Tell us something about yourself

I’m a 39 year old school teacher from Denmark, living with my son and girlfriend.

 

How and when did you get into photography?

I took up photography for exactly one year ago. Untill then, I had been practising martial arts and was running my own academy, but a severe neck injury put a stop to that. Suddenly I had a lot of free time on my hands I didn’t know what to do with, so my girlfriend, who is a model, told me to pick up my camera an evening and take a few shots of her. I guess I was being too restless, but that was the beginning and she has been really helpful all the way since then.

 

What does photography mean to you?

Photography is a way of being creative. It is weird, but I can use many of the aspects from my years with martial arts, when I take pictures and edit. It requires patience and a willingness to let your ego go, as you compare yourself to other photographers, as there is always a lot of people who have been in the game for a longer period than you and are better at it.

 

Please briefly describe your photography style for our readers.

My style differs a lot. It depends on the situation, the mood I am trying to create.

 

Where do you get inspiration from?

I get a lot of my inspiration from many of the very talented Danish photographers, who has also been very helpful with answering a lot of my stupid questions and letting me look over their shoulder when they had a shoot with my girlfriend. Further more, I am a sucker for the way Sean Archer edits his pictures and manages to portrait his models.

 

Think you in advance what you want in the picture?

I always has a clear idea of the picture I want to take. I rarely take more than 40-50 pictures on a session and a session is seldom more than 45-60 minutes. I use most of the time communication with the model.

 

Studio, on location or both?

I prefer shooting on location, as I don’t have access to a studio. Some of the pictures that looks like they have been shot in a studio, was actually taken in our living room, with just a black backdrop and a flash. As I also prefer my pictures to tell some sort of story, it is easier to shoot on location.

 

Would you consider yourself a hobbyist or a paid professional?

I guess I’m a paid hobbyist. Many of my jobs are paid now, but I keep the price low and says no to a lot of jobs, if I can’t really figure out what to do with the model.

 

What has been your most memorable session and why?

My most memorable session was actually just recently. It was the first shoot for the model, but besides her being really nice, there wasn’t anything remarkable about the session. The thing is that she had recently lost a lot of weight and was so happy when she got the pictures. Many models are so used to see themselves with perfect skin and there bodies adjusted a bit here and there, that you don’t really get a reaction when you deliver the pictures, but this girl was genuinly happy, so it was a real pleasure.

 

What has been the biggest source of inspiration in your work?

Sean Archer and Lee Jeffries are definately my biggest sources of inspiration. Both guys are amazing at what they do.

 

Nikon or Canon? Favorite lens?

I shoot with a Nikon D7200 and prefer a 85mm 1.8 lens.

 

What is one piece of advice you would like to offer a new photographer looking to start their own business?

I would tell new photographers to go out and make a lot of mistakes. Listen to those who offer you advice, but just shoot a lot of pictures and fool around with Lightroom or Photoshop. Have fun with what you do, otherwise it’ll end up being just another sick job. There’s a lot of work in photography, so you might as well enjoy it.

 

What do you think of our new magazine?

I like this magazine because it shows all the categories of models and photographers, from the high end professionals to the newbies like myself. It’s important to help eachother and this is what this magazine does.

 

You can find me at facebook.com/epixs.dk or epixs.dk