From high mountains, to waves smashing into rocks to beautiful meadows - our community member Wolfgang (wolfgangmoritzer) from Austria captures it all. Photography is a way for Wolfgang to escape the hectic everyday world to hit paus and enjoy the present moment. We got the chance to ask him some questions regarding his art and what inspires him. He also happens to give three quick tips when it comes to photography! Enjoy!
Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style?
My Name is Wolfgang, I’m 31 years old an live in Graz, Austria. My main focus in photography is capturing nature and landscape scenes. Architecture photography is also a big passion of mine. I would describe my style as artistic. When I come to a scene I’d like to capture, I have a vision; an image; in my mind that I want to get. Sometimes it’s close to what I’ve seen on the location, sometimes it’s a more abstract idea and I would say unreal image.
In one sentence what has photography done for you in your life?
As photography is my hobby and passion it’s a compensation to my daily work where I’m able to let my creative process get it’s own way.
When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?
I started taking pictures when I was a child on a vacation with my family at the sea, taking snapshots. I bought my first DSLR camera back in 2008 when I started studying architecture. First I loved taking pictures of buildings and some random street shots, but that switched on my first trip to the US back in 2013. There I became interested in landscape photography and started to learn more about that topic. Since then most of my pictures are related to landscapes and nature.
What has been your favorite shoot and why?
Honestly I have to say, that i don’t have a favorite shoot. Every picture is something special for me, because it reminds me of the story behind that shot.
Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?
Last year on a vacation to Sardinia, Italy, I wanted to capture the sunset at Capo Testa. My stay there was quite short and the weather conditions quite bad. My plan was to scout a nice location during the day and get back there before sunset. It was raining like hell and a really bad thunderstorm crossed that plan. Fortunately it stopped raining about 2 hours before sunset. I headed out to the coast and had to find a location very quick. As I spotted a big rock in the middle of the sea, about 100 m away form the cliffs I had found the subject, but the spot where I was standing wasn’t that nice. I tried to climb down the cliffs, with no plan how to get back up there. Down at a small beach, overfilled with massive rocks I made my way to a point where I got a nice framing. I was able to shoot a very nice sunset, but on my way back up the track, big waves where crashing in. I managed to climb back up the cliffs with wet feet and clothes. In the end it was really worth it to put some effort into this picture since it turned out very nice.
What do you carry in your camera bag?
I don’t carry that much with me, my camera, a wide angle lens, a tele zoom, different filters, a cable release, my tripod and some other small stuffs for cleaning my lenses.
Do you have a favorite location and time of the day to shoot?
I don’t have favorite locations, but definitely some places I want to visit in the future like Iceland, Lofoten in Norway or Scotland. I prefer to shoot at sunset or sunrise, there you get the best light on the landscapes.
Can you share three tips with your fellow photographers?
First thing is to use a sturdy tripod. Especially when shooting sunsets or sunrises, you need to have your camera set up on a solid foundation.
Second thing: level your camera. The worst thing is to end up with a crooked picture. Sure, you can fix the horizon in post, but you are loosing information on the edges of your picture. Better to get the main things done in camera.
Third thing: Alway check your composition. Better to invest some time on location for finding a nice composition. It’s the best thing when you find a different composition, when shooting famous spots. You can come home with a bunch of pictures, but if the composition isn’t strong enough, you’ll not be happy.
Please share one of your favorite photos with us with a short tutorial:
I took this photo in Capo Testa, Sardinia, Italy at sunset. I took this shot straight into the sun using my Canon EOS 70D, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, tripod, and a cable release. My inspiration for this photo was this massive rock formations at sunset in combination with the sea. When it comes to the post-processing I used multiple exposures blended together in Photoshop by using luminosity masks. Color corrections applied, added a warm filter, dodge and burn, sharpening.
Please share some thoughts on your ViewBug experience as a photographer!
ViewBug is a really nice community with some great photographers. The thing I like the most is the competitions. Always great to achieve a peer award or a like. It’s very easy and intuitive to use and the layout of the whole site is representing the pictures in a very clear and nice way.
Want to see more of Wolfgang’s work? Visit his profile, Instagram and Facebook page.
