Brooke Shaden Photography

http://brookeshaden.com/gallery/

https://www.facebook.com/brookeshadenphotography

http://500px.com/brookeshaden

http://www.flickr.com/people/brookeshaden/

 

 

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?

I use a Canon 5d Mkii and a 50mm f/1.4 lens on a tripod (any tripod I can get my hands on, as I lose my so often!).

 

What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

I am always happy with my camera, and if I had to change anything about my equipment, I would change the way that I work so that I am always evolving and keeping up with my imagination.

 

What is your favourite lens, and why?

I love the 50mm f/1.4 lens. I tend to see life from a 50mm perspective, it just feels right when I shoot. I love shooting primes as well. I was never in the zoom habit and doubt I will ever be. I tend to choose a spot to shoot from and then I stick to it, or move my camera instead of zooming.

 

When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?

Usually all of my equipment! When I travel it is usually because I am teaching a workshop, so I have my camera, lens, tripod, laptop, and the necessary cables!

 

What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

I use Photoshop CS6 these days, and have used/could use anything from Photoshop 7 to GIMP.

 

How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration?

I have been taking pictures for 4 years now. I find inspiration in all things, especially from within. There are certain themes that I have always thought of, from the first short story I wrote when I was 9 to the pictures I take today. I find endless inspiration in those themes. I love anything antique/vintage, anything old or decaying. I am inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite painters and they way they paint light and skin. I love nature, and so I often shoot in nature.

 

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

My first love has been and will always be conceptual photography…but I don’t mean that as specifically as it sounds. What I mean is that I love any type of photography where it is clear that the photographer had intent while shooting, or an idea behind the image. I love something that will make me stop, stare, find details and think.

 

What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

I plan everything very heavily before I begin my shooting process, so by the end of the edit I stop when the picture looks like what I envisioned in my mind. If I don’t have a full concept beforehand, I suppose there is a certain feeling that I get, one that checks all the boxes that I use to determine if I like a picture. I look at color, composition, how tight the compositing is, etc…

 

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why?

I am interested right now in a piece of mine called “Between”, because of the message, the dream-like state of it, and the whimsy that I dreamed up. Sometimes a picture matches my dreams, and this one does. It is how I wish I could exist…between worlds.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookeshaden/8333453293/in/photostream

 

Does your work fit into any one or more distinct genres  (nature, landscape, long-exposure, black-and-white,  infra-red, urban, artistic, macro, vintage, vernacular, social, street)? If other, please specify.

I think my work is conceptual fine art photography, and it fits pretty tightly into that genre 🙂

 

Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

I always check in on social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. I love 500px and Bluecanvas as well!

 

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

Think first, then do. I love the idea of thinking about what I want as a photographer and how my brain works. If I think about what I want to create, I am more likely to be happy with an image in the end.

 

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

Peter Jamus, Maryanne Gobble.