Author: Diane Berkenfeld

Angela and Jason Mocniak enjoy their love for photography as a couple, going out shooting together, the same subjects but with their own individual points of view. Keeping a camera close at hand when traveling, the duo is always ready if the urge to stop and make some images strikes them. The two even plan “shooting dates” to spend time together.

How would you describe your style?
Angela: I love leading lines, but I also try to see things differently, we often times will shoot the same location several times and each time find a different way to view it.
Jason: I’d say that my photography style is simple landscapes. I often find myself low to the ground and trying to get as much interesting foreground in the image along with trying to find some sort of leading lines for the viewer to follow.

How do you describe the difference in your styles?
Angela: Jason loves long exposures, shooting the big picture. He’ll find a spot, plan out his shot, then get set up. When I get to a location, I’m all over the place looking for different angles, framing and details.
Jason: I tend to want to take more simple photos but I feel like Angela is a lot more creative. We could be out photographing trees and when I look over at my wife she could be crawling under a bridge to get the same picture with a totally different composition.

How we see it.

Where does your inspiration come from?
Angela: My mother was a quadriplegic. She wasn’t able to travel much, let alone walk through a park to see the details that are often taken for granted. After she passed, photography became an outlet for me. I want to show everyone the beauty in the world, from the vast landscapes to the little details.
Jason: Just being in nature. I think because of our fast paced life with our full times jobs and being so busy every day, photography allows me to slow down and enjoy nature; watching a sunrise or sunset and having the opportunity to just view the world from a different perspective.

Angela, What do you enjoy about going out shooting together with Jason?
I enjoy watching Jason get out of the busy “let’s get things done” mode to being relaxed, enjoying nature, and showing his creative side. Then it is fun to view each other’s photos to see how we captured it differently.

Jason, What do you enjoy about going out shooting together with Angela?
I love watching Angela, seeing her excitement and creative side. I just love watching her passion and it spills over into my shooting. Like a muse.

What do you do to get inspired if you feel stuck?
Angela: I try to coax Jason into a drive to explore the city or just somewhere we don’t usually photograph. A change of scenery usually does it for me.
Jason: We try to nudge [each] other when we feel like we’re getting stuck or in a rut. I’ll say to her, “all we do is shoot barns, it’s getting old.” Angela will tell me to grab my camera. Once we get going, I start to get inspired again because as soon as her eye catches something she likes, she hops out of the truck and literally goes running through fields to get the shot she wants. It’s her passion of photography that gets me back inspired to shoot again.

POV x 2

What is your favorite subject?
Angela: Sunrise. I love to start the day catching a sunrise whethe. It’s just that peaceful time of day where life is just waking up, and taking in the beauty of that is my favorite subject.
Jason: I love photographing lighthouses, rural barns, waterfalls and of course my beautiful wife. We live in the great lakes region where there’s plenty of water, barns and lighthouses within a couple hours’ drive.

You both seem to use leading lines a lot in your compositions, what other compositional techniques do you enjoy employing in your work?
Angela: I also enjoy finding natural framing for a subject. Its fun finding a different view of a subject. Minimalism too. I love the lonely tree in the middle of a field or hanging off a cliff. Sometimes simple shots are the best.
Jason: I really like getting low to the ground. It’s crazy to think how different things appear from a totally different level. Seeing it from that vantage point, it can make some interesting compositions. I like to try to create images with objects close in the foreground and beautiful scenery in the background, making the image clear from top to bottom.

What is your favorite lens?
Angela: The NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S. It is a very versatile everyday lens. The S glass is very sharp and picks up great detail. If I could only take one lens on a hike with me, this would be the one. It is compact, lightweight and perfect for the landscapes I shoot.
Jason: By far my favorite lens is my NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S. It is a great all-around, go to lens for almost any situation. Whether its climbing up the side of a mountain to get a picturesque sunset looking vastly into the mountains, visiting the shorelines and looking for lighthouses or driftwood, or chasing the northern lights, this lens can capture it all.

A marriage of styles

Angela: I enjoy photography and the way it opens your eyes to the beauty of the world. My hope is that people see our photographs and it makes them start to look at the beauty around them too.

Jason: I’m still learning and growing as a photographer. I’m always looking for new ideas. I’d love to try shooting different subjects, portraiture interests me. I’m constantly learning how to improve camera settings to get different looks and editing techniques.

