shoot wherever I happen to be. Shooting on vacation is fun, and it certainly gives you a fresh eye, but I believe that the best shots are to be had in a place you know well. I take a lot of pictures in my neighborhood. I also like reflections, shadows and silhouettes and semiabstract shots of buildings.

6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.
So many things! Rain. A time exposure of a plane coming in to land at night. I’d like to attach my camera to my bike and get some motion shots. That’s three already. But what I’d really like is to inject a little bit more soul and a little bit more humor into my pictures.

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?
My boyfriend sometimes, but mainly I rely on myself.

8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop
None. I’ve read plenty of books, mostly technical but I’ve learned most from studying other people’s work on Flickr (thank you everyone). I muddle along in Photoshop. I should be much more systematic about learning it – if I ever find time to take a course, it will probably be Photoshop.

9: Plans for the future?
To continue to enjoy myself, to try new things and to learn as much as I can.

10: In one word, describe your photography.
Uneven!

Licht~~~

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER:Licht~~~~
„...dreamscape...“


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1: How long have you been involved in photography?

Can‘t remember exactly, it was around 1954-55. My first camera was the Agfa Box, a simple 120-film roll camera. Then I got the Exakta Varex IIb - a brilliant 35mm SLr.
I was a member of our school photo group, we had our own darkroom. My mother wasn‘t really happy as I tried to build my first darkroom in our bathroom. Think my whole family suffered that time under my ambitious photo addiction.
Later I had the Rolleiflex 6008 (mediumsize) and the Leica M6.


2: Equipment you use?
Nikon D40, D60 and Fuji Finpix S5pro (which is almost the same as Nikon D200/D300) with Tamron 11-18mm, microNikkor 60mm, Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm,
further I preferre the Panasonic Lumix G1 and the Canon Powershot G9 for macro

3: Mac or PC?
PC

4: What inspires you?
Anselm Adams, the Flickr community, a fresh and sunny morning, any beauty of nature.

5: Preferred subject matter?
Infrared landscapes, colors, refractions in drops
.
6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.
Portraits of very old persons.

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?
Flickr community is a brilliant neutral indicator.


8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop
No - i‘m a selfteached amateur.


9: Plans for the future?
Eventually digital Hasselblad, not sure about it.


10: In one word, describe your photography.
Childlike curiosity