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Eric
@ericreinheart
Best of the week 5
Skateboarding was the reason I bought a camera in the first place; this was 15 years ago. It was a crappy compact camera with a 512MB SD card, enough to record the skateboarding days with my friends.
Eventually, in 2012 I decided to purchase a proper DSLR camera. Photography soon became a fun alternative to my college studies and a fantastic excuse to skip classes! Back then I was shooting street photography mainly, but I spent a lot of time as well capturing my sneakers and sharing these photos on Instagram…I was very passionate about my sneaker collection! However, I discovered my real passion for photography a bit later.
In 2014 I started working full-time in an advertising agency as a software developer. Simultaneously I began a part-time photography gig for a local sneaker store and I also enrolled into the art school of my city.
At this point I really acquired profound knowledge about photography and gained expertise in the craftsmanship. To be honest, I was very lucky because my boss was an outstanding photographer. More than a boss, he was like a mentor to me. In the three years I worked with him, he introduced me to some “secrets” and nifty hacks that most of us would never learn reading a book, attending school or watching online tutorials.
"Looking back, I believe that the process of learning and understanding photography, as well as the challenge to get that perfect picture were major factors to become passionate about this art."
In addition, the growing technological advances and the new possibilities with aerial photography for instance also contributed in this regard. All these things, together, inspire me today to go outdoors and shoot.
Yet, it is traveling what really brings balance to my life. Working in advertising is super stressful and can wreck you if you don’t have some sort of balance. For me that was traveling and my first road trip around Cali in 2015 was a tipping point, an experience that has determined all the trips I have done so far.
A picture shared by a clothing brand I followed led me to a super remote spot in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Never before and nowhere else I have experienced a place this quiet and tranquil. It felt like I was deaf for a moment! Plus, I enjoyed the awe-inspiring, seemingly endless view over the ragged ridge line bending out in front of me. A moment of absolute peace and beauty. This was when I decided to visit more remote places hoping to experience and capture pure wildness to inspire and encourage others. Especially when you live in a world metropolis like Berlin, that is always busy and noisy. For me it is critical to seek a retreat to regenerate and refocus every once in a while.
