Q&A AUGUST 2020
Q&A Nils Bruning
First things first: This Q&A will be in english, thus my international friends also have the chance to see what you guys wanted me to answer - me, my passion, my current status and next travel plans… He’re we go!
Where are you from?
I was born in a town called Osnabrück in north-western part of Germany.
Where are you living?
I’m living in Cologne, which is one out of four cities in Germany with more than one million inhabitants.
What did you study?
I went to university in Cologne and I became a Sports- and History teacher for 5-10th graders (secondary school).
Since when do you take pictures?
Well, I bought my first DLSR (Nikon D5100) in 2012 because I went on a three-week (half charity work, half-holiday) trip to Indonesia. To be honest I had no idea how to handle the camera, but on the ~12h flight I figured out, that the camera has an “automatic modus”, which was good enough to fit my expectations for that time.
Is it difficult to take good pictures as you do?
Thanks a lot for the compliment ;) Well, firstly who defines how a “good” picture has to loo like? I mean, in the first place you yourself have to like it. Afterwards you can see how it will match other opinions. Additionally, I only can say, that you should go out and practice practice and practice. There is always space to improve. By that being said: you definitely have to read my “New isn’t always better” article!
Anyways you should never forget: Others don’t know how much effort you put in your picture. Maybe you got up at 4am to capture the sunrise. Others only see the result, not the process!
What are your favorite shoot conditions?
50% sunrise and 50% sunset! Seriously. You won’t find lights like this. Its simply amazing.
Additionally, I really want to take more pictures in rainy / moody weather.
Your next travel destination?
Puuh, over all is the wish to be in the mountains! I have not been (ever) to the mountains for photography reasons! And somehow it feels that every photo looks 300% better when there are mountains in the background ;) Another sweet destination is Madeira (Portugal). Compared to the variety on that Island its so small and kinda close to Germany…
Do you use Lightroom and / or Photoshop and how much time do you put into them editing your photos?
It may sound pretty romantic or old school, but when I’m outside taking pictures, I really try to take a picture which does not need much post-editing. Thus I’m pretty fast when it comes to editing. Firstly, I use Lightroom to give my pictures a few tweaks (saturation and highlights for example). This normally takes less than five minutes and is 95% of my editing work. Secondly, I - sometimes - have a look if there is something in my picture worth disappearing (the last 5%). I mean, especially when I’m using my drone I cannot prevent that there are people or cars midst the scenery. That’s it.
I want to dive into photography, too. Do you have any tips?
Basically, go out and shoot. Practice, practice, practice!
Start with an affordable camera and get yourself editing-tools like Lightroom & Photoshop (about 10€ a month) or for free if you use it on your mobile device (tablet).
Once again: Have a look at my “new isn’t always better” article or (if you understand german) get your headphones and listen to my Halogehn-Podcast-Episode in which I’m talking about that topic in detail.
Is there anything you don’t like about Instagram/Snapshat etc.?
What I really dislike is that a growing number of photographers really modify and therefore change the character of their pictures in post-editing. Of course there are a few who’s style or business it is to "create” obviously unrealistic pictures. But the more I search the more it gets evidently that photographer X or Y is post-editing the picture only to make it more special. It’s worth to keep your eyes open. You’ll find more and more pictures on which - for instance - the sky is burned out or completely white (and be honest, how often have you seen a completely white sky?).
Another thing is, that as a “normal” photographer (by saying this I mean that you don’t already have a follower base because you had a “life” before photography like actors or sportsmen like Jon Olsson for example) you hardly get “real” comments. Instagram is full of “engagement-groups” which only intention is to push one’s posting by commenting. Once again its worth to keep your eyes open. You will recognize such comments because the guys almost every time write something like “that’s sick dude”; “what a great picture”; “what a banger”, “it looks so awesome”. Nothing in terms of content or critical. Sad but true. It follows that you’ll find IG-accounts with thousands and hundreds of thousands of followers but they don’t get an engagement rate above 5% (when you have 1000 followers and only 50 react to your picture). Unfortunately, companies have in mind that the more follower the more benefits for them. This is why some pretty good photographers (my favorites right now for example: Jörn Henn or Milan Janik won’t get any collaboration or attention… sad but true.
Beaches or mountains?
Well, why not both? I mean I really like having sand between my toes, salt in my hair and the taste of sun on my skin. But on the other hand, I really love the air and atmosphere when being on a hike (in the mountains). Its 50/50!
What are you doing when you’re not “on the road”?
I really enjoy reading books. Normally I read 15-30 books per year, but this year I had so many other things to do, that I’m a little behind schedule.
And I have always been into sports. I swam till I was 14, played soccer till I was ~24. Basically, it does not matter what type of sport it actually is, I really enjoy being in motion in general. I tried a lot of different games in my years at university. For example: Baseball, Football, Gymnastics, Diving, Frisbee, Volleyball etc. pp…
Is there anything you don’t like at all (behavior)?
When someone doesn’t react to your messages (for hours or even days)
Why people are often not on time
Dead-Fish-Handshakes!
I really hope you enjoyed this little Q&A!
If you have any questions please add them to the comment section below!