Mark (Shadowfoxcreative) lives in beautiful New Zealand. He has an eclectic photography style where he tries a little bit of everything. It could either be sharp angels of a building, the small details of the church roof, the New Zealand sunsets or the breathtaking landscape. Either way, every single photo regardless of style, is one more light in the dark - giving richness and warmth in the photographers life.
Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style?
My Name is Mark, I’m from a place called Dunedin in the south island of New Zealand. My style would be to try a bit of everything, the more you try the more you learn. My favorite things to shoot are landscapes, architecture and creative portraits.
In one sentence what has photography done for you in your life?
I have very bad depression and anxiety, photography is my light in the dark.
When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?
I took my first photo when I was 5 on my Dads camera, a self portrait in a mirror. I think what truly gave me the “photobug” was staying with a friend of my parents, who was a photographer and had his own darkroom, he gave me a camera with a roll of film and let me shoot and develop it. Seeing my images appear on paper was magical.
What has been your favorite shoot and why?
Tunnel beach here in Dunedin at sunrise with a low tide, it’s so peaceful, just the sound of the ocean as the sun pops over the horizon… Fantastic!
Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?
Just recently doing a shoot on top of a mountain in nasty wind. My model was wearing an old wedding dress that was more like a parachute and a long veil that was trying its hardest to impersonate a kite. We ended up moving the shoot to the local gardens.
What do you carry in your camera bag?
My Canon 700d, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 40mm f2.8, Tamron 10-24, ND filters, intervalometer, and tripod.
Do you have a favorite location and time of the day to shoot?
Same as my favorite shoot, Tunnel beach Here in Dunedin. There is a tunnel carved in sandstone that takes you down onto a small beach that was once private.
Can you share three tips with your fellow photographers?
1. Join a club. I’m a member of the Dunedin photographic society.
2. Take a photo every day, even if it’s just playing with your camera at home.
3. The internet is a great resource to learn and get inspiration from.
Please share one of your favorite photos with us with a short tutorial.
I took this photo at the local gardens (this is after almost getting blown off the mountain), at 9.30 am. It was a slightly overcast day, so I had an off camera flash shooting through an umbrella for some fill light. I used my Canon 700d Tamron 10-24 @24, tripod, remote trigger, Yongnuo yn560 flash and a bag of flour.
The original idea was for her to be a sort of cloud worshiper but when the location changed to the forest and the season here being spring it became “Chloris” a forest nymph associated with that season. After the shoot I post-processed it by taking all the best “smoke” layers and masked them into my “hero” shot. Darkened the background with a curves layer to make her pop a bit more, colored using various actions I’ve made and then I gave it a slight faded look with an exposure adjustment layer.
Please share some thoughts on your ViewBug experience as a photographer!
Viewbug is by far one of my favorite photo sharing sites, I love that you can join so many wonderful competitions, or just come for the many amazing photos.
See more of Mark’s photos here.
