Kilgore Trout
 

Kilgore Trout

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
I use a Canon 450D. It's light and easy to take around. I'd really like some more lenses, though -- at the moment I'm still using the kit lens, along with a 50mm f1.8, because I can't decide on what kind of lens I should buy next. I'd like an ultra-wide angle but also some fast prime lenses.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?
I couldn't possibly do that. It's better if you take a look at one of my threads, like my most recent Hong Kong one.

Talk about your inspirations and influences.
I'm inspired by the relationship between people and the city -- all the little things that make the city more than a collection of roads and buildings. I'm especially taken by markets, street art, informal development like hawker stalls, shantytowns, etc., signage and people riding bikes or scooters.

I always have a hard time describing my influences because I've never studied photography and I take photos according to what feels right to me. I like Cartier-Bresson, but he put too much emphasis on beauty and composition while overlooking street photography's capacity for satire and criticism. I like Michael Wolf's photos of Hong Kong but I find that he has a tendency to see the city as a machine and its inhabitants as cogs in the wheel, which I don't appreciate.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
Istanbul, Cairo and Buenos Aires are three cities that I would love to photograph. I like cities that are big and messy.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
My Montreal threads from 2006 to 2008 were always very popular. My European series in 2006 got a good response. My recent Shenzhen thread was surprisingly well-received.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
I stopped coming to the forum very often after I moved to Hong Kong in 2008. It's much quieter here than it was a few years ago, so my more recent threads haven't gotten quite the response that I would have expected three or four years ago. It also seems that there is less interest on this forum for cities outside of Canada and the US.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
Spend lots of time wandering around. Always think about new and unexpected ways to capture a scene.

Who should we ask these questions of next?
Now that Giovanni Sasso is back I'd like to hear from him.

Sasso! great choice kilgore.

Thanks, Kilgore. I've always had a respect for your cerebral approach to photography.

Yay, the thread is back!

anyone gonna speak? and where's EE been?

-

whats up with the thread HIMS? this was starting to get to be really cool and now there has been nothing recently. i am also very sure i am not the only one waiting for the next interview.

HIMS hasn't signed in for two weeks. Perhaps he's on vacation.

And yeah, EE seems to have vanished from the face of the earth. No activity here or on flickr for a few months.

HIMS has been uploading to Flickr, but he hasn't been on the forum for a while now.

.
 

Was also wondering where EE has gone???

Hi, I'm still alive. I thought nobody would notice and I'd just fade into the dust so I only notified one or two people of my absence. I still wouldn't expect me to be online at all. I just signed in 'cause I saw these messages and thought I'd let people know I'm alive (for now ;)).

HIMS, bring this thread back to life! :yes:

Welcome back. I wondered what happened to you.

giovanni sasso
 

giovanni sasso
ALLLLLLLLLLLLL RIGHTY. Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to reply to this. My thanks to Kilgore Trout for the request, and my apologies to HomeInMyShoes for his patience.


What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
I'm still rocking the canon 5D. It's three years old and treats me mostly well. I shoot in RAW, which I quite like, but I don't like its drawbacks like chromatic aberration, lens vignetting, and severe sensor dust. Still, I'm mostly happy with the results.

On one hand, I would like to upgrade to the latest Mark II (or whatever Canon has newer than that), but I've found since I moved to Portland (a year ago today, incidentally) that I don't get out nearly as much as I used to for photography. I still do occasionally, but I have to prepare and motivate myself to do so. Honestly, the biggest problem for me is how damn heavy the camera gear is. The 5D is a metal body, and I've got four lenses (70-200 L, 24-70 L, fixed 50mm, and an 11-17 Tamron wide), filters for each, two batteries, a remote shutter, a mini-tripod (carrying the big one is an even bigger pain), a pen and notepad, and a pack of Orbit peppermint burst gum.

On the other, since technology advances as quickly as it does, I wouldn't mind having a higher end Canon Elph type point and shoot with a decent lens. Something that fits in my pocket, has a nice zoom, and preferably is waterproof.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?
Like the others, it's hard to pick just one. But in the interest of doing that, I'll say this one, for the skyline -- with the glint on the building whose construction was my subject of over 5,000 photos -- painted in sunset light, at the peak of fall foliage.



