Look outside the box

Recently I had the opportunity to answer an interview for a Facebook group in the field of "travel photography". This was great in order to thoroughly think about myself, my work and the tips I have for other interested people. So a part of this interview is the topic of this blog entry. One of the questions was: "Is there a photographer or type of photography that has influenced your work or inspired you?" Well, I look at the work of many, many photographers. First, these were mostly action sports or adventure photographers. But then I discovered more and more street photographers, people shooting in a more minimal or artsy style and I feel that my work really benefits from these styles. I’m therefore trying to explore these styles as well.

Some weeks ago I stayed in London and did a lot of street photography. Of course there would also have been many fancy museums, galleries or restaurants to visit but my focus was on photography... I'm fascinated by street photography because you need a really good sense for the decisive moment, for composition and forms and colors. Actually, it's the same you also need for event photography. With the new law by the European Union about Data-Protection, street photography can be a little bit difficult, so you also have to think about how you could solve this.

Besides the "look outside the box" this experiment was also very motivating for me. It has been the first time since long I went out for a day with only a camera body and a prime lens (approx. 40 mm). In the beginning, I was a little bit sceptical and thought that this would impose quite a restriction but after only a short time I enjoyed the little, lightweight and discrete equipment and realized the possibilities I have like that!

What kind of tips can I give you based on the written above?

• be open for different genres and experiment a lot
• less (equipment) is often more

Are you interested in more photography related tips? Then I can recommend you this book:

• Fordham, D. (2017): If you're bored with your camera read this book. Octopus Publishing Group, London.

Of course, I also encourage you to come back to this blog for more tips and tricks...