Hi SimpleLine, please tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into photography.

I’m from Indonesia, born in 1979. Currently I’m an engineer at a bicycle manufacture. I got into photography around 1999, my friend bought a compact Kodak digital camera, it was one of the first kind in my country, and from time to time I got to try the camera, shoot here and there and it became a new hobby for me. In 2001 I started to do some freelance photography jobs for weddings, just small timer Later on I bought my own camera and got more serious, he he!

What kind of camera do you use, and do you use any additional gear when shooting?

Currently I am using Canon 40D and really expecting the expensive 5D Mark II quality, hehehe! Anyway, before that I used Sony prosumer F707, Canon 350D then 400D then the current 40D.
When shooting outdoors I usually use a 580EX flash for fill in… in modeling shots I usually pair with ST-E2 so I can get a better lighting angle… but mostly, only the camera and the lens is enough.

Have you had any professional training as a photographer?

Nope… I teach my self how to do it, trial and error, read some articles then go exploring it.

Some of your work is digitally manipulated, can you guide us a little bit through that process?

I loved Photoshop before I even knew photography. I used to be an illustrator for magazines and I drew comic books. When I knew photography, Photoshop was actually just like a darkroom for analog photography, but Photoshop creates an even broader opportunity to express yourself than any chemical darkroom could. I know a lot of photographers think that digital manipulation is forbidden in photography. But in my opinion there is nothing wrong with it, just know the boundaries and let your creativity lead wherever it may lead you. I think it’s a great invention we should learn in positive ways. Just like paintings; some people appreciate Monet, some don’t. People appreciate abstract paintings, some think it’s ridiculous. It’s really nothing to argue about, the fact is that if the photo is great, it will be great with or without manipulation… it’s just great and we don’t have to argue about how it is great Like they say, a picture tells a thousand words.

Do you have any hobbies apart from photography?

Many, haha! basketball, drawings, paintings, singing, guitars…

What are your plans for the future?

Uhm, I want to get more serious about photography, I don’t know yet…
I’ve finish my website here at www.soulphotography.biz for a start.

Have you done anything silly lately, a funny story perhaps?

Hahah, I guess not. I’m quite a careful and planning person, hahaha…
but there was this one time when I shot models in the forest, I didn’t have a 70-200mm lens with me, while you know it’s a great lens for modeling shots… So what I do is I took my company’s camera which happens to have a 70-300mm lens and my old prosumer camera.. So now I had like 3 cameras with different lenses hanging on my neck the whole time…. later, after the 7 hours shooting session in the forest, I spent like 3 days with a soar neck, and couldn’t even look to the left and right… I swore I wouldn’t hang more than just one camera to my neck from that on, hahaha!

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, it’s a pleasure to have you as a photographer here at stockvault.net – Is there anything you’d like to add?

I don’t know… for people out there with the love of photography and also digital manipulation… don’t even care about what people say to you when it’s negative, just keep your focus and go straight ahead, do what you do best, do what you think it’s best. Learn a lot and hear no negative… in the future when you can do great photo’s like Dave Hill’s, they’ll know who’s really loving photography.