Who are you? Introduce yourself and tell us what kind of photography you are into!
I’m Thomm and i’m living somewhere in south germany and got more serious into photography the last 2-3 year. I traveled a lot in the last years mainly in southeast-asia and iceland, that’s how i came to photography. In 2014 i got the first wedding to photograph (of my brother) and i liked it so much, that this part of my photography got more and more and since last year i’m doing the wedding photography stuff as a business called Lichtbildstories together with my amazing partner Oliver Prager. Photography for me is the compensation for an usual office job in a big company, where i’m working as a software engineer and sadly don’t have much contact with any other people outside the company. But this job gives me the ability to travel and do my hobbies, the photography gives me all the fun i need and the great ability to meet many amazing people! :-)
Which Camera(s) do you use?
Sony A7rII and Sony A7
DJI Phantom Vision 2+ (photo drone)
What are your lenses? What do you like about them?
Walimex 14mm 2.8:
It’s a cheap and very good 14mm for fullframe! Great for landscapes and some architectural images if you undo its strong lens distortion.
Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH:
My favorite lens for everything except portraits! Very small and amazing quality (i also fell in love with its focus ring) :-)
Mitakon 50mm 0.95:
For sure the aperture is amazing! But the bokeh of the lens thrills me every time i use it! So soft and special, this is my standard lens for doing all my portraits!
Leica 90mm Summicron:
Nice and handy tele lens, great quality even if the lens is almost 30 years old!
Which is your favorite lens and why?
Not sure if i prefer the Leica 35mm or the Mitakon! This changes from time to time! But most of the time i’m using the Leica lens which gives me a very compact camera to use during the weddings and travels. For portraits for sure the Mitakon is better, but the small combo of an A7(rII) and the Leica lens fits in every pocket. Many people don’t recognize me that much as a photographer like i would normally do using some big cameras like an Canon 1Dx or Nikon D4 or something similar, but i have almost the same (or even better) image quality!
What do you use for carrying your Equipment? Bags, Straps tell us everything!
I prefer my Dakine Mission Photo camera bag for all my travels! Everything fits in it and the bag doesn’t look like a typical camera bag, which can also be helpful in some areas. I made some camera straps by myself using some nice belts, which works quite well and looks cool.
What´s your favorite “everyday” Camera?
Sony A7rII! Ok the images are sometimes a bit too large with max. 42MP and the Sony Menu is way too complicated, but the dynamic range of the sensor is outstanding, the silent mode often very useful and the sensor stabilization works very well! As a former (and a bit disappointed) Leica M9 shooter, this is a great, compact and very useful camera because i can use all available lens (no matter which company or age) via an adapter!
What are your Accessories? Tripod(s), Flash, Filter etc.?
Nothing special! A small travel tripod and a heavier one for some stormy travels like iceland! I have a cheap flash (Yongnuo) for doing some second curtain images at weddings and concerts, but i love to use only available light. I have some filters (nd, gradient, polarizer) but i don’t use them very often. When i need to mention my favorite filter, it’s a ND40000 for long exposure photos.
Which Computer System do you use? Mac or PC? Why?
I edit all my photos using a MacBook Pro! It has quite stable OS and has almost the same performance after some years, and Windows is probably the complete opposite! As an external hard drive a LaCie Thunderbolt 500 GB SSD is quite useful and handy during my travels.
Where do you edit? On your Desktop? On your couch while drinking beer? On the road?
Mostly on my comfortable couch with a good cup of espresso! I’m traveling a lot so a good laptop is the best option for me to edit the pictures.
Which editing software do you use? Lightroom, PS, Capture One? Anything else?
Lightroom 6 and afterwards ASE 7 for grain and bokeh effects.
Tablet or mouse for editing?
Nothing, touchpad must be sufficient!
Favorite Music while editing?
Big spotify mix between indie and old school hiphop!
What is on your whishlist?
Maybe a new Leica M somewhen, but this will take me a long time to save the money for it! :) I prefer to spend my money in travels, and there are many many places on my whishlist before any Leica gets real! :-)
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This article was written by Sven Malojlo | Portrait and Wedding photographer.
www.svenmalojlo.de