What advice would you give other landscape photographers?
Angela: Always keep an open mind. Don’t worry about following the “rules” too much. Photograph what makes you happy. Never stop learning.
Jason: Try stepping out of your boundaries of what you think makes a great photo. Angela and I sit down to edit our photos together, reviewing each other’s photos first. Sometimes I find myself not liking a photo that she really likes and vice versa. Everyone sees things a little differently.

Angela & Jason: Be mindful of your shooting partner and their frame, communication is key. You don’t want to walk right through the scene they’re trying to capture. Don’t be afraid to share knowledge and listen to your partner’s advice.

There’s something almost every photographer, professional or amateur, shoots at one time or another… the sun on the horizon, either rising or setting. The drama, the colors — it’s all there. But one photographer, Sean Basdavanos, brings another component into his shots to make them truly arresting — lines and architectural elements. By emphasizing dramatic perspective, Sean creates a mood of mystery, pulling viewers into his photographs. We talked to him to get some insights into his work.

Follow My Lead

“Leading lines allow the viewer’s eye to travel all throughout the photograph. Being able to place them strategically and purposefully can add an important element to work.“ — Sean Basdavanos

When setting up your shot, think about how the viewer will interact with the image. Where do you want them to look? What do you want them to see? Shooting with the viewer in mind can help you create the most dramatic composition.

A Point of Perspective

“The vanishing point can have a very interesting effect on a photograph. I gravitate towards trying to have a moody and more mysterious view with my vanishing point. I like when the person viewing my photography can look into my photograph and have their mind wander. In my opinion, the vanishing point has the mind go in many different directions.”

When you make an image, you are creating a place for the viewer to go. It’s a destination for them to visit, maybe even get lost in for a time. Using strong perspective can bring the viewer more deeply into the world you have created for them.

Go Right to the Edge. 

“Edges, to me, mean a place of unknown. It’s something that is beyond our sight. It’s the merging of one world into the next.” 

Sean does most of his shooting on the South Shore of Long Island. This is his “landscape of choice” — where the mystery and power of the ocean meet the edge of the land. Are there locations and environments that you gravitate towards? Shooting a place you have a natural affinity for can help you create your most arresting images.

Hidden Connections 

“The favorite of my new images was shot on January 23, 2020. I really enjoyed the leading lines in this photograph accompanied by a dynamic morning sky. The scene seemed familiar to me in some way. I shot it freely. I later came to realize that it had a similarity to Edvard Munch “The Scream”. The photo holds so many of my emotions within it.”

One of the more incredible things about photography is the connections it creates — between photographer and location, light and subject, and even an image and something in the subconscious. You may not realize until later why you shot a particular image, or why the scene resonated with you. That sense of discovery is part of what makes photography such a deep and powerful art form.

There are few things in the world as dramatic as color. And when it comes to photos, it’s even more true. But how do you squeeze every last ounce of color from the photographs you shoot? Lavina Lalchandani, a travelprenuer and photographer living in Los Angeles, gives us some insight.

The Power of Color

“Colors have the power to influence the mood of the audience. In fact, different shades of the same color can convey completely different feelings. My goal is that the viewer should feel certain emotions when they look at my work.”

Color has a tangible emotional component. For Lavina, this became clear as she browsed other photographers’ images. She noticed that different color themes evoked changes in her own feelings — which led her to do a color exploration of her own. Try it yourself. What colors bring out a pronounced emotional response in you?

What Does a Sunset Feel Like?

“Warmer colors like red, orange, yellow and pink evoke feelings of happiness, friendship, passion, aggression and love.”

It’s worth learning a little about color theory and applying it to your photography. The Secret Language of Color: Science, Nature, History, Culture, Beauty of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, & Violet by Joann Eckstut & Arielle Eckstut is a good place to start.

Feeling Blue

“Cooler colors like blue, purple, and green are used to guide mood towards calmness, serenity, security, luxury, but can also evoke feelings of sadness.”

Thoughtful color choices can elicit particular responses in the viewer. It’s something to keep in mind when you’re composing an image. Imagine if the heart above was red instead of blue. What would that feel like to you?

Getting the Color Right

“I always shoot in RAW mode and opt for auto white balance. When I start post processing my pictures, first I adjust the white balance to the temperature I want to work with throughout my editing workflow. Then I target Hue, Saturation and Luminance to further build up the color theme and add depth. Lastly, I refer to the color wheel a lot while editing. I gauge the color scheme I am trying to achieve in the image – Analogous, Monochromatic, Complementary etc. And then I use curve layers and selective color layers in Adobe Photoshop for final color grading of the image.”

You don’t have to make all of your color choices in camera. Editing tools offer all sorts of possibilities to manipulate color to get the exact look you want.

