The following is the content of the interview
Q: Under what opportunities did you come into contact with photography and how many years have you been able to take? Can you talk to us about your main shooting experience?
A: My introductory photography should have started with my freshman year studying photography courses. At that time, I followed the teacher to learn some basic photography knowledge in the studio of the college. The shooting type was mainly advertising and commercial photography. After finishing the class and handing in the homework, I put down the camera. In my spare time, I like to see exhibitions, visit museums and travel.
I like photography, especially landscape photography, should have started in the summer of 2019, when I came into contact with a group of friends who like to climb stairs in Shanghai. At that time, I was unable to return to school due to the epidemic, so I took more photos in Beijing in 2020 and gradually learned time-lapse photography. It was not until I started to get involved in climbing stairs that I began to regain my interest in photography, especially landscape photography. I realized that the city I am in is a destination for shooting urban scenery, so most of my spare time has gradually been occupied by photography, until now.
Shenran's frame painting product made by Aphoto Yachang Image
Q: Do you have a subject-friendly preference in photography? Where was the most satisfactory work taken? What's so proud of?
A: I love landscape photography and astrophotography, which mainly depends on my time and where I am - I usually study and live in Shanghai and Beijing, so the subject matter I shoot is mainly these two cities; when I have the opportunity to travel, I will take some local natural scenery and customs. In addition, I also have a strong interest in wildlife photography; if I have the opportunity, I am very willing to try shooting some other types of subjects, such as underwater photography, macro photography, aerial photography, etc.
I don’t have the so-called “most satisfactory” work yet, and I am still learning and growing myself. Some of my works that have won awards and participated in the competition are mainly shot in Beijing and Shanghai, because I have the most time to shoot in these two cities, so the chance of shooting good works is relatively higher.
Shen Ran's desk calendar of Aphoto Artron Image production
Q: What kind of photos do you think can be considered your "work" and what necessary factors must the "representative work" contain to be called a representative work?
A: I think the most important thing behind a work is to have the author's own thinking. For example, I personally believe that the meaning of photography is not only to record beauty, but also to express the photographer's understanding of beauty. As a design student, I will try to look at photography from a designer's perspective. The materials, composition and colors of my photography works are usually simpler, which is actually related to my learning of design. In the 1930s, the famous architect Mies van der Roh once said the famous "Less is more", which is a design concept that advocates simplicity and opposes excessive decoration.
When I was doing design, I liked the simple style, and the same was true when I was post-processing the photography image. Just as the designer hopes to design unique and unique works, I also hope that my photography works can be recognizable and innovative, and try to avoid the same thing as possible. This is also the goal and direction I have been trying to explore. The so-called "representative works" may depend more on various factors such as the level, value, influence, and social and audience evaluations, rather than just the photographer himself.
Q: What do you value most in the output of your work? How to choose a film and a theme?
A: My current number of works is not very large, and I still lack experience in outputting works. If I want to output electronic photos into paper works, I personally value color restoration, because I have invested a lot of energy in post-processing, especially color tuning, so I hope that the output works can be consistent with the effects I see on the computer to the greatest extent. At this point, Aphoto Artron Image did a good job, and the photos I got were very color-reducing, so I was willing to hand over the output of the work to Artron Image for doing it.
Q: Can you introduce the photography experience that left you the most impressive?
A: There are many . I will take the work "Shock the Ancient and the Current" as an example to share my experience of shooting lightning in Beijing. This photo of "Shocking the Ancient and the Current" was filmed in late May 2021. It is a single shot without a stack. The foreground of the picture is Beijing Mingcheng Wall Ruins Park , and in the distance is the landmark building of Beijing Guomao CBD. A stout lightning flash emerged, first illuminating the sky above Guomao CBD, and then thunder also spread to the nearby Mingcheng Wall Ruins. It can be said that it echoes ancient and modern times, so it is called "Shaking the Ancient and Turning the Today". I remember that Beijing issued a rainstorm and thunder warning on the afternoon of the shooting. I also thought that there was a high probability of shooting lightning through the weather check software, so I discussed with several photography enthusiast friends and decided to make an appointment to go out for shooting together.
