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Gaute Lorentsen
@gautelorentsen
Best of the week 21 at #nomadict 2020
It’s difficult to find the roots of a passion, I think it’s often something that is built up over a period of time. I used to go skiing alot when I was younger, this is where my interest for film started. I remember buying the GoPro HD Hero back in 2011, where I made my first ski and trampoline edits with. I was 14 back then and my big dream was to make ski movies, like Field Productions and Level 1. My passion for photography didn’t come until later – I started to learn Photoshop way before I started taking photos. I must have been around 15 when I first started dabbling in Photoshop making compositions and VFX like pictures. I used to watch every single video Phlearn put out on YouTube, and try the techniques out on my own compositions. I got pretty good at Photoshop, but the interest in creating compositions slowly faded away. I made a few short films with my friends, and had a lot of fun with that.
"As I was so enthusiastic about making films, I decided to study film & video. However, going to film school doesn’t mean that you will graduate becoming the next Christopher Nolan."
I learned during my first year at university that a lot of what we are learning is something YouTube can teach you in a better way and much easier. Don’t get me wrong, there are probably some good film schools out there, but the one I went to wasn’t one of them and I could have learned all of it on the internet and being hands on in the industry. I know this sounds corny, but the best thing that came from film school was the relationships I made and the friends I got. I don’t think having a degree in filmmaking have impacted my career in visual content creation. But, I have gotten jobs from friends I made from university, and have worked together with many of the people I studied with. It is a great way to network, and a great way to get your hands on really good equipment.
"But I think the best way to learn is always by doing. Go out, get dirty, make mistakes, and work towards your goals."
I have always had a dream of living in Los Angeles for a period of time, and started to work towards getting an exchange year the first week of my first year at university. So, during the second year in university two of my friends and I went to Los Angeles. Being there I began photographing more. I didn’t do very much with my pictures, just put them on a HDD and that was all. I always thought that photography was easy to do; you just zoom in and press the shutter, do a long exposure if there is water involved or cars late at night, but this idea changed after a trip to beautiful Oahu, Hawaii.
"After finishing our exams right before the summer, a friend and I jumped on a plane - stoked about spending the next two weeks in Hawaii."
We had the most amazing time there, went on hikes, surfed, swam with dolphins and turtles and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. After two weeks I went home with a lot of good memories and my HDD full of beautiful photos, I thought… The good memories I kept, but most of the photos turned out to be horrible. This was the moment I learnt that photography is difficult and that it isn’t about zooming all the way in and pressing the shutter. This was the moment I realized this is something I wanted to learn. So, I dug deep into my bank account and bought myself the sony a7iii, the mavic 2 zoom, and a ticket to Iceland ready to become a photographer. Over the next years my passion for photography grew, and today it is my job too. I still love film, but photography might have stolen a bigger piece of my heart.
"The winning shot was taken in Ryten, during a three week long stay in Lofoten."
It was the first day with blue skies and the whole group I was travelling with decided to do a hike together. We started the hike in the evening so we could see the sunset from the top. The whole hike we had this beautiful glow from the sun setting on the mountains behind us. On the way to the top I found this spot where I took some pictures of Kvalvika beach with beautiful light from the sunset. After reaching the top and seeing the sun set into the Atlantic Ocean we started our hike back. That’s when I saw the clouds turning pink. So I did what every photographer would have done: I ran down the mountain to get to the spot I found on my way up. I managed to snap the photos before the light was gone, and got the winning shot.
WINNING PHOTOGRAPH
BEST OF THE WEEK 21
This photo is super wide and with a lot of foreground, and there’s actually a story behind that. The day I arrived in Lofoten I found out that there was something wrong with the sensor on my camera – on the left side of the picture there was a big shadow ruining a lot of my shots. So I had to get creative; I shot vertically and used a lot of foreground to make it less noticable. I’m super happy with how this shot turned out, it reminds me of this hike in this beautiful landscape with perfect light and good people. This shot is definitely going up on my wall soon.
I haven’t really been exploring Norway as much as I want to. I see all these beautiful pictures on Instagram from around Norway and of course I want to go there, but there is something about exploring another country that has always been more appealing to me. That changed this year as I couldn’t really leave the country due to the COVID-19. I’m not going to lie, I’m super excited about finally being able to see more of my own country. I had my first trip to Lofoten and I’m questioning myself why I hadn’t gone there before. It is more beautiful than the pictures! I’m also leaving for a road trip to the west coast of Norway soon. Of course living in such a popular country for photographers means a lot of spots are saturated. I love seeing these spots even though they are heavily documented. When visiting one of the popular photo spots I always try to think “what can I do different from everybody else?”. I snap the “popular” photograph just so I have it, and start to get creative.
"I think it’s cool to see how many amazing pictures are taken in my home country, and feel kinda proud of living here."
