Dicki – Award Winning Landscape Photographer
www.richardwalkerphotography.co.uk
What type of photographer are you?
A careful one. I shoot mainly landscapes which I tend to plan meticulously much to the annoyance of David when we are together.
How did you get into photography?
I got an iPhone. Seriously, I started in 2009 with an iPhone using an HDR app. I seemed to have a bit of an eye for composition and I thought that phone was all the camera I’d ever need at first. It was David, who had a Canon DSLR at the time, who convinced me to get a proper camera. For me it was, and still is as much about the geeky side of it, not in terms of the camera gear but in terms of the computer side and editing / processing, as it is about the actual photography.
What’s your favourite lens?
That is a difficult one. It changes all the time but at the moment it is one I don’t own, the 45mm f1.8 that I have nicked off David. Guess I’ll have to buy it soon. But I love buying old lenses off eBay. I’m particularly fond of the Oly 50mm f1.8 I got for £30. For landscapes I’m currently favouring the Oly 9-18mm.
Who are your inspirations?
Well, I started off doing a lot of HDR and still do some when the scene warrants it so Trey Ratcliff certainly inspired me early on. But I don’t really pay that much attention to other photographers, I just do my thing.
What are your preferred post processing tools?
Well, I was always an Aperture man but after Apple’s announcement in 2013 that it was dead I switched immediately to Lightroom and I have never looked back. I miss the odd thing about Aperture like being able to edit fullscreen but I find Lightroom on the whole is faster and more intuitive. In terms of plugins I love the Nik suite, particularly Silver Efex Pro 2 and Viveza 2, both of which I use a lot.
Have you ever won any competitions?
Yeah
Care to elaborate?
Not really.
David – Travel Photographer and Adventurer
What type of photographer are you?
Travel and street are really my bag, so it’s quick and dynamic – see something interesting, shoot and move on.
It should perhaps be mentioned that I live life on the road, mostly in Asia. I am what you might call an adventure cyclist and have seen enough of the world to know it’s a big place and there is a huge amount I have yet to see, and even more that I will never see.
For a living I run cycling tours in Asia and photography is an important marketing tool. I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this, and will, in the fullness of time, elaborate.
How did you get into photography?
I was never at all interested in photography, but as I roamed the globe on my bicycle I carried a little point and shoot Canon, as one does. It was a close friend who is a professional photographer who chivied me on. He saw potential in the way I live, in what I do, and in what I see, and he arranged an interview with the editor of a photo stock agency in Bangkok, and that is where it started. For some odd reason the agency took me on so I bought a DSLR, my friend gave me the run down on basics, set the camera to ‘P’ and put me on my bicycle and send me Lao for two weeks, and my interest began to evolve. It took another friend to say “I am fed up with these stupid twee landscapes, show me life, show me people, show me the streets”. And so I did. I began street photography in Hanoi I guess, and it was exciting. It is the exact opposite of Dicki’s photography – it is fast, it’s dynamic, its interaction, it’s stealth. And it’s this fast moving photography that I enjoy – capturing the moment and showing people the world.
What’s your favourite lens?
Oh, ahh, um – well, the Olympus 45mm has a very special quality, something that I can’t put my finger on, and I love it. I cut my street photography teeth with a Lumix 20mm f1.7 – I like primes as they add an element of simplicity. But when travelling by bicycle the moment comes and goes sometimes in an instant, and sometimes I would ru having the 45mm on the camera, and at other times it would be the 20mm’s presence on the body that I would lament. What I was after was both of these lenses in one, and preferably sealed again the dust, humidity and rain that acompanies one when on the road, and lo and behold Olympus jolly well did it. The Oly 12-40 f2.8 is outstandingly versatile and could live on the camera full time, in fact much of the time it does. However I still hanker after the unassuming simplicity and light weight of primes and recently bought a 17mm f1.8 Oly. I am just getting used to it now and am keen to use more on the street. This didn’t really answer the question did it? Can you ask me again in 6 months please.
Who are your inspirations?
This changes as time goes by, but I would say that the biggest single inspiration I have had for street photography is the Malaysian photographer Robin Wong. As an adventure cyclist the images of Cass Gilbert are always an inspiration to me. At present the photographer I am most interested in is Rehahn, I would say he does a stunning job of what I try to do. Recently I read the biography of conflict photographer Don McCullin, an extraordinary man who has used photography in an amazingly constructive way at huge personal cost – an amazing man.
What are your preferred post processing tools?
First it should be said that I am not as caring and precise about PP as Dicki. I am an Apple man and always have been, with the inevitable consequence of using Aperture. Dicki’s influence lead me to try Light Room 5, and although it seems rather good I am not a geek and I miss the intuitiveness of Aperture. It seems to me that as always for every one step with Apple there are three with the competition, in this case Adobe. When I am travelling light I leave my MacBook with someone I hope will be there when I return and travel with just an iPad Mini, and I have to say that Snapseed is a fantastic app for post processing on the hoof. Of course with LR5 come LR Mobile, but I think Adobe should have considered finishing it off before selling it, far from impressed.
Have you ever won any competitions?
It has never crossed my mind to enter one, there are way too many brilliant photographers out there for me to get involved.
Care to elaborate?
Um, I think that covered it.
Painted Shots 