photographer feature: julia trotti

 
I'm really excited about today's photographer feature.  I have been following Julia Trotti's work for a long time so I was thrilled when she agreed to answer these questions for me.  If you are a photographer also, make sure you look at the Free Curve Friday section on Julia's blog, she has some AMAZING free Photoshop resources.

 
Name

Julia Trotti

Website | Blog | Tumblr | Facebook

Age
21

Location
Sydney, Australia.

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
At a young age I started to learn how to use Photoshop and I was fascinated with creating photo manipulations with stock images from the Internet. One day I wanted to take more control over the images I created, so I started taking photos for myself. That's when my love of photography started growing.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
Tim Walker.

Is photography your career?
Yes, photography is my livelihood and my reason for living.

How long did it take you to turn photography from a hobby into a career?
I started taking photos when I was sixteen years old for fun, and it wasn't about until two years ago where I started to be serious about it. So all up, it probably took about three years for it to transform into something more real.

Do you currently do portrait work (children, babies, weddings, etc) as part of your career or does your income primarily come from personal projects, print sales, and publications?
Fashion photography is my forte. I also shoot weddings and portraits on the side.

Do you have any tips for photographers who are trying to move from hobbyists to full time and earning a livable income?
Don't underestimate the amount of hard work it takes to be a photographer. If you're up for it though, and are passionate about taking photos you can do anything you set your mind to! You just need to go out there and live the things you've been dreaming about.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
I'm aways working on something! There are always clothes to be shot or people to work with, so pretty much every week I am planing a new shoot idea.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
I would travel around the world and document every little thing I see.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
I love photographing the in-between moment during fashion shoots. I love that unaware, nostalgic feeling you get when you capture someone who isn't completely thinking about where every inch of their body is as they normally would in a photograph. For me, that's when fashion photography becomes more real and turns into something I can really be passionate about.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
I used to just take self portraits and photos of my sister and friends to practice. Then I moved on to finding freelance models who were learning just as I was, so we can build on our portfolios together. Now I go through modeling agencies.

Do you listen to music while you shoot?
I don't listen to music while I shoot. Since I mostly shoot on location, I want the whole team to be absorbed in our surroundings

What kind of camera do you use?
My eyes are my camera.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
I stop everything I'm doing and do something completely unrelated to what I'm feeling uninspired by! I'll either go out for a walk, have a coffee with Dan, watch a movie or go to sleep and hope the inspiration comes to me the next day after a little break.

Future photography goals?
For my photography to take me around the world. I want to be shooting every day of my life in amazing locations with talented people, being inspired by simply waking up in a different part of the globe every morning.

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
Pretty much every single day of my life involves photography! So I'll go both ways: If I have a shoot that day, I will spend the morning/nigh before getting my camera batteries charged, making sure memory cards are empty, getting inspired by listening to music and talking about all the ideas I have for the shoot. Then I head over to the shoot, spend my day taking pictures and in the afternoon I will download all the photos and start going through them. If I don't have a shoot that day, I will spend the day replying to emails, checking my social media, retouching images, creating CDs for the shoots I've finished off and planning even more shoots!

What does your work flow consist of?

1. I find an idea that I want to create
2. Find a creative and talented team to work with
3. Scout out a location for the shoot (which involves lots of driving around and going for walks)
4. Plan a time and date to shoot
5. Shoot!
6. When I come home I download all the photos to my computer, then go through and pick my favourites
7. I edit my favourites then make CDs for the whole team involved and post it out to them
8. Blog all my new photos!

Three interesting facts about yourself?

1. I collect sugar packets and keep them in a jar for no particular reason.
2. I drink too much coffee
3. My most fearful thought would be for me to be stuck in the middle of the ocean.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography? Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
I don't think I so much 'promote' by photography, but I just love putting it online for everyone to see! At first it started off with Deviantart, when I was younger I would post my images on that website almost every second day asking for feedback and what I can improve on. Now sharing my photography has moved on to Flickr, my Blogspot, Tumblr and Facebook.

photographer feature: davis ayer

i'm absolutely positively a davis ayer fan girl.  i have been holding out on doing a photographer feature on him for quite some time in hopes that he would answer one of the many messages across many types of social media for an interview.  while i did not ever hear back from him, he did "favorite" one of my photos on flickr [this one] which of course, just about made my month.

anyways... yes, davis ayer, amazing amazing amazing photography.  more of his work around the web:

website | flickr | facebook | bigcartel | twitter | tumblr

and i'm stealing his interview that he did with lomography:

Describe yourself in a couple words.
human, photographer, light chaser, Austinite, basketballer, master J roller

1. Tell us about yourself in three sentences maximum?
What? (haha) Breakfast is my favorite food…

2. Why do you still shoot analogue?
The photography and art that I’ve always been attracted to was analogue, even before I knew anything about photography. I think the idea that digital photography will over take film photography is wrong because they’re different things. I have no problems with chopping up pictures and manipulating digital images, but I have more respect for film.. Film just looks better to me. Film is so much more dynamic. I think that analogue makes you a better photographer. Shooting film forces you to be patient, and really learn what you want in the frame. Also, there’s something interesting about anticipation (waiting for film to be processed).