I have always loved travelling. I remember that my goal when I was young was to visit every continent before turning 18, including Antarctica, but I quickly realized that probably was not realistic. I feel super lucky having travelled and seen many parts of the world at such a young age. I had been to many countries in Europe, Egypt, South-Africa, Singapore and Australia even before leaving primary school. Though I think the most impactful trip I have been is Hawaii. And Iceland. One of the nights in Iceland might be my favourite memory from any trip I have been on. We had rented a 4×4 car, but since it wasn’t “winter” in the city we couldn’t get snow tires on the rental. Most of the time the roads were dry and there was no ice. We were in the Westfjords when we had trouble finding a camping place to set up our tent. Coming from Norway I am used to being allowed to camp almost everywhere, as long as it isn’t in someone’s backyard, but in Iceland you aren’t allowed to do that. Of course we are law abiding citizens so we found a camping place where we could set up our tent.
"This evening it wasn’t that easy. We had a place in mind which we found on Google, but when arriving there we quickly realized it was closed."
We considered if we should stay there anyways or drive over the mountain to the Dynjandi Waterfall. We decided to drive. It was pitch dark, the road was icy and steep. After what felt like forever we arrived at the bottom of the valley by the foot of Dynjandi. We noticed signs saying no camping, but at the time it felt like we had no choice. We had no idea where the nearest open camping spot was and driving back over the mountain was a no go, so we set up the tent by the parking lot of Dynjandi.
Right after we were done setting up the tent we got rewarded with the most powerful northern lights I have ever seen. I come from a city in Norway called Trondheim where we can see the lights during winter, so I had seen it many times, but not anything like this. We didn’t have any light pollution so the sight was super clear. The light lit up the whole valley, the fjord and the waterfall like it was daylight. Green, pink and purple colors were flaring through the sky. Of course me and my friends were super hyped and enthusiastic. I tried to hurry up finding my camera and snapping focus, but I was still pretty new taking pictures and hadn’t shot the northern lights that much.
"So I managed to over expose most of my pictures, but I got a few photographs that I love and one of my best memories."
When I started to do photography more seriously I copied a lot of people, which I think we all can agree to have done at a certain stage. I didn’t really find my own style and I used the editing style of other “successful” photographers. I also tried to have a rule of posting every other day even though I didn’t really like the picture, just because I wanted to grow on Instagram. I quickly got tired of that and realized I wanted to do what I like. I started experimenting and editing in the way that I wanted my pictures to look, and became more picky with what I post. It’s way more refreshing to not overthink my posting schedule and just post what I want when I want.
"Now, editing is a huge part of photography for me, and I think this is where my style really comes through."
I always think about what I want to achieve with the picture before starting the edit, the lighting, colors, elements to remove, add or replace, etc. I know a lot of people like the images to be pure and just slightly edited. I understand why, but that isn’t really my style. I don’t care if an image is heavily edited as long as it has a purpose and as long as people don’t lie about something being a composition instead of a single photograph. I usually edit my pictures quite heavily to get the results I want, depending on the photo. I’m a fan of moody, dark, contrasty pictures, which is also what I try to achieve with my edits. For some pictures I can redo the whole lighting, change the sky and add stuff to fill in the frame, while for some pictures I just need to get the colors and the tones where I want them. I think it’s kind of reassuring being able to fix a “bad” photo with editing.
"If I look at a picture and like the frame and the motive but the colors and lighting isn’t where I want it to be, I know that I’m most likely able to save the photograph."
"For me, I think what inspires me the most is the feedback I get from the pictures I take. Getting positive feedback on something I have created boosts me to create more."
A big inspiration for me has been a mix of photographers (Kpunka, Eventyr, VisualsOfJulius etc.), directors/filmmakers (Taika Waititi, Quentin Tarantino, Andreas Hem, JR Alli etc.) and other people that are successful in their fields. People that are doing something different and making it work is something I really admire.
Getting work in the industry may be very difficult, but I have learned that you’ll never know when you get a job or from whom. I remember when I first started out working with photography, I met this woman at a bar. We talked and it turned out she was the boss at a furniture company. I told her that I did photography and we exchanged numbers. The next day I texted her, and we set up a meeting. I took some test shots from them, which turned out good, and from there got my first paid photography gig. And once I got a job for a movie from a post on facebook where someone asked for help. With that gig I met the CEO of a film-company that works with a lot of big international clients bringing them to Norway and using unique Norwegian locations.
"After working with him for a week I told him he could call me anytime if he needed help. This led to me getting some amazing gigs on some big projects."
What I’m trying to say is that you never know who can help you develop yourself and reach your goal. Talk to everyone with an open mind, and don’t be afraid to say what it is you are doing. You never know when you will get your dream gig, or from whom.
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