I’ve been meaning to check out my interview in the latest issue of InFocus Australasia for ages now. I finally found my first gen i-Pad, charged it up, found InFocus in iTunes and bam! My i-Pad is just too old to run the latest issue of InFocus! Haha! Sydney based Photographer Sam Law of 300C-PO has come to the rescue though, with these screen grabs of the feature (cheers Sam!).
Download the latest issue of InFocus Australasia here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/infocus-australasia/id627335324?mt=8
Interview as follows:
What sparked your first interest in photography?
A university assignment which required us to use a manual camera. A few years after I went digital and picked up a Nikon 990, it’s twist body and great image taking capabilities made it a much loved camera/toy of many designers at the time. Mine eventually broke and I dropped the ball for many years until the Panasonic GF1 came out in 2009.
What was your first camera?
My Mum handed me down her 1966 Canon FT QL (quite a brick of a camera!) which I used for photography related assignments when I was studying Design at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts. That camera got me into shooting friends. It has a sweet 55mm lens on it, and at the time I was developing Ilford film at 1hr colour photo labs for unexpected colour results.
What do you particularly love to shoot?
Moments. I love shooting for my blog. Blogging has always been a therapeutic thing for me. I find taking photos, and publishing them therapeutic (and of-course, in many ways rewarding).
What kind of shooting/subjects do you find the most challenging?
I’ve done all the behind the scenes shoots of models wearing Zen Garage gear for the past 3 years, but for the past 6 months I’ve been shooting the girls myself, and I’ve found that shooting people you aren’t already friends with, and trying to make them feel comfortable as quickly as possible, to be quite challenging (and the positive feedback post shoot really rewarding). I’ve developed a few tricks to help with shoots, the process is constantly developing and getting better each time.
What gear would you take out if you wanted to travel light without a plan, but be ready for anything?
My every day is just the GF6 with the compact 20mm lens, but even when I’m all loaded up I have both cameras, multiple lenses, my macbook and more in my Chrome Niko Pack (which I love wearing/using).
What bit of gear do you currently covet (desire/want)?
I love my GF1 and GF6 Micro Four Thirds cameras and I’m proud that I was on board since they were first released many years ago, but I’m ALWAYS wondering what if… what if I upgraded to a 5D Mark III? Would I take better shots? Etc.
Which other photographers are your biggest inspirations?
My friend, Matthew Mead, who captures light like no other and Van Styles for his style and passion. Terry Richardson for being a game changer (I’ve been a fan of his work since he did a shoot for Sisley with Josie Maran many years ago).
What drives your ongoing photographic evolution?
For me it’s always publishing, in my case blogging. So long as I’m documenting my life then I’ll always need a camera, and when one starts to die, it’s always an excuse to upgrade!
GEAR LIST
Cameras
Panasonic Lumix GF6
Panasonic Lumix GF1
Lenses
Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4
Panasonic 20mm f/1.7