“Wave” hello to The City of Durban – Mark Justin Edmondstone
What’s your favourite form of photography, meaning what do you like to take photos of the most?
My photos are for the people who are partaking in a sport that they love; it’s for them to push themselves even more once they see these photos. It’s a self-satisfaction thing for them and a proud moment for me when I have captured these shots. “I hope they show this moment off because I find what they do in the water inspirational.”
Sport photography is pretty new to me; I only started it because a couple friends asked me to take pics of their performances so they could see where they might be going wrong in certain surf tricks. Since then I have enjoyed taking pics of this particular sport because it’s such a quick sport and you really need to be quick to capture that perfect moment. Another favourite genre of mine is wildlife photography; it’s just the feeling of capturing something unique in wildlife that may well never happen again in your lifetime that I find most encapsulating. “It’s weird; you kind of share a mini moment with nature”. I have done my fair share of travelling and I can proudly say we have one of the best countries in the world for wildlife.
What technique do you use, that different from other photographers?
My techniques are probably not that different to other photographers out there, with surfing I like to get up close on the piers so I can get full frame image of their moves (also mainly because I don’t have a big enough lens YET!!!).
What camera do you use?
I use a Nikon D3100, it’s a pretty decent amateur camera, with which I either use the standard 18mm-55mm lens or a 55mm to 200mm.
What are the most common settings you use in your everyday shooting?
The most common setting I probably use for the surf photography is the sports mode that the camera has to offer, it has a super-fast shutter speed to capture the moment quickly, I also set the ISO to about 400.
Do you prefer to shoot in RAW or in JPEG?
Shooting in Raw is more preferable as you have more lee-way in the editing process so that’s why I choose to shoot with Raw. It captures so much more information that you can work with afterwards to really make your photos pop.
At what age did you start exploring your passion for photography?
I have always had a passion for photography however I really started about 2 years ago, mainly because of the price of the hobby but I’m glad I am now involved in it!
By Mark Justin Edmondstone