Shenran's photography work "Shocking the Ancient and the Current"
First, we need to determine the camera position, which depends on the direction of the lightning movement and the relative position relationship with the Beijing landmark Guomao CBD. We know that lightning exists between cumulonimbus clouds and static electricity generated by friction and decomposition of water molecules. Therefore, to determine the position of lightning, we must first judge the position, cloud volume, movement direction and change trend of cumulonimbus clouds, and ensure that the cumulonimbus clouds have not moved when they reach the camera position, so that there is time to prepare for shooting. But because we were a little later than expected, we happened to catch up with the first wave of cumulonimbus clouds that arrived first on the way from the parking space to the community corridor. After a storm, my shoes, trouser legs, and back were all wet. Fortunately, I protected my camera on my chest, so the equipment was not wet.
When everything was ready, more and more lightning began to appear in the expected direction. While watching the screen, I looked at the surface of the lens and used air to blow off the water droplets on the lens. I kept in the camera position until at 11:20 pm, a huge horizontal lightning flash appeared in the center of the screen, lasting from left to right for more than five seconds. I was lucky enough to use the 10-second automatic shooting mode for a single shot. When I saw this complete lightning from the camera screen, I felt that everything I had paid for it was worth it.
Q: How do you think the value of the work is spread better and more extensively?
A: Good works naturally have their own value, which depends on the subject of the shooting and the way of post-processing and output. In the current era of the Internet, if photographers want to be better and larger-scale dissemination, they naturally cannot do without social media. There are relatively niche and professional photography platforms, such as 500px, 1x, Tuchuang, Mipai, etc., as well as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, , etc., which are aimed at the public and have more traffic. My works will be published on these platforms. In addition, exhibitions, competitions, and photo albums are a combination of online and offline methods. Participating in exhibitions and competitions is an important way to improve the popularity of your works, broaden your horizons and improve your aesthetics.
Shenran's photography work "Watching the Moon" is exhibited in China Art Museum
Q: If a photographer wants to customize his first/first work, as a "experienced person", what kind of advice would you give him/her?
A: I think my current experience is still very limited and I can't be considered a "experienced person". But I think the saying goes: professional things must be left to professionals, which is definitely correct. As photographers, we should focus on polishing our works carefully, and the rest can be left to professional institutions to complete.
Q: Do you have any ideas about outputting the work next? Can you reveal it a little?
A: After I output some frames, calendars and photos on Artron Image, I plan to output some small personal photography works, which can be given to my friends as a souvenir.
shen Ran
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Artravelersr
Artravelersr
Chinese Photography Copyright Association member, Shanghai Photographers Association member, 8KRAW Pictures, Planet Research Institute, Visual China , Night Sky China, Star Alliance CSVA and other platforms signing/cooperative photographer, contributor to "China National Astronomical " and other magazines. The works have been featured on Xinhua News Agency , People's Daily , CCTV and other mainstream media platforms.
has won the Best Picture Award at the 16th Shanghai "Silver Pigeon Award", the first prize in the Beijing CBD Photography and Video Competition, the second prize in the China Drone Photography Competition, the third place in the Panoramic Category & Architecture Award, and the Top Ten and Top 100 Landscape Category of the China Drone Image Competition.
has been selected for the China Art Festival National Excellent Photography Exhibition, Shanghai Photography Art Exhibition, Pingyao International Photography Exhibition, Lishui International Photography Festival, China Science and Technology Photography Exhibition, Beijing International Design Week , Hebei International Industrial Design Week, Shanghai Urban Space Art Season and other exhibitions.
Representative Work Series
Every representative work of yours deserves to be a professional photography work.
Thank you for being so outstanding
THANKS
can also read Xiaoying's articles
Hope to contribute to your photography technology
grow together with you to meet a better self
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