Then
How did you learn photography?
When I first began to shoot, I used a Canon A1 camera and mostly taught myself about technique using a trial and error method. After a while I started photographing people and joined a German photography forum. I met some folks from my town and we started to push our skills together on little trips or developing film in our basements. After a while, I finished school and studied to become an electrician I choose to push it myself to another level with photography and quit my old job. I went back to school and graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts. From then on, almost two years now, I have been working as a freelance photographer.
Now
What year was your "Then" picture taken in?
They were taking very closely to 2009 when I started school at the university.
Then
What did you do to better your photography skills?
As I described earlier on, for me it was always "trial & error" that worked out best for me. I still start my shoots pretty much unprepared. No preconceived notions. As soon as I feel comfortable with the situation, I try to do new things as often as I can. I feel this helps to keep my brain hungry new things.
Now
What is one piece of advice you would give to a new photographer to help them excel in their craft?
Meet people who are interested in excelling in their craft as well. They don't have to be better than you so they can teach you. It's actually better to be on nearly the same level so you see everybody developing. For me, it always was a improvement to get feedback on my stuff.
Now
What gear do you use? Cameras, lenses, PC or Mac and what is your go-to preset?
Canon 5D Mark II
35mm f/2
50mm f/1.4
85mm f/1.8
I'm a hybrid user as I have a desktop PC and a Mackbook 13"
I mostly use Photoshop. I never felt comfortable with LR and other file organization programs.
Check out some more images from Jan below.
