The past 12 months have been a fantastic journey. Along the way I have had the privilege of meeting many talented mobile photographers and have been inspired by so many more.
As we approach the festive season I thought it would be interesting to invite 24 mobile photographers who have inspired and supported me in one way or another and ask them to offer an insight into their photography, to reflect on their year gone by or plans for the coming year ahead.
Each day until Christmas Eve we will be featuring one photographer in a sort of online advent calendar so to speak.
Today’s featured photographer is Sacha Dohmen or Maktub Street-Dog as many know him.
Sacha has a rugged style of photography features solitary figures, isolated on dark or blurred backgrounds. His work has been featured on many leading mobile photography websites including his interview on Mobiography and several of our ‘Capturing the Moment’ showcases.
My top tips or words of wisdom for aspiring mobile photographers or artists are…
The first one is find your style. I see a lot of amateur photographer (not only mobile) which publish one day a portrait, one day a landscape, then a street shot, then cats or dogs… Not one is really good. Think about what you like and specialize you in this genre. Search inspiration, buy photography books, visit galleries and exhibition. Always place the question why do you like or don´t like a picture. Is it the composition? Color or b&w? Are you a fan of street photography or composite images? Why an image awake emotions and other images don´t have this power? All these questions and many others will help you to find your own style.
Shoot as often as you can, get organized and work on editing images every day. Even if today nothing in particular is singing to you in a picture, perhaps in a month or two you turn it into a top pieces with the right idea and inspiration.
Zoom with your feet. Resist the urge to zoom and know the strengths and weaknesses of your tool. Apart the image quality in low light, the zoom is the greatest weakness of your phone.
Learn from others. Join a site like IPA, look at a lots of work, styles and types of art. What appears to be applicable to your own work? Do not be shy and ask in the community for advice, mobile photographer are often willing to discuss apps and techniques. Study tutorials, a lot of renowned mobile photographer publish them on the net.
The last tip is specifically for aspiring street photographer. Treat your look. Not attract attention. We not speak often of it but it´s very important. We cannot become invisible so we have to adjust our look to the surrounding street. Don´t dress flashy and don´t dress to funky. Just dress normally with neutral or dark colors. And wear good shoes so you can walk far and run fast.
Congrats Sacha my friend! Excellent tips of advise too!
Another fantastic image from Maktub 🙂
Congrats Sacha! I’m throwing away all my funky clothes and uncomfortable shoes now.
Enjoyed your tips Sacha! Congrats on the feature!
Zoom with your feet!
I like it – and I enjoyed reading this. I look forward to your new images, my friend.
A top image and such good advice. The last point in particular is something which I agree with.
Congrats Sascha. Love your image and title. Your questions to ask oneself are great. Sometimes personal attachment to images can blur the view when deciding if an image is good or not. I struggle with this regularly. Zooming with your feet is the only way to zoom with a mobile phone. I’ve seen images which would have been great if the photographer hadn’t zoomed.
A very sweet piece mate, with some great advice. Always love to see your images of the people on the street and the one you’ve chosen here is a beauty.