Monday, August 16, 2010

Eric Vondy

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Eric Vondy
Dirt Tracings by Eric Vondy
This is my son Seth wandering around San Pedro Riparian Preserve in Southern Arizona. This was shot with my Lensbaby. This is one of my favorite photos. It appears there's a story here but the story is up to the interpretation of the viewer.

Drift by Eric Vondy
This is my older son Griffin. The real photo is him standing in front of a pond looking at some ducks. I blurred him and placed a texture layer on top and added sunset colors. Once again, there appears to be more going on than what is revealed in the photo. One again, its up to the viewer to interpret.

1: How long have you been involved in photography?
Since 2003. I grew up in Arizona but had been away for some years. When I moved back I saw the state in a new way. It didn’t seem like I would be here for very long & I wanted to document it. After while, when it was clear I was going to be here for while I moved to a more artistic approach – I have Flickr to thank for that.

2: Equipment you use?
I have a Nikon D70s and a brand new D90. I’ve got a 55-200mm Nikor lens, a battered 19-35mm Quantaray, a 500mm ProOptic mirror lens, Nikor 50mm and a Lensbaby.

I also have an iPhone 4 which I’m starting to use. I’ve started a series of iPhone portraits using a photo effects app called Lo-Mob that emulates stuff like old slide film and TTV.

I use Photoshop, Photomatix, and Tiffen DFX, as well.

3: Mac or PC?
I was a PC user for years but 2 years ago I moved to Mac. I have not regretted it.


4: What inspires you?
Being in new places. Flickr. The work of other photographers and artists. History. I try to find inspiration everywhere. In January I started a project to document Phoenix – mentally it was to be similar to W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh project but it devolved into me taking photos on my commute to and from work. I took a couple of thousand photos and only a couple of hundred were worth downloading. Of those only a handful were any good. What it taught me was that even though I was shooting on the same route I had taken for the past 5 years there was a lot that I didn’t see until I started looking for it.

5: Preferred subject matter?
Landscapes. The world. Cities. Collapsing buildings. I’m not fond of forests though. I was born in the desert. I understand it. Trees baffle me. You have 1 in a landscape and it makes for an awesome shot. You have a thousand and the shot goes all pear shaped for lack of a subject.

6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.
There’s a lot: Europe, real cities. I’d like to move into more story telling photography; cinematic shots. I’m a big film noir fan. I’d love to do some noirish images.

7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?
No one really. Usually I just need to go shoot something and then I’ll start feeling better.


8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop
98% of what I’ve learned has been through experimenting. The rest is either through tips friends have given me or stuff I’ve found on-line.


9: Plans for the future?
Galleries? More on-line sales?


10: In one word, describe your photography.
Dreamish

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