Talk about your inspirations and influences.
Photography wise, I don't have a lot. It's easy to point out the historical best in different genres (Mathew Brady's portraits, Alfred Stieglitz' street scenes, Ansel Adams' nature, Annie Liebovitz' fashion), but it's also easy to say you like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Radiohead or Jay-Z. Honestly, I've had a camera since I got a 110 speed camera for my 10th birthday, but I feel like I've only really gotten photography since I went digital in September 2002.

I was already on SSP at that point and had been posting Philly neighborhood tours from 35mm prints/scans, but man, was that a pain. I went digital out of practicality -- instant gratification, save money, save time, save the hassle of scanning, all of which DUH -- and it immediately improved my shooting. Toss in the admitted thrill of posting a new thread every so often with positive response, amongst the other thread-posting folks like Herodotus, Kilgore Trout, ColDayMan, Jive/Gasm, Theodore, volguus, giallo and later Flash, sekkle, MJPhilly, sabotai, etc, and it was easy to try harder, and trying harder made it easy.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
Alaska and Hawaii. They're the only two United States I haven't been to, although I'd like to give Rhode Island its fair due. I've only driven through it during rush hour in the rain, and that was no fun. Otherwise, outside the US I would love to get to Shanghai, Prague, Buenos Aires and New Zealand.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
Seeing as I took a several year hiatus, it's hard to remember the more popular ones, although I recall my NYC 5 Boro tours to be heavy hitters. It's funny, beyond the obvious like my friends and the Phillies, the thing I miss most about living in Philadelphia is its proximity to New York. One of my favorite things to do was take a 3-day, 5-borough weekend. Put together little series of photos from all five boroughs, even Staten Island.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
Again, I've only posted a small handful of threads since I've been back on SSP, but I thought the one from Wounded Knee, South Dakota might have fared better. What can ya do.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT. Line your shot up. Use the full frame. Don't cut people's heads or feet off (unless on purpose). Give context. Don't be afraid of Photoshop. Think correcting the perspective will make it a nicer photo? Do it. Think upping the saturation for more color will make it a nicer photo? Do it. Shoot shoot shoot.

Who should we ask these questions of next?
giallo, all the way.

giallo

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
'm currently shooting with the Nikon D3. It's my first full-frame camera, and I really like taking pictures with it. If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably get a medium format camera like a Hasselblad H4D. I'm getting in to making huge wall mounts with my photos, and I'd love to blow up some really sharp billboard-sized images.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?
Hmmmm. This one is a bit tough. It changes with my equipment, location and overall mood. I dunno, I guess I'd have to go with this one right now.


Talk about your inspirations and influences.
I'm not a schooled photographer. I've never studied it or read books about it. It's not that I think doing that is stupid, quite the opposite, I was just never fully interested in the specs, photo celebs or tech. I got in to it because I liked the medium for self expression. My major influences came from magazines like National Geographic and from online photographers. I can honestly say that SSP's photographers had a HUGE influence on me getting my first camera when I was living in Taiwan. It was around 2002-2003 that I started to notice photo threads by Giovanni Sasso, Theodore, Kilgore, Daniel8ty8, gonnsta aka Segun, the St. Louis Bros.etc., and I was totally inspired to try it myself.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
India. I really want to photograph India.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
Some early Taiwan threads did really well. The first few Shanghai ones performed nicely too. These days, my threads do OK. I always appreciate the love I get, be it one comment or fifty.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
As I mentioned in the previous question, the last couple of years have seen interest (views and replies) in my China threads wane.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
My answer is a predictable one; shoot, shoot, shoot. Bring your camera with you everywhere as light is always changing and never the same. Take advantage of the early morning and early evening light in particular.

Who should we ask these questions of next?
SSP's MC; Mr. Segun Dent

NICE. a two for one. glad to see this thread come back to life. i love getting inside the heads of other photographers on the board here. thanks for taking the time to answer the questions guys.

This is really cool, I loved reading a bunch of the answers. Giallo is pretty fucking awesome for sure as are all of the other guys too. I need to go through their threads after finals are over and get more fimiliar with their photos.

