Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.
This week’s Indie Spotlight shines on Jim Nix. He hails from Austin, Texas in the United States. Jim considers himself a travel photographer in the sense that he travels often, bringing all his gear and taking numerous photographs wherever he finds himself. He does a lot of HDR work and has many different subjects, but quite often, they are travel-related or interesting objects that catch his eye, such as intriguing signs, street scenes, graffiti and doorways.
Jim feels photography is about observation, so he often shoots whatever he observes that is eye-catching, and it is usually in the most unexpected places. He relates this to a favorite quote of his by Lawrence K. Fish: “Find life experiences and swallow them whole. Travel. Meet many people. Go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. Try everything. Exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life.”
Kit:
On his travels, Jim carries a Nikon D700 with him. He says this camera stole his heart. His primary lenses are the Nikon 14-24 and 28-300. His big scenes are generally done with the 14-24 wide angle. It is hard for him to change lenses because of the incredibly large view that is possible to get in the frame. It is so unbelievable, it must be seen for one’s self.
In this day and age, it is no surprise Jim also has an addiction to shooting with his iPhone and enjoys sharing those images on his blog. He likes to get creative with all the photography apps offered in the App Store. He even thinks in doing so, he has become a better photographer in the process.
Workflow:
He only shoots in natural light. His tripod is also always in tow. For HDR shots, he usually brackets seven frames and manages the entire library in Aperture.
For post-processing, he generally uses Photomatix to create HDRs, then touches up in Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro. His favorite filters are Tonal Contrast, Pro Contrast, Brilliance/Warmth and Glamour Glow. Depending on the scene, he uses some combination of those filters, and sometimes all of them together.
Jim also enjoys the Topaz Labssuite of products, such as Topaz Adjust, Lens Effects, ReMask, etc. He feels they are all great products. His final touch ups are done in Aperture, where he removes dust spots, adjusts saturation levels and sometimes tweaks the contrast. On average, he usually spends 20 minutes or so working on a photo.
Tips, Tricks and Techniques:
Jim creates his photos following three principles: 1) Visualize the end product while in the field shooting; 2) Make sure you have the proper tools (i.e. equipment, software), not necessarily the latest and greatest, just pick a few tools and learn to use them really well; 3) Experiment a lot.
He says it all comes to down to practice. Visualizing in the field will teach you how to shoot the scene you desire. Knowing your tools well will enable you to achieve your best results.
Lessons Learned:
In HDR shooting, Jim has learned three frames is not enough. He recommends seven shots or more, each one stop apart. It gives you more frames to work with equalling better results, and you are missing things with just two stops between frames.
Inspiration:
Like many, Jim finds inspiration in numerous photographers. To choose only two, Art Wolfe and Thomas Hawkare his guys. Jim says Art Wolfe is the master nature photographer and he even has his own nature photography TV show. He loves his color and composition and finds his work awe-inspiring. Jim loves that Thomas Hawk has such a massive body of work and all of it is good. He views him as documentarian with his photographs weaving a fabric about Americana.
What’s Next:
Although it has never caught his attention the way the environment around him has, he would like to try portrait photography. He has come across some interesting people in his travels, and he would like to bring home some good images of these folks.
Since he likes to think of himself as a travel photographer, Jim has a list of places a mile long that he hopes to reach to photograph some day. He may never reach them all, but he says he has fun trying. Close to home, he would like to see parts of the northwestern United States, such as Montana, Yellowstone and Yosemite. In Europe, he wants to travel to Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany. Later in his life, he hopes to also make it to New Zealand, Japan, China and India.
Links:
You can view more of Jim’s work on his blog, where he posts several photographs per week. He is also active on Facebook and Google+.
