Interview with my Flickr friend Daniel (DanielKHC)

1. How did you first get interested in photography? And are you self taught?
I've always liked photography since I was a kid. Got my first camera in the early 70's. Had several film point & shoot cameras since. I started to use a digital camera in 1998. I am completely self-taught, basically still learning from other photographers.

2. Do you have a favourite walk around lens? If so, what is it?
I mostly use an ultrawide angle lens, the Tamron 11-18mm, and also sometimes use a Sigma 18-200mm.

3. What equipment and software do you use?
I have a Sony Alpha DSLR and the two lenses mentioned above.
For the software, I use Photomatix for HDR. And then I always post-process my photos (HDR or not) using Photoshop CS2.
Actually, I really started to use Photoshop when I joined flickr, after seeing the incredible work of others. I bought lots of Photoshop tutorial books, and also specialized magazines. It's a continuous learning.

4. Which one item of equipment is the most important for you?
My sturdy carbon fiber tripod, as I always take between 5 to 8 exposures for each picture I take.

5. How do you decide on locations and subjects?
Flickr is a very good place to start (using their search engine). I also check tourist guide and magazines. But most important is the time of the day: either at dawn or at dusk.


6. What are your favorite subjects to photograph?
Nature landscapes, architecture, night cityscapes and abandoned places. Quite obvious when you look at my photostream!

7. What continues to inspire you as a photographic artist?
Whenever I walk around, I always try to figure out what could be a good subject for photography. So my eyes become my camera viewfinder.

8. What is the one thing that you have not captured on camera you feel you need to express?
I would love to do street photography and portraits.

9. What other artists have influenced your work?
There are so many talented photographers on flickr. Their work is a continuous source of inspiration for me.

10. What other talents do you possess besides photography? And is there another area of talent you would like to explore?
I don't know if it's a talent but I can build and fix computers!

11. Have you met other flick rites in person, and how was the experience?
I met one in Thailand and one in Singapore. We really got along very well, as we share that same passion and addiction for photography and flickr!

12. Any words of advice for those who would like to dig deeper into photography?
Regardless of the technique or post-processing, composition is the key element, and the basic rules are very simple! And then, post-processing can give that little extra touch that could make
the difference.

13. Of all the photos you've taken, what is your favorite and why?
It's very difficult to pick one! But I'll select this one I did during a recent trip in Vietnam. I received such good feedback for it.





14. If you could change anything on flickr, what would it be?
Better security to protect our work. I would also be interested to see if flickr would different without the Explore Front Page and this interestingness thing!

These are the photos that Daniel want to show us in this interview:










Thanks to Daniel for his courtesy and for inspiring me to begin my HDR journey in Flickrland!

Angie_real aka Angela Lobefaro