Segun
 

Segun

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
Im currently shooting with the Panasonic ZS5. I like its portability first and foremost, combined with its zoom power, manual control and (sort of) wide angle lens, its a pretty powerful Point and Shoot. I would eventually like to get a Rebel, but I want to raise more money for it, cause I could see myself never carrying it around. I like the mobility. Brussel sprouts and asparagus given to birthday parties.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

http://www.streetsandsoul.com/32/r152.jpg - From 2002

A combination of context shots, chaos and craziness. I like to combine the three. I like to show off the context of a streetwall, or the energy of a city the best way possible. I also like visual chaos and interesting textures. At the same time I will take pictures of the most random innane objects. Who stole my hard water?


Talk about your inspirations and influences.
Well, I'm not a photographer, so my influences have been people on this board: Sasso, Giallo, Trout, ColDayMan, Paradox21, Hydro, Sabotai, Flash, KingofTheHill, Jive, etc, etc, etc. Could I borrow some salt?



Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
Melbourne and Sydney, Santiago. If safety weren't an issue, I'd add 100 cities to that list. Feel free to spit in that spot.


Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
It would probably be "City" or "Urban". I just had so many different cities backed up on my Hard Drive that I decided to throw em all in one thread with no clear focus. I liked the random feel of it. Great minds headbutt each other until one gets a concussion.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
It would have to be one I did years ago entitled "In this building you must keep it real". It was a thread in which I meticously crafted a whole batch of chicago pictures as thumbnails to form the shape of a building. I split an image of a building in photoshop and edited it so that every slice of the building would be in a row to form a seamless shape. The pictures themselves were the windows. I usually am not sensitive about responses, but that one discouraged me because I spent so long planning and executing it. Please spare me your clown shoes.


Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
Develop a good eye, and when all else fails and you've seemed to hit a creative block, improvise, you can turn anything into an interesting photo thread. Everything either has an interesting texture, or is visually stimulating in a monolithic way. Ski!

Who should we ask these questions of next?
The king of Chicken, Collard Greens and BoJangles ; ColDayMan

interesting. let me know if you ever hit houston. i have go to meet you segun. you seem completly insane, but in good way.

ColDayMan

I appreciate the love from all so I'm going to do what ColDayMan's gotta do: keep it 100% in this motherfucker. I've been around on this forum for damn near 12 years and have seen some amazing talent and/or great eyes. From the beginning of this bitch with those (back then, amazing) Corbis images and scanned-in photos from a 35mm Kodak camera to the digital evolution, SSP has come a long, long way. I really do wish we kept some of our great early photographers like Serge but times change. So let's get on with this bullshit...

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

Shit, let me check my camera bag and see.

*opens it*

One of those Canon Digital Rebel XT's with a separate cheap-ass zoom lens. I never was into the whole "equipment" and "get as many lenses as you can + filters!" schtick. That ain't my style, yaoming? It ain't that serious, forreal. What I feel is that it comes down to your eye and/or subject matter. Some of the greatest photos are taken with a cheap-ass camera, maybe a little tilt, and underprocessed. It gives that image a bit of vagueness and opens the imagination. DToronto had this old website where he showed American ghettos that had HORRENDOUS quality photos yet it was much more fascinating than most threads in City Photos today. Why? Subject matter. It gave you that feeling of "damn, that place looks rough and I feel like I'm sitting next to Ray Ray!" Now I'm not gonna say that I prefer ALL raw/untilted photos because most of that shit looks cheap and lazy but if done right, I dig it. But I'm not the type to go out and get a new lens and/or camera if I don't have to. I'm comfortable with what I take. Could I improve? Sure. Could a new lens, camera, or filter help that? Sure. But that shit costs $$$! And like the incomparable Gangsta Boo once said: "N!gga, where them dollaz at?" Not here! I can make a photo work with a disposable Kodak I bought at the Rite Aid next to the JJ's Fish & Chicken. ColDay will be aiight.

What would I like to shoot with? I'd LIKE one of those newish Nikon cameras. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Canons but ain't nuthin' wrong with switching up the style every-so-often.


