NDU University Lebanon Interview
Last week, I was interviewed by Maya Eid frrom NDU University-Lebanon via email. I would like to thank her for her interest in my blog and for liking the photos that I post on it.
For those people who did not read the interview, here is the full text:
1- Why do you blog?
I love photography and I wanted to be a part of the quite revolution which is taking place online for the fast few years; which is the emergence of social media and sharing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Posterous, Tumbr, Minus, blogger… and the new kid on the block Google+. I knew that posting on such sites can help many people find and know my work.
I thought about doing a website to post the photos that I shoot. Although a web site is quite important, It is not so easy to update its contents all the time, especially if you are not the one coding the site. Furthermore, I believe a web site is a place where one should display his finest work, whereas in a blog one can experiment a little with different ideas and approaches. Many top blogs are free and one can post as much as one wants and you can view all your history.
My blog is there for me, and I know that if I am passionate about something and put my heart into it, that will show up in the shots and people will like them as well.
2- When did you first start blogging?
I started sharing my work online about eighteen months ago. I post photos; the words are mainly there to provide some additional information I feel it might be needed to explain my images.
There are many blogs detected to photography out there, but many post everyday. I, however, feel that if something is not made with time, time will not respected.
3- What have been the most commented on blog posts you have published? Why did they generate attention?
I have a photojournalist approach to photography, and I admire the work of the great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Almost all of my photos are taken with natural, available light. I read that some photographers are using a continues tungsten video light to light there subjects. I thought that could work in some shots but not always, otherwise the heavy handed approach of the photographer would show up in the final shots.
Wanting to test it, I found a simple lamp and I choose a small Greek statue that I had as a subject. It was not easy as the only way to control the intensity and the direction of the light is by actually moving the light itself back and forth. I positioned the light to only hit part of the statue and the other part and the background fell in complete darkness. I shot it with my macro lens with a big aperture resulting in a very shallow depth of field drawing the eye to one part of the image.
The dramatic lighting and the composition makes one of my most popular images.
4- How to handle comments on your blog?
When I post something, I know that I am going to get few comments. I cannot respond to everything because that would be rather time consuming. I just leave it for a couple for days and then I look at them. Usually comments are just a few words, If there are a few lines instead, that means the person is really interested and I might write something.
5- Who is your favorite blogger and why?
I like Ted Forbes because he is someone who use his blog to experiment and explore. I feel that in the digital age, we have much more photos than we ever did in film area, but they or not necessary better. Although he shoots digital, he is one of the few people out there who not only still enjoys shooting film: 35mm and medium format, but he also enjoys develop them. I always learn a lot when I see his work or watch his podcasts.
6- Have you ever had any negative experiences with your blog?
Many social media sites ask their users to play nice and be careful about the comments they leave. Many have their own method to handle negative comments. You can either, depending on what you are using, un-friend, block, delete the user or comment.
