Johann Gudbjargarson es un fotógrafo amateur de 33 años de Islandia. Pasó sus primeros años de vida en Hafnarfjordur pero se trasladó al Reykjavik hace 6 años.
Estudío Informática en Reykjavik y actualmente trabaja en una compañía de desarrollo de software en Islandia.
El joven Johann pasó todos los veranos en una granja en la parte occidental de Islania y allí conoció su pasión por la fotografía con una cámara de su padre. Esa pasión aumentó el verano de 1999, cuando se compró su primera cámara, la Canon EOS-500n.
Johann llegó a interesarse por la revolución digital de la mano de su Sony-DSC717 en la primavera del 2004. Tan sólo 10 meses más tarde se compró la Canon EOS-20D y actualmente en su mochila lleva:
- Canon EOS-20d.
- BG-E2 grip.
- Canon 35mm 1.4L.
- Canon 17-40mm 4.0L.
- Canon 24-70mm 2.8L.
- Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS.
- Canon 50mm 1.8.
- Canon 100mm 2.8 macro.
- Canon EX-580 flash.
- ST-E2 transmisor.
- Banco de Imágenes Epson P200.
- Tripode Gitzo de Fibra de Carbono.
- 4Gb de memoria Compact Flash.
Actualmente está pensando en comprarse un estudio fotográfico y la nueva Canon 5D con el objetivo 24-105 mm.
Sus temas preferidos son el retrato y los paisajes. Acompañado por su novia (Sonja que comparte su pasión por la fotografía) han viajado mucho por Islandia, Europa y Asia con su cámara fotográfica.
En el verano de 2004 viajaron durante 5 semanas por Europa del Este (Polonia, Ucrania, Rumania y Hungría) y el verano pasado viajaron en el mítico Trans-Siberiano desde Moscú a la China.
Todavía están trabajando en las imágenes pero una selección de este último viaje puede verse en el photoblog de Johanns. El verano próximo planea viajar con su inseparable cámara fotográfica a la India e Italia.
El verano pasado ganó un comcurso fotográfico en el periódico más importante de Islandia, el Summer Picture 2005. Ha firmado con dos agencias de venta de fotografías.
Usa PhotoShop CS2 para el post-procesado de las imágenes, RawShooter Essentials para el tratamiento y conversión de los Raws, y el IMatch para la categorización e inserción de información XMP y IPTC.
Siempre hace sus fotos en formato RAW.
Sus fotógrafos favoritos son Steve McCurry, James Nachtwey y RAX (el fotógrafo más famoso de Islandia) .
Para estar al día, compra un libro al mes sobre fotografía y está suscrito a las publicaciones National Geographic, EOS Magazine y al Professional Photographer. Sus websites del favoritos son Luminous Landscape, Fred Miranda forums and Rob Gailbrath forums de los cuales ha aprendido mucho.
Tres consejos para el que comienza en este maravilloso arte :
- No tener miedo a experimentar con el equipo.
- Experimentar con la post-producción.
- Buscar información en la Red.
Gracias por tu disponibilidad y amabilidad, Johann.
Johann Gudbjargarson is a
33 year old amateur photographer from Iceland. He spent the first years of his life in Hafnarfjordur but moved to the capital
Reykjavik 6 years ago. He has a BS degree from the University of Reykjavik in Computer Science and currently holds a position as a Development Manager at a software company in Iceland.
As a young boy Johann spent all summers in a farm in western part of Iceland and there got his first interest in photography when he borrowed a small automatic 110 film camera from his father. The interest was rekindled when he bought a Canon EOS-500n camera in the summer of 1999. Johann became really interested in photography with the digital revolution and bought a Sony-DSC 717 camera in the spring of 2004 and from that moment there was no looking back.
About 10 months ago he bought Canon EOS-20D and today his camera bag contains the following items: Canon EOS-20d, BG-E2 grip, 6 Canon lenses (35mm 1.4L, 17-40mm 4.0L, 24-70mm 2.8L, 70-200mm 2.8L IS, 50mm 1.8 and 100mm 2.8 macro). Other accessories are Canon EX-580 flash +ST-E2 transmitter, Epson P200 image bank, Gitzo Carbon Fibre tripod and 4gb of Compact Flash memory. He is planning to buy studio lightning when he gets bigger apartment and the new Canon 5D with the
24-105 lens.
Photographing people and travel photography is his favourite subjects in photography and he has travelled with his girlfriend (Sonja which shares his passion for photography) a lot in Iceland, Europe and Asia with his camera. In the summer of 2004 they travelled for 5 weeks in Eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary) and this summer they travelled with the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to China and travelled further in Asia on that trip. They are still working on the pictures but a selection has appeared on Johanns photoblog (joephotos.net). Next summer he plans to travel to India and Italy with his camera.
Last summer he won a photographic contest in Iceland largest newspaper which was called Summer Picture of the Year 2005. His photoblog has gotten rave reviews since it started last June and he has signed with two photo selling agencies.
As a Software Engineer he is interested in the software part of digital photography. The programs he uses in his workflow are
Photoshop CS2 for post processing, RawShooter Essentials (eagerly waiting for RawShooter Premium soon to be released) for RAW conversion and IMatch for categorizing and adding XMP and IPTC information. He takes all his pictures in RAW format.
His favourite photographers are Steve McCurry, James Nactway and RAX (the most famous photographer in Iceland) along with few others. To follow what is happening in the field he buys about one book a month about photography and subscribes to National Geogarphic, EOS magazine and Professional Photographer. His faworite websites are Luminous Landscape, Fred Miranda forums and Rob Gailbrath forums which he has learned much from.
As an advice to people who are taking their first steps in this fascinating hobby is to not be afraid to experiment with their equipment and also experiment with the post processing. The internet is full of resources to learn from and forums contain lots of talented people who are willing to explain and help.