3. What photographic equipment (cameras, films, and accessories) do you usually have in your bag?
Medium format camera – Mamiya RZ67 ProIID (polaroid back), 35mm – Minolta SRT200, and digital camera – Canon 5D Mark II.

4. Share with us a killer trick of yours that will always result to a great photo.
There are things that I go to but they don’t necessarily guarantee a good photo because a shoot is always a collaboration. Having something out of focus in the foreground is always interesting, it’s more like the human eye. I try to make everything different in each photo. I like doing double exposures of an image inside of another image.

5. Which photographers influence your work?
Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld, Stanley Kubrick, Andreas Gursky, Ryan McGinley. I’m always trying to be original. I’m inspired by the recent past and nostalgia for the era before I was born, which is a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

Photographer Feature: Jackie Luo

Name
Jackie Luo

Flickr | Website

Age
17

Location
Houston

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
Nirrimi Firebrace, fashion magazines, Sally Mann.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
Sally Mann, Tim Walker, Paolo Roversi, Nirrimi Firebrace, Camilla Akrans.

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught?
Self-taught.

Is photography your career?
No.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
Not especially, no!

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
I would buy clothes. Tons and tons of gorgeous clothing. New lenses, definitely, and maybe a video camera to shoot films.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
People. People are so gorgeous and expressive in so many ways.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
Online, among my friends, through modeling agencies. We just talk and try to get to know each other.

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list?
No! But if I did, I'd have M83 on my playlist. Their music is so thought-stimulating.

What kind of camera(s) do you use? What is your "go to" lens? Do you have a preferred brand/type of film?
Canon Rebel XSi and 50mm lens. I recently got a 5D Mark II, so I'm hoping to use that soon! I just use Kodak Gold, usually, nothing special at all, when I shoot film.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
Oh, I wish I knew! I've been uninspired for months now.

Future photography goals?
I just want to create gorgeous images. And magazine and online features are always nice!

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
Wake up, get ready for a shoot (put together outfits, find makeup and accessories, confirm with everyone coming to the shoot, etc.), drive to the shoot location, wait for hair, makeup, and styling, shoot for two to five hours, grab a snack, go home, nap.

Three interesting facts about yourself?

1. I love cats. 
2. I don't feel comfortable in shoes that aren't riding/combat boots or five-inch heels. 
3. I'm obsessive-compulsive about organizing my computer, room, and pretty much everything else.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography? Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
Flickr and Facebook, but I haven't done much promoting at all!

Photographer Feature: Lana MacNaughton

Name
Lanakila (Lana)

Tumblr | Flickr

Age
23

Location
Portland

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
My friend in high school got a D50 for his birthday. We were 16. He would tromp around school with it and I became zealous and wanted in. My parents got me a D50 for my 18th and from that I was hooked. Film is my true passion but digital allowed me to sharpen my eye.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
Sarah Moon, Aneta Bartos, Ellen Rogers

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught?
Self taught, a few seminars here and there.

Is photography your career?
It is developing into one. I couple photography with graphic design which is what I am in school for right now.

How long did it take you to turn photography from a hobby into a career?
It has been a slow process, one that continues to be difficult but worth it. It has been roughly 3 years.

Do you currently do portrait work (children, babies, weddings, etc) as part of your career or does your income primarily come from personal projects, print sales, and publications?
I shoot all of the above what ever will help me pay for film. I hope to be able to support myself by print sales, one day!

Do you have any tips for photographers who are trying to move from hobbyists to full time and earning a livable income?
Shoot as much as you can find people that inspire you and think about their creative process. Go where the light is.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
I am always scouting for models around town to shoot and try to keep my blog fresh with new images. I am always doing freelance which is not very much fun but it brings in the bacon.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
I would buy a BSA 1968 motorcycle, get a large format camera, buy a English dog, an old victorian house in the west hills and travel the world and shoot.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
People and landscapes. I like to create my own world when I shoot, a face and a body is tool to visually communicate what I am feeling. Landscapes help me to create the world that I wish I lived in.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
Facebook has been a huge help with models. I'll post pictures and people contact me or I contact them. I am a fan of allowing the moment to do what it wants. I want whoever I am shooting to feel comfortabe. I lightly instruct, move around a lot, have an idea in my head that I will bring out one way or another.

