Sep
11
2013Tony Cole Photography
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorktone/
What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?
The majority of my photographs are taken with a Panasonic Lumix G3 though I do also carry a compact Lumix TZ6 which is pocketable and goes everywhere with me. I don’t own any other camera kit.
What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?
The G3 is great, small, light, discreet and the flip-out screen means that I can shoot quickly at the low angles I prefer . Overall though, I don’t really consider the camera equipment particularly important.
What is your favourite lens, and why?
My favourite lens is my only lens! The kit 14-42 supplied with the G3. Again, for me, the equipment is secondary to making the photograph.
When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?
Sticking plasters or Band-aids! I walk miles and miles to get street-shots and the avoidance of blisters is very important!
What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?
There are enough free editing tools online to suit my needs. I tend only to crop and straighten with a bit of ‘burn’ every now and then. Basic stuff. Picmonkey is great ( http://www.picmonkey.com/ ). As you can probably gather I’m not particularly concerned with the technical side of photography.
How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration? How do you take your pictures?
I only began to make photographs of intentional and chosen subjects about 18 months ago. People fascinate me. Whenever I can I grab my camera and start walking the streets looking for those people just on the edges of crowds or standing aside from everyone else, the people who don’t quite fit the mould of the society the majority of us comfortably and unconsciously inhabit. In general I’m inspired by books, song-lyrics and poetry. The scenes I see and try to capture are all filtered through the poems of Philip Larkin or the books of George Orwell or Primo Levi or the lyrics of Morrissey or a hundred other influences that shape everyone’s outlook on life.
Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?
Street-photography. I don’t think there are more interesting subjects than human beings simply going about their lives – however mundane or ordinary, the variety is infinite and ever-changing.
What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?
I don’t have a goal.
Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? Please provide a link to the picture.
This is the photograph I think best sums up what interests me and motivates me http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorktone/8557036377/ “the value of culture” – taken in Euston station, London. Photographing homeless people is important to me – though many viewers express understandable reservations about it – and it’s a source of endless inconclusive ethical debate among photographers. I think it’s important that there is always a broader context to the photograph, recording or reflecting in some small way the society we share and our collective values and culture. Why are some people pushed right to the edges of our communities? Why does a man with no soles in his shoes still read a novel? Lots of questions triggered by the image. No answers unfortunately though.
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 consider the majority of my photographs are street, though that in itself can cover a multitude of variations and types. I’d certainly be happy if someone said “Tony Cole is a street-photographer” – maybe I do have a goal after all?
Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?
http://www.americansuburbx.com/ and http://www.magnumphotos.com/
What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?
Photographs don’t have to be spectacular or technically perfect to be interesting – “Nothing, like something, happens anywhere” as Philip Larkin memorably noted.
And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?
I find this guy’s street portraits very interesting – http://www.flickr.com/photos/poppellus
Aug
01
2013Rui Palha Photography
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruipalha/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Photography-by-Rui-Palha/159632290717501?fref=ts
What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?
Nikon D800 with a Nikkor 20mm f2.8 and a Nikkor 35mm f2.
Sony RX1.
Fujifilm X-PRO1 with a Fujifilm XF 18 mm f/2 R X-Mount.
Fujifilm X-100.
Leica DLUX 5.
1 spare battery for Nikon.
10 spare batteries for RX-1.
4 spare batteries for Fuji X-PRO1.
4 spare batteries for Fuji X-100.
2 spare batteries for Leica.
1 spare SD card Extreme 32 gb.
2 spare SD card Extreme Pro 32 gb.
2 spare CF card Extreme Pro 16gb.
Lens cleaning paper.
I never use tripod nor flash.
What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?
I don’t like the size and height of the Nikon D800, or any other DSLR and I don’t like the slow auto-focus of the fuji cameras.
What is your favourite lens, and why?
35mm, just because…
When you travel, what is in your essential kit bag?
Sony RX-1 and Fujifilm X-PRO1 with a Fujifilm XF 18 mm f/2 R X-Mount, 4 spare batteries for Fuji X-PRO1, 10 spare batteries for RX-1, 1 spare SD card Extreme Pro 32 gb, Lens cleaning paper.
What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?
PaintShopPro 8.
How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration?
Since I was 13 years old. I find my inspiration in the streets in the middle of real people.
Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?
Street Photography, because It’s always different … people is always changing…
What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?
I am always looking for “THE” moment I never captured and probably I will not capture.
Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? (Please provide a link)
I don’t have any favourite.
Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?
1X, Flickr, Fineart, etc.
What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?
Know better the world and myself.
And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?
Rui Pires.