If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

I couldn't possibly do that. What I will say is that I prefer to photograph cities. Not people, not food, not beer, not a neon bowling alley, not a white guy with an Urban Outfitters hat crossing a busy Manhattan street, not some Asian lady drycleaning her dress outside in Beijing, but fucking cities. A city's architecture, parks, streetscapes, disparities, and natural scenery show you what the city is about. Anybody can go to a mall, zoom in on Shaquon and Derrick eating a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and call it a "people shot" but what does that mall itself have to offer aside from J. Jill? Do you feel like it's an interesting subject matter? Does Shaquon excite you? For me, no. Fuck that bitch and her punk ass man too. A city showcases what is unique (or not unique) to the area and in turn, unique to your camera. A shot of some Bed-Stuy brownstones followed by a Russian Orthodox church in Sunset Park tell you two different stories. A streetwall of Paris makes you feel like it is an important, beautiful, worthy city to photograph. A neon cowboy sign in downtown Las Vegas tells you the whimsical yet powerful history of such a controversial city on this forum. A courthouse in Vandalia, Illinois or a Ha-Ha Wall outside of London both give you a taste of what it's like to be there. In Vandalia or London. Not that mall food court.

Being black has an advantage in that I can go to areas for which I wouldn't have as much of a fear to take photos of if I were of some other race. Typically in the United States, these areas have the best architecture in the city so to use my "black card" to get the real, how can I not take advantage of that?

That's my style and what I like to photograph.


Talk about your inspirations and influences.

Four people on this forum truly inspired me: Dylan Leblanc, Kilgore Trout, mrherodotus, and Randy Sandford.

Dylan for obvious reasons. No Dylan, no ColDayMan, no city photography. That simple.

Kilgore Trout (or just DeWolf, to me) created Cafe Urbanite, a site that perhaps had the single biggest influence on ANY of these architecture forums. Before, it was WTB, Nalyd's, etc...strictly skyscrapers and their construction. DeWolf brought the concept of urbanity to forums with photo essays, transit, and city/architecture/density critiques, and basically said "to hell with skyscrapers!" Amazing how one site could transform a site called SKYSCRAPERPAGE to "URBANISTS REALLY, SKYSCRAPERS SECONDARY!" EVERY photographer on here CANNOT say either Dylan or DeWolf didn't influence their style.

But if DeWolf brought urbanity to the forefront, it was mrherodotus that documented it in the form of "city touring." I mean, who knew about "rowhouses in Pittsburgh" or "Second Empire architecture in Richmond, Virginia" without him? Who even CARED before him? Nobody on this forum did. Sure, there were urban elitists but they didn't even bother to take photos of the streetscapes. mrherodotus gave us that visual meaning of "dense cities." This forum went from Trango Towers in Denver and Charlotte vs. Atlanta skyline threads to "show me your cities bones!" And ever since he came on the scene, I went from scanning in photos OF Carew Tower to taking photos FROM Carew Tower.

Lastly, Randy Sandford inspired me with his encouragement. I forget when it was (mid-2000's) but I created a thread about some city and he said something I would NEVER forget (paraphrasing): "ColDay, you even make bad cities look good to the point that I'd want to go there." That little nugget inspired me GREATLY to the point of going to the smallest of cities to showcase "the bones" of old theaters, forgotten neighborhoods, and rarely-seen skyline shots. I regret never meeting Randy but he was TRULY an inspirational person.

Now I wouldn't say I'm inspired by these motherfvckers but I will say they force me to stay in the photography game because they make me look lazy: Segun, Paradox21, Flash, giallo, volguus zildrohar, giovanni sasso, theodore, Serge, Daniel8ty8, KCGridlock, I am Hydrogen, Lsyd, HomeInMyShoes, MayDay, John R, WesternGulf, Ex-Ithacan, JivecitySTL, Hayward, Nightsky, Chef, R@ptor, and a whole host of others including (what my old-school ass would consider) the newbies like Thundertubs, Kingofthehill, Bedhead, stepper77, flar, sabotai, Minato Ku, Centropolis, hkskyline, photolitherland, Sekkle, etc.


Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

There are tons of places I would love to photograph but high on my list would be Sub-Saharan Africa, Istanbul, and South America. Particularly Brazil.


Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

My most popular photo thread series I'd say was all of 2007. I showcased New York, Los Angeles, London, Chicago, Paris, hell, Earth that year. I even had a thread titled Earth that, I believe, was well-received. I don't think I'll have a year quite like that again but who knows. Earlier in my photography, my neighborhoods tours of Cincinnati and Columbus from 2004-2006 were quite popular as well. But really, the secret to make your thread popular here (as of 2011) is put the words New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh and *BAM*, 2 pages at least! Not even London, Hong Kong, or Paris is getting that play! I'm awaiting the resurgence of Charlotte...


Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

Any of my recent Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, or Indianapolis tours. Doing hometown area tours is more personal than going to San Diego and taking colorful shots of a place I'm likely not going to ever live or feel a connection to. People like to expose areas of their city (in my case, region) to others. Not seeing the amount of people viewing any of those Southern Ohio threads and/or responding versus other threads which I thought were complete trash kinda gets to me a little (whether it be image of the place, people not caring about the subject matter, "latest trend" photographers, etc). But whatever, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.


Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

Fuck what people say, photograph what you feel reflects you. Nobody can create a style for you but you. Craft that style and keep it movin'!


Who should we ask these questions of next?

Normally, I would say somebody like Paradox21, volguus zildrohar, mrherodotus, Serge and Theodore (both who've left the forum), Xing, etc but I know enough about those motherfuckers to not care what they say. Plus, Paradox21 won't even see this post within a year...which is a shame because he's one of the greatest photographers in forum history. So, I'm going to say somebody who I see as highly underrated on this forum with composition, color, quality, subject matter, courage, and a damn good eye: -AX-

Proved you wrong, ya black bastard! ;)

Good reading Colday. It's been a pleasure to do some city touring with you the last couple years... Your photography has really evolved too and your photothreads are always fascinating. I've certainly gained a newfound respect for Ohio cities since I have met you. It's been very interesting. Carry on, good sir!

whaaaaaat? ( I kept adding "a's" until it let me post, but ultimately, my explenation allowed me to)

Just preaching to the choir ;)

That's what I do.

This is the best page in this thread :tup:

Great Q&A from some highly creative and hardworking photogs.

DEFINITELY the wildest answers yet. thanks Col. cant wait to hear from AX too. good pick. loved his thread about drive to the edge of north america.

This is an awesome thread! With my new camera I'll have to start taking a ton more pictures and making new threads. Maybe I'll end up in here some day. :)

HIMS!!! THE THREAD IS DYING. Please bring it back to life :haha:

I'd talk about myself, but I don't really consider myself to be even a moderately decent photographer... ;) Not a single thread I've posted comes close to the quality of so many SSPers, period. Not to say my threads aren't good, they just aren't GREAT!

Aaron (Glowrock)

:previous:

your threads are great its just your camera that sucks :haha:

UPGREYYEDD!!!!!!

Can we get this going again? Who's on the clock?

I know, right. there has to be at least on person out there willing to spill all their secrets to us.

Maybe Someformofhuman? See for yourself: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=190268

KCGridlock was supposed to be next, but he is now called SkylineScenes so he might not know about it.

ColDayMan also nominated -AX-, but he doesn't seem to be around lately either.

Someformofhuman is a good choice too.

HomeInMyShoes, are you reading this? If you're not around maybe Tony or I could message one of these guys.

SFOH would definitely do it. Skylinescenes has been on here recently too so he might do it now.

Seems like someone should just go ahead and contact whoever is next up.

I'm on it! I sent a PM to SkylineScenes and SomeFormOfHuman.

Both seemed to be popular choices by the regulars.

Lets see if they respond. :tup:

yay! Thanks disco.

No problem. :tup:

Thanks for the PM, interview questionnaires coming right up! :tup:

Here ya go! :tup: Hope it isn't too lengthy...


What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

I'm shooting with an EOS 7D. Coupled with a 10-22mm, 24-70mm, 100-400mm and 055CXPRO3 Manfrotto Tripod. I shoot all kinds of styles and subjects ranging from sports to still life - an all rounder.


If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

It's hard to summarise one photo as I keep experimenting new techniques and shooting styles ranging from all subjects and walks of life every time I shoot. But I think until recently, surrealism art has caught my attention. And I think, a third eye view would be great; I guess is up to the public to decide what photo it would be. :p


Talk about your inspirations and influences.

Everything and anything that catches my attention and interest me is already my eye of influence. ;)

I've never been schooled for photography or read anything about it. It's a self-taught adventure for me. :)

It's not until recently I got myself caught up in landscape photography. Everybody thinks that Singapore is nothing but an urban jungle which I disagree. It's a garden city, and some places not many people know about. And I wish to showcase these places of 'mundane' interests like parks, shipyards, deserted/rural parts and forested areas with water banks, seas and rivers - all away from the city area.