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list?
Not usually unless in the studio. Baths, Star Slinger, Toro y moi, CFCF, Fever Ray, Starfucker, Com Truise

What kind of camera(s) do you use? What is your "go to" lens?
I started out with the Holga, which I still love. I have moved on to a cx hasselblad body and my go to lens is a 50 mm f4 lens.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
I get nervous because I just want to shoot it but know that I have to get all the pieces to the puzzle before I cant (location, model, light)

Future photography goals?
I think I am going to get into product photography. I live in Portland so product sells since we have Nike, Adidas, Columbia. My dream is to be a high fashion portrait photographer.

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
Yesterday I ran out to Sauvies Island with my mom set up a tripod in a field and took long exposures. Sauvies is one of the most beautiful place I know.

What does your work flow consist of?
Depends on the job, usually downloading images, selecting best, curves, skin correction.

Three interesting facts about yourself?

1. I have a littlefoot dinosaur tattoo on my inner right arm. 
2. I dont drink or do drugs. 
3. I am my worst critic.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography? Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
Word of mouth, blog, my site is in the making. Not enough!

photographer feature: esben bog

Name
Esben Bøg - Jensen

Flickr

Age 25

Location Denmark, Copenhagen

Who or what sparked your interest in photography? A friend of mine was really into the whole technical aspect of photography. Always talking about how sharp he could get a picture with this lens or how much he could zoom with that lens. He spend a ton of money on the best camera and lenses. I kinda wanted to show him that it wasn't about all that stuff. I can be a tech-geek at times, but I believe photography is never limited by the equipment you use. So I started shooting photographs to show him that you can do great work with nothing but the basics.

Who are some of your favorite photographers? There are so many. I don't even know where to start. I've always been a great fan of Aaron Feaver [photographer feature], Tamara Lichtenstein, Greg Williams, Lauri Bartley and Signe Vildstrup. And so many more...

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught? I'm self taught.

Is photography your career? No. It's just for fun right now, but I am doing small assignments now and then. But not enough to be able to call it a career.

Are you currently working on any photography projects? Not really. I'm very spontaneous so something might just come to mind and I'll shoot if I have the time. But I guess that I'm always working on a couple of ideas that I wanna bring to life.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it? I would probably buy a flat, a new Macbook, a Canon 5D Mark II and travel the world some more. Wouldn't know what to do with the rest of the money.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why? People. Everyone has something in them worth taking a picture of. The uniqueness never ends when your shooting different people.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models? I find models amongst my friends. And I rarely do anything else but tell them where to stand. I should be better at that though...

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list? Not unless there are speakers close to where I shoot. I'm highly addicted to music though and is rarely seen without my headphones.

What kind of camera(s) do you use? What is your "go to" lens? Do you have a preferred brand/type of film? My favorite camera is my Hasselblad 500 CM - such a great machine. I also use a Bessa R3A, a Canon Ae-1 and the small Yashica T3 for film. But the one I use the most is probably my old Canon 450D with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens. If that's not on I'm using a Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens. That's actually the only two lenses I have for my Canon.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired? Listen to music, go through blogs or watch a film.

Future photography goals? Do more schedule shoots and series - with a cool model and a great location. Right now my flickr is a mess consisting mostly of stuff from the archives.

What does your work flow consist of? A lot of shooting and a lot of computing - whenever it be editing of scanning negatives.

Three interesting facts about yourself? I'm studying Modern Culture and is currently working as an intern at a cool place called Artrebels. But i don't really think my life is that interesting to anybody else than myself.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography? Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online? I post a photo to flickr put it in a few groups and tweet it. Takes about 2 minutes.

photographer feature: natalie kucken

Name
Natalie Kucken

Website | Blog

Age
17

Location
detroit, michigan, usa

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
i got into photography by completing a project where i created an image every day for a year in 2009, which was an impulse decision and at first just a way to document my life and growing up and changing, but soon progressed to a love for portraiture and i quickly developed a style and a following. later on i realized that i wanted to focus on fashion and storytelling through my work.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
my favorite photographers are clarence h. white, sally mann, crystin moritz, and david hamilton.

