I’ve always been a creative person, being a musician for twenty years, playing a range of instruments, including guitar, drums, bass and piano. Although, over the course of the last three years I’ve really begun to travel and I found the best way to be creative and to travel was to take up photography and filmmaking. Music is a huge part of this creative process.
They all complement each other nicely because they’re all in the same realm, I guess. Music might be more of a stranger in there, but I feel like sound is so important in communicating a mood. When I want to edit a specific style, I listen to a certain type of music to get me into that frame of mind. For example, my more moodier shots have me listening to music in the minor key. Also when editing video, music choice is imperative, and it doesn’t hurt to have a good understanding of music production software to get the most out of video edits either.
The photographers and filmmakers close to me are so talented and I feel like just by seeing them improving and producing such high quality content, it pushes me to do the same and create inspiring pieces of work as well. My next biggest inspiration would be film and documentaries, where grand scale landscapes and the natural world are on showcase. I believe I get inspiration from many different sources, and as I develop my photography skills, I learn how to incorporate it into my work better.
Patience is key in this profession! When starting out, you need to work as hard as possible, shooting everyday and learning the ins and outs of your camera. Once you’re confident in the fact that you can create quality content, it’s then time to reach out to brands, companies and organisations. If I could give some advice, I’d say don’t sell yourself short, but be prepared to work for less on your first couple of projects. After that, you can begin to increase your price as your ability increases as well.
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It’s hard sometimes to tell whether your work is of quality or not, but I am sure you can see your own improvement if you’re criticizing it, being honest to yourself, and reflect upon the feedback you get from peer photographers. For me it also comes down to whether or not I like it in the first place.
If other people like it after that, that’s just a bonus, like with the shot I won the contest with. The photograph was taken just after sunrise at Lago Di Braies in Italy. There was no wind at all, creating a perfect reflection on the lake. I set up my tripod and got the shot! I was on the road for about nine months out of last year, and the calmness of that lake is something I’ll never forget! With the edit I wanted to really show how perfectly still the environment was at that point in time. It was dead silent, nothing around me was moving and it was like time had been frozen. It was cold that morning too, so I decided to communicate that through the blue tones in the image! In general, I enjoy vibrant colours, with a moody touch, so you’ll find nearly all of my creative shots fall under that category.
I believe that travelling and getting to know different landscapes in a variety of circumstances really helps when editing photos, and to get a better view of the world. There’s so much more to life than sticking in the place you grew up in and not exploring what’s more. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to go to the other side of the world to experience the beauty of this planet, you just need to go outside, and maybe drive for an hour or two until you find something amazing. There are billions of people out there in every corner of the globe, and each one of those people has a different outlook on life. Experiencing a new culture is one of the most profound and fulfilling things a person can have, and you get that by travelling.
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