My name is Yasufumi and I work as a freelance photographer while doing web production work.
This is my first contribution, so let me briefly introduce myself.
How did I start taking photos?
I started taking photos of landscapes with my Nikon D600, which I used to take pictures of the “spectacular scenery” I encountered while climbing the Tateyama mountain range three years ago.
Originally, climbing mountains was my only hobby, but when a camera was added to the mix, the joy of reaching the summit turned into the joy of photographing the spectacular views from the summit and along the way.
Now, although I also take landscape photos, my main focus is on street photography and portraits, and I publish my photos on social networking sites and participate in photo contests.
How to deal with photography
When I was mainly shooting landscapes, I had to make a lot of preparations, such as choosing a location, transportation, lodging, and selecting equipment for climbing and shooting, but it was also a fun time.
Now that I am shooting street photography and portraits, I always carry my camera with me when I go to meetings for work, when I have some free time, or on weekends, and it has become a part of my daily life.
I am also very excited when the weather changes, such as the sky before a typhoon, the evening after a typhoon, or when there is snow in the forecast.
Light, Shadow, and Background
When I was taking landscape photographs, I was conscious of the weather environment and light, but since I started street photography, I have come to seek for moments that allow the viewer to imagine the background in addition to the light and shadows.
When I capture a momentary timing in a familiar cityscape or the way the light enters the scene as I intended, I feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, which is the same elation I feel when I see a spectacular view.
There are various styles, such as taking pictures while thinking about what I want to convey from my own unique perspective, or taking pictures as I feel like it, but at the root of it all, I honestly feel that I enjoy taking pictures so much that I can’t stop.
Imagination and Inspiration
The ever-changing flow of people, the changing light, and other things that I constantly see around me bring up a variety of imaginations, you might say fantasies.
I have always loved imagination, fantasy, and fantasies, even before I started taking photographs, and I have always enjoyed letting them develop in my mind.
When I take a picture, I think about how beautiful the light would be in this part of town in the evening, or if I find an interesting background and a striking person passes in front of it, how would it look? Or, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a silhouette of the person in front of it? Even when I am not taking pictures, if I have an image of what I would like the picture to look like when I take it, it will help me when I take the picture, or help me predict how the scene will turn out.
I usually watch TV documentaries and non-fiction, and watch movies such as road movies and
As a photographer in the city, I consider my presence to be uncomfortable in that space.
So I am careful not to make the people around me uncomfortable. However, sometimes I have wonderful encounters when I am taking pictures.
The photo above is one of them.