Community Spotlight: Garysanchez "Think outside the box. See where your imagination takes you, you will be surprised"

We are doing another feature of a hand picked Viewbug member, say hello to community member and creative photographer Garysanchez. Get lost in his stunning portraits, calming landscapes and engaging macros. Please give him a warm welcome and enjoy!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style?

I was born and raised in Ireland, but have lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for the last four years. My day job is as a heavy machine operator and photography is my go to when I want to unwind. My style is a mixed bag to be honest. I never really stick to one type of photography as it is more about how I'm feeling at any particular moment, whatever comes into my head. With high speed photography I can spend hours splashing, bursting, breaking and dropping whatever I think will come out well on camera. When outdoors, I try to capture the immediate beauty that I see around me, whether it be in infrared or a really long exposure to make the scene more dramatic.

2. In one sentence what has photography done for you in your life?

Photography allowed me to meet my future wife. We are both avid photographers.

3. When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?

I started taking photos not long after moving to Toronto. I had used my camera somewhat when I lived in Australia, but it was very basic stuff. Toronto is full of art. Art is everywhere, from the graffiti-filled alleyways, to artists painting and drawing in public. Once exploring the city, I felt the immediate urge to try new things. From there, it pretty much evolved from an interest to an obsession.

4. What has been your favorite shoot and why?

I did a high speed photograph where I filled a champagne glass with some food colored milk and shot it with a pellet gun. The shot itself wasn't too difficult to execute. What I liked was being in a dark room and experiencing the exact instant when the glass exploded and the flash captured it.  I was able to watch this split second event in real time and then see it seconds later in the viewfinder. The anticipation for this type of shot is like nothing else, it's different from shooting regular photographs.

5. Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?

Water drop photography is the most difficult and time consuming project I have taken on. To try and configure the drops to the proper setting and to get the water consistency right can be very frustrating. One particular day I must have taken over 300 photos and captured nothing. With some true determination I went back the next day and got the results I wanted. Most recently though it has been dirty sensors. We have been travelling for nearly four months and dust speckles have become a hinderance. Not enough time to get the camera cleaned and I can't seem to rid of them myself.

6. What do you carry in your camera bag?

I use a Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 24-70mm lens for a lot of my shoots. I also have an old Canon EOS 400D with a Canon ef-s 60mm and Sigma 18-200mm f3.5 which I use for my long exposure shots as I own all the filters. I also have a dedicated infrared camera which shoots only in IR. When I shoot at home I use some flashes for the high speed shots.

7. Do you have a favorite location and time of the day to shoot?

Anywhere and everywhere. I am at the tail end of my Southeast Asia adventure with my fiance. It has been truly a life changing experience. The culture,smells,sights and people we have had the pleasure of crossing paths with on a daily basis makes the whole world of photography more enticing than ever. It's going to be tough to go home, although I will look at things differently now.

8. Can you share three tips with your fellow photographers?