The Story Behind the Photographer and The Image

By Geoff Harris

MyPhotoSchool student Kasia Sokulska talks about her introduction to photography and her winning image in the Macro category in Myphotoschool July’s Free Monthly Photography Competition

KasiaKasia Sokulska

I'm based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  My involvement with photography started early. My father and my older brothers were all passionate photographers, and I grew up watching them taking pictures and developing them at home.

My main influence however, was my husband, who is a very enthusiastic photographer.  He encouraged me to take more photographs and actually use  "proper" equipment for the first time.05885697cfaf82d72a4bc658f0dbb9f9

To begin with, I was just taking pictures in order to build a stock of colourful images before winter, to use them as a kind of ‘colour therapy’ during the long winter months.

I started with macros of flowers and then progressed to more challenging things..

My husband, encouraged me to change from a point and shoot camera and start using more sophisticated DSLR camera .

I have viewed a lot of pictures on sites like MyPhotoSchool, Flickr and 500px and seeing some wonderful work there, I decided to experiment and see if I could take similar images.

Colour is one of the most important aspects of photography to me.

The more colourful the background and subject ,the more interesting to me, though I do process certain shots as black and white.

It all depends on the feel of the shot.  I love photographing the sky as well.

Beautiful colours of sunsets and sunrises, but also just clouds, landscapes of beautiful places whether nature or architecture.

I take a picture of places and things that I find beautiful. I also like photographing people, trying to show my models inner beauty.

It is a great pleasure to take somebody's picture, show it to them and see them smile because they like what they see.

- I currently use3 cameras: Canon 40D, Canon 5D and Panasonic GF1

 

 

Water Droplets 2

The picture was taken at home. I accidently spilled some water on my iPad and since the water beaded nicely I liked how it looked and took my macro lens and taken a few shots of it.

All I did during processing really was played with colour and contrasts and light a bit.  I try not to manipulate my pictures too much because most of the time they look good enough to me without any more digital manipulation.  (I don't generally do too much during processing, because I believe in taking as good of a picture in camera as possible.

I have never taken any photographic courses. I prefer to learn by experimentation and I am lucky enough to have my husband share his experience and knowledge with me.

Geoff Harris

I am a journalist and photographer and currently work as the Deputy Editor of Amateur Photographer (AP) - http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk the oldest weekly photographic magazine in the world. Before that I served as the editor of Digital Camera, Britain's best-selling photography magazine, for five years. During my time as editor it became the UK's top selling photo monthly and won Print Publication of the Year at the 2013 British Media Awards. As well as being lucky enough to get paid to write about photography, I've been fortunate to interview some of the greatest photographers in the world, including Elliott Erwitt, Don McCullin, Martin Parr, Terry O'Neill and Steve McCurry. This has been a wonderful learning experience and very influential on my photography. Beyond writing, I am a professional portrait, travel and documentary photographer, and reached the finals of the 2016 Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year competition. I am a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and hope to take my Associateship whenever I can find the time. In addition I write about well being/personal development and antiques collecting for a range of other titles, including BlueWings, the in-flight magazine of Finn Air.

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