Camera as Paintbrush

“Paint brushes come in [a] different assortment of sizes, hair, length. When you choose a type of paintbrush, you have to evaluate it’s result against your vision. This scenario is very similar to selecting the camera you want to own and using it to make your ideas come true.”

The tools you use to create your work are vital. But the more grounded you are in the art of photography, the better your results, regardless of the camera you use. So, practice, and find resources to learn more about your equipment.

Colorful Words of Advice

1. Shoot every day!
2. Make it a point to learn something new every day – be it a new feature on your camera or a new editing/shooting technique or learn about a new location.
3. Connect with other photographers in the community.
4. Take part in FFAs (Free for all) hosted by photographers on Instagram to practice editing. You will be amazed to see how a single image can be seen in so many different ways by different individuals.

After a life-altering injury during a game of rugby, Gilbert Kolosieke taught himself Photoshop. Not having a camera, he found photographers on Instagram who regularly hosted editing contests by uploading photos for others to edit. And he began to watch live streamed editing sessions by these photographers too.

“I began using photographs from these Free for All (FFA) editing contests to teach myself photoshop. They served as my underlying sketch, but instead of inking and painting them traditionally, I would embellish them with different tricks and filters I found on Instagram.”

Gilbert then taught himself how to shoot manually with a borrowed camera by watching YouTube videos. One thing lead to another, advancing him from newbie to a career as a photographer and editor.

“I kept adding kindling to the fire of the network of relationships I made everywhere I went, and never took my foot off the pedal learning and loving my evolution as an artist.”  

Piecing it all together

“At this point, I can replace limbs, reconstruct faces, or composite additional elements or use parts of other photographs to create what I envisioned. In order of importance for aspects in which I judge a photo, being in focus makes it usable, lighting differentiates a mediocre photo from a professional one, and the facial expression seals the deal. When all those are met, it’s a matter of what speaks to me at the moment.” 

“The techniques I’ve developed to make particular changes to shape, value, color, and texture using light and layers in photoshop are simply entities in the arsenal, but workflow is drastically different for each piece. “

Gilbert makes it a point to keep in mind the model who’s image he’s working on while editing an image.

“I make a mental note of color palettes that appeal to the model, and listen to music that fits the mood from songs they find beautiful and allow that [to] dominate the direction of art.”

On the other hand, if a client is only looking for a “clean picture,” he’ll follow an extremely simplified workflow to match their needs. 

Favorite tools. Favorite images.

My favorite tool is the healing brush. It allows you to repair imperfections using pixels from another part of the picture. It’s a smart tool that can be used to effortlessly make distracting fly always disappear, blemishes vanish as you play digital dermatologist, and can be extremely useful while painting digitally. 

To Gilbert, choosing a favorite image is not easy, as he explains that everything holds more value than simply what meets the eye. When pressed though, he explains that the sunflower edit of Sylina means a lot to him.

“It was the last photoshoot before lock down. The image resonated with the hearts of so many people in need of brighter days, and as the most edited image in the largest international editing contest ever held with a total of over 11K entries for the #Nikonffa, it was concrete evidence of all the hard work I poured into my first year of photography.”

“Over time I have begun to refine my taste for what is considered professional, attempting to earn respect from photographers and digital artists as I find my niche in between two worlds of standards using everything I’ve learned about storytelling through beauty.”

Approach to editing

Editing is as important as the photography to Gilbert. Choosing his favorite parts from each file, he merges them together as the start to an edit. “I never know what I’m going to make. I tend to let the art evolve on its own until I’ve outdone myself.”  

“For most clients I always have to dial back my work. Shock and surprise tend to be the norm for model’s reactions. They usually don’t remember taking that photo or have no idea how I made whatever it is they’re staring at. Others seek me out just to be a part of the art and give me full creative freedom to do whatever it is that I do.”

Advice to others

You don’t need an expensive tablet to do high quality work. You can even use your computer’s mouse to edit with. Gilbert says 90% of his work is created with a mouse. 

“Enjoy the journey and be proud of the little victories along the way… Learn the software and in time as your eye trains itself, what once took you weeks or hours will be minutes. There are a lot of resources out there to help teach you, but you have to be willing to make time to put the skills into practice.” 

“Life as a photographer/editor can often be extremely lonely although social media portrays a picture-perfect life. Learn from each encounter and client. Respect is everything, the world is a small place. Never burn a bridge. Stay humble. If you are in photography for the girls, you would be better off spending your time, money, efforts, and energy into doing what you’re supposed to be doing in life.“