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught?
i am completely self taught.

Is photography your career?
no, i plan to make it my career when i graduate from high school.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
i am working on many shoots, mostly fashion-based things where the entire production is by me which is a huge amount of organizing and creating.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
i would never want that much money! i would use it all on plane tickets and ridiculous creations i think.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
my favorite thing to photograph is people, and to create something of them and their surroundings. people tell a story and you can capture a fleeting moment with them and their emotions.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
my models are either friends or agency models. i instruct them differently depending on what i want, which can be very specific or very natural.

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list?
usually no, most of my shoots are too hectic to have music to worry about too. if i do, it's mostly cocorosie, mum, amiina, or the album leaf, quiet and dream-like things.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
sleep and write in my journal about things that have nothing to do with photographs.

Future photography goals?
to be represented and to simply shoot enough to support myself and create beautiful things- whether through paid work or candid moments.

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
my shoots take up the entire day usually- waking up early to set out and prepare each pre-determined look and location and props, meeting the people i work with in the early afternoon, having coffee or tea and talk over the photos to be created, clothes makeup hair props and location, shoot, repeat clothes makeup hair props and location, repeat, repeat, hopefully eat somewhere in between, send the team home in the evening and try to clean up the destruction of creation.

Three interesting facts about yourself?
i'm always terrible at these things. i can't think of anything in particular or that is a concrete fact about myself- most interesting things are not like that.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography?  Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
i use flickr, tumblr, facebook, email things that i like, just the easy things right now.

photographer feature: baohien ngo

Name
baohien ngo

Website | Facebook

Age
17

Location
houston, texas

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
My interest in photography originated from a desire I had to document every face I met and everything that happened to me.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
Tim Barber and Wai Lin Tse.

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught?
I'm mostly self taught. When I was in the 7th grade, I took a publications course and we had a photography unit but I didn't pay attention and nearly failed so I never got anything out of that. I took a class for digital photography in Maine for two weeks when I was fourteen, but at that point I already understood how to use a camera for the most part.

Is photography your career?
I wouldn't really call it a career. I'm still in high school, so being a student takes up the majority of my time. But since I don't have a job, I take commissioned assignments sometimes for money, although that doesn't happen often either.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
I'm in the process of planning two or three different shoots but they aren't a part of a collective project.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
I have a hard time bringing myself to spend even $30, so if I won a $400 million lottery I probably wouldn't know what to do with it and end up giving most of it away.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
Faces. They tell so much. Or nature landscapes. I love nature landscapes, but Houston doesn't provide a lot of interesting nature landscapes for me to capture so I mostly take landscapes when I travel.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
The majority of my models are friends or mutual friends. I don't have to direct most of them too much because they are experienced and/or with agencies so they'll usually know how to pose themselves. Most of the time, I'll just position them, like I'll ask them to stand in a certain spot and they'll just do their own thing.

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list?
Yes, always. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey, Beach House, Girls, and Los Campesinos! while shooting. My friends and I also play music so on my last shoot, we had a ukulele and just sung songs most of the time instead of listening to a playlist.

What kind of cameras do you use?
I use my Canon A-1 most of the time but I sometimes bring my Instax too, depending on whether or not I have film for it because it's expensive.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
Stop taking photos and let my creativity regenerate. I try not to force myself to take photos or push myself too hard because that takes the fun out of it for me.

Future photography goals?
I don't care about shooting huge campaigns or anything like that. I'm happy with doing this for fun, but I like traveling so it'd be nice if I was asked to fly somewhere for an assignment in the future just so that I'd be able to see more of the world.

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
If I'm shooting with a full team, I'll usually go to a studio for hair and makeup and then look over the clothes with whoever is handling wardrobe and put outfits together. When everyone's ready, we'll head off to the location and shoot for a bit but I'm really laid back during my shoots. I don't like working everyone to death so we'll usually take a lunch break or something.

What does your work flow consist of?
I use film so I have to get my photos processed at a store or lab. I can't afford prints all the time so I just have my negatives scanned straight onto a CD and I'll upload the photos onto my computer and go through them, and edit out dirt spots from the scanner but that's pretty much all I do.

Three interesting facts about yourself?

1. My cat is my best friend. 
2. I spend a lot of time reading about serial killers and rare medical conditions. 
3. I can rap Gucci Gucci by Kreayshawn from beginning to end by heart. It's embarrassing.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography? Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
I maintain a flickr, photo blog, and facebook page for my work but they're just kind of there, I don't spend too much time with promotion.