On today's community spotlight we are featuring ViewBug community member TomCornish. His conceptual portraits and landscapes are very fun to look at. TomCornish was kind to answer a few questions and even share with all of us some fun tips.
I love photography because:
It's a way for me to take a strong thought or emotion, put it into a box and then turn it into a compelling image that I want others to appreciate and experience too. I invested in my first DSLR about a year ago and I really haven't looked back. I love taking both planned photographs and the spontaneous ones of subjects that would otherwise go unnoticed.
My camera lets me:
It lets me notice moments and fine details in the here and now. I think it's so easy to take the moments each day for granted, but when you're looking through the lens you really start to see the things that other people of are missing. The camera is a pretty special tool as it can capture unusual moments that the eye would not ordinarily see. I used this to my advantage when I took a series of photos in Berlin and Paris with a cheap infrared filter attached to my camera. The effect was pretty amazing.
I find inspiration when:
I'm most inspired when I'm feeling a strong emotion about something happening around me in my life. Also when I see work from others who have used an unusual technique in their art, the first thing I feel inspired to do is give it a try myself and create something new.
One of the photos I am most proud of is because:
'Slipping Away'. I feel like this photograph represents a turning point in my photography when I started to think seriously about the work I was creating. The photo was a way to represent how I was chasing a career that I didn't love, as many of us do, but as we run towards it our own precious time literally slips away
My favorite place to shoot is:
I had a lot of fun shooting in and around Berlin. The buildings and people I met there really inspired me. The green spaces within and around the city (Potsdam and Grunewald) are stunning. I only stayed for a few days but would love to go back there to them to take some conceptual shots.
The secret behind this photo is:
'Walk of Life' was a very difficult piece to create, which involved loads of post processing. I shot a photo of the model inside an old house, then got him to hold up cotton wool clouds within the frame. I added the clouds and photo of the road using as new layers and masked them using photoshop. I used internet tutorials to create the rain and puddles and finally altered the colour balance to complete the image. It took me around 3 whole days to complete I think.
One of my favorite photos on ViewBug is:
Hard working by alexmoldovan – I think this is a stunning image. We've all felt overworked at some stage or other in our lives, this is a great representation of that. It's simple in terms of props, and posing the model, but so effective! I love the imagination the artist has used here.
One of my favorite photographers on Viewbug is because:
I'm very impressed by the work by Tomato1236 . This user seems to have unbelievable skill at creating memorable images that really stand out from the crowd. I love how the work stays at such amazing quality regardless of the genre or what techniques seem to be involved.
These are 3 quick tips I’d like to share with fellow photographers:
1. Experiment with new techniques. It's great when you're planning future shoots to think 'yes I know a way to make this different to how most people will shoot this'.
2. Get your work out there if you want to improve. Enter competitions, send them to your friends. I started posting my first photos online and asked my friends and family what they honestly thought. I took their comments on board and have continued to evolve my work using this method.
3. Stay inspired. Find the photographers you relate most to in their work and follow their work and journey to getting where they are. This was a great way for me to get started in my work.
Thank you TomCornish for taking to time to answer our questions! If you enjoyed his insights please go to his profile and give out some peer awards, thanks for reading!