Surrealism in the works of Salvador Dali has taught me that a certain place or landscape can be imaginary or somewhat 'fictional'. I yearned that my photos has to tell viewers that this particular place of interest is, well... 'more than just a place of interest' - because of either colour, lighting, the play of sunrays, or the way the subject(s) stand out in the scene, which has to establish an imaginary feel, you know that sorta thing. Of course you do not literally see melting clocks in my photos but you get the idea... It's sort of a reciprocated idea borrowed and translated into photography.

With Dali's inspirations my photos only work best within the 'golden hour' of sunrise or sunset to achieve this effect. Wide range of filters were customized and the strong yet carefully subtle use of DRI/HDR (never ever, overedited) manually blended to further reflect this inspired idea from Dali.

Reflections in the water also play an important role in surrealism photography... Photographers must not see water as water itself, but rather like a never ending mirror to reflect what's above as if there are duplicates of this place of interest.

In SSP, there are photographers whom I also draw inspirations from, like bulliver, hydrogen, photolitherland, Witty Nickname, sekkle, giallo and many others who I didn't forget but too much good photographers here. :)


Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

Everywhere else. There are so many things that I wish to explore and look around. There's limitless amount of beauty in this World.

If only I had money...


Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

The Caught in the Act thread I thought it was pretty good concept. IamHydrogen's thread about Chicago has also caught my attention as well.


Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

Hmm, I didn't post much photothreads in SSP, so I can't directly answer this question... Sorry. :)


Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

It's a photographer's job to make the most mundane looking of all places into something beautiful.

So just don't think too much, open your eyes, be clear about what you want to photograph and ask yourself; what in this scene interests you? What do you want to tell the viewers? What do you want them to appreciate? The dead tree? The reflection of water? The sky? Extraordinary out of the ordinary, what if you could combine these elements and tell a story? Settle those in mind, and we can start shooting. ;)

Who should we ask these questions of next?

Photolitherland & bulliver. ;)

Thanks for the response and bringing this thread back to life. Thanks for the shout out about my thread too. appreciate that.

When I think of the SFOH style something of this nature comes to mind....
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/...c012233c_b.jpg

Now, Whose next? Who does SFOH want to hear from?

^
I love your photography someformofhuman, the photos are always very clean and precise. Keep up the awesome work, hopefully you publish a book or something someday.

Thanks to all who supported me. :) Many thanks to Diskojoe for the PM as well. :) Take care everyone...

Your Welcome! You definitely deserve to be noted here.

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

Until recently I was shooting with a Nikon D200 with many lenses. I mostly use wide angle lenses, the Tokina 11-16 f 2.8. I just bought a D7000 and now only use it. I would love someday to be able to buy the Nikon D2x or whatever replaces it in the future. I have many other lenses though, the Tamron 200-500mm, Nikon 18-70 f 3.5, Nikon 10.5mm f2.8, Tokina 12-24mm f4, Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR, and some extension tubes for macro.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/88-1.jpg
Hmmmm, maybe this photo?

Talk about your inspirations and influences.

Well, I used to shoot only nature photography, mostly birds. I dont really know too many photographers by name. I would say my biggest influence would be National Geographic. I had a subscription to them since I was in 3rd grade. Many of the photos stuck out in my mind and I probably learned how to frame photos from National Geographic.


Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

I have been to many places around the world but the place I want to go to most and spend tons of time shooting in, would be NYC. Ive been there before, but it was 6 years ago when I really wasnt interested in urban photography. I could just spend years photographing everything in that city.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

My most popular photothread would have to be my Cairo, Ill photothread, that and the redneck Arkansas photo thread I made years ago. Both got up to around 12 or so pages.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

My Denver photothread I made only got like 6 responses, although the photos werent too good cause I only spent 2 hours walking fast around town to see as much as I could.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

Its all about framing photographs. I try and show the whole scene so people can get a feel for the city even though they arent there. I try and capture the whole street and all the buildings on that street. Like this...

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/hot3.jpg

and this

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...rdboy1/van.jpg

and this

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSC_1040.jpg

I also do portraits every now and again, I think this is my best

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...dboy1/c120.jpg

I usually spend most my time framing the photograph and take many shots of the same scene and in order to get the best possible photo. I always have my camera on manual settings so I can set the aperture and all that. I think in order to get the best photo you have to completely understand lighting also in order to get the best possible exposure

Great responses! Thanks for participating.

Who would you like to have interviewed next Photolitherland?

^
I am Hydrogen.