Fotografas Ruud Claessen

—Ar esate fotogeniškas?

—No! I much rather be behind a camera.

—Kaip jūs atsiradote fotografijos industrijoje?

—In 2008, I was already doing amateur photography for a couple of year. To do something different for a change, I asked my uncle if I could photograph his wedding. It was his second marriage, they were not asking for a photographer, so there was little risk. I ended up liking it so much, that I decided to do it more.

—Jūsų nuomone, kokie yra svarbiausi geros nuotraukos komponentai?

—Above all, the photo has to have a certain impact. Wether that's an intense emotion, a good vibe, or just a spectaculair visual impact. After that comes the technical part. So a good lighting, composition, etcetera. But for me, the impact is the most important part, by far.

—Ar mėgstate keliauti?

—Yes, but with moderation though. I'd love to do 3-5 destination weddings a year. I don't think I'd enjoy doing 10, 15 or even more.

—Kas šioje profesijoje Jums patinka labiausiai?

—It sounds like a horrible cliché, but it's true: Every wedding is different. You never really know what's going to happen. Surprises can happen at every moment. Besides that, I think it's a great honor to be asked to create lifelong memories for the people that are getting married. 5, 10, 25 or even 50 years after they get married, people still remember who took their wedding photos. It's pretty wonderful that you can be an important part in people's lives.

—Kas šioje profesijoje Jums patinka mažiausiai?

—Basically: The postprocessing. I have a horrible concentration when it comes to editing. I love editing my 50-75 favorites from a wedding, but after that, it gets hard for me to keep focused.

—Kokia bus fotografijos ateitis?

—I think the future of wedding photography will be a further evolution of the direction it's going in right now. More journalistic stuff, more moments. But besides that: technical advances. Faster camera's, better low light capabilities, and other accessories like drones, light field cameras, and stuff like that, giving photographers even more tools to being creative.

—Kuo ypatingas fotografijos žanras, kuriame jūs specializuojatės?

—I love many aspects of it. I love the fact that people are in a good mood, they take the time to look good as well. People get married in beautiful venues, and you as a photographer gets to be a part of so many people's special day. That's amazing.

—Kaip susitvarkote su kritika?

—I try to extract what people really mean with their comments. Some people have difficulties in finding the right words to give feedback, sometimes making them sound rude. But I always try to figure out what's the real message there.

—Ar fotografijoje egzistuoja tendencijos?

—All the time. But me personally, I try to not let trend be the main thing in my photography. Trends are a nice touch, but I want my photography to be timeless.

—Kokie turėtų būti kliento kriterijai, kad pasirinkti fotografą?

—1) Do you like the photographer's work? 2) Do you like the photographer? Simple as that.

—Kokių dalykų turi būti vengiama fotografuojant?

—'Allowed' is a big word. I'm not the one to say what's allowed or not. However, I don't like to unnecessarily intervene in a wedding. With the exception of the posed shots, I don't like having to tell people what to do, where to stand or how to look.

—Kokias detales, kurios paprastai būna nepastebėtos, gali pastebėti fotografas?

—A good wedding photographer can see beauty in many things, and has a better eye for good light, and good compositions. And also: a photographer is aware of what's going on and can respond quickly when something happens.

—Kas įtakoja nuotraukos vertę? Kokie yra jos elementai?

—Not only is beauty in the eye of the beholder, but the same thing is true for value. A photograph that might not seem like much to a photographer or ti someone who wasn't there, can be the couple's favorite for many reasons. Never make assumptions.

—Koks žmogus Jūsų manymu galėtų būti 21 amžiaus simboliu?

—I can't look into the future. Sorry ;-)

—Ką norite fotografuoti?

—Kind, fun and creative people that I have a great chemistry with.

—Ar turite profesinių tabu?

—Not really. Except for stuff that's prohibited by law, off course.

—Su kuo norėtumėte kartu fotografuoti?

—Too many to mention.

—Dėl ko nerimaujate ir kodėl?

—Sometimes I worry about the future. What will happen if I don't get any more bookings? But I think that every professional thinks that way every now and then. On the other side, it helps me improve and stay on my toes.

—Kas yra įsimintiniausias dalykas nutikęs Jūsų gyvenime?

—I can't name just a single one. There are thousands of great moments that are impressive in their own ways.

—Kaip Jūs apibrėžtumėte sėkmės terminą? Kaip ją "matuojate"?

—Success to me is finding a perfect balance by doing what you love, making a good living out of it, but also having time to live. Because even though I just love shooting weddings, I wouldn't want to shoot 60 weddings a year and have no personal time left.

—Geriau būti mėgiamu ar gerbiamu?

—Liked by my clients, respected by my colleagues.

—Kokia yra didžiausia klaida kurią padarėte darbe?

—Not that many, luckily! I once accidentally switched from RAW to TIFF during a wedding. That was a pain in the ass. It cost me a lot more work to process the images, but the clients were happy.

—Kuomet keliaujate, ką ir kodėl imate su savimi?

—A small but versatile camera kit. Definitely some analog cameras. And off course, the traveling essentials.

—Ar tarp turimų prietaisų yra tokių kurių geriau būtumėte nepirkę? Kodėl?

—Nope.

—Kaip mokotės gauti kokybiškesnes nuotraukas?

—I do mentoring with photographers who are amazing in the aspects of photography that are my weakest points.

—Kieno darbas jus kaip fotografą įtakojo labiausiai?

—I've never been inspired by certain photographers. I like to look at individual photographs, and analyse what I like about them.

—Išskirkite vieną dalyką kurį būtumėte norėjęs žinoti prieš pradedant fotografo karjerą?

—I never thought that photography can be this exhausting! But in a good way.

—Ką norite pasakyti savo nuotraukomis?

—When looking at my photographs, I want people to feel what they felt when the moment was actually happening.

—Kas motyvuoja Jus toliau fotografuoti?

—Getting great feedback from customers, and seeing myself grow and becoming a better photographer.

—Jūsų tėvai turėjo būti labiau ar mažiau griežti?

—They have been perfect.

—Jeigu galėtumėte grįžti į praeitį, ką darytumėte kitaip?

—I would push myself more and especially sooner. It took about 5 years before I started taking myself and my photography really serious. But since I started doing that, I have improved so very much. I wish I'd done that sooner.

—Ką manote apie gyvybę kitose planetose?

—Nah. There's tons of places for me to explore on this one.

—Kas yra jūsų herojai?

—Everybody who believes in something, in themselves, and work hard to achieve that.

—Kam nejaučiate pagarbos?

—People who are arrogant, and bring other people down.

—Ką veikite laisvalaikiu?

—Cooking, eating, movies, riding my oldtimer bike, and some an occasional cigar.

—Kokia yra Jūsų pusė, kurios visuomenė niekada nemato?

—I think a lot of people see me as 'the funny guy'. However, I do have a very serious side. I'm a very contemplative person, and I can be fascinated by almost anything.

—Kada esate visiškai patenkinti savo darbu?

—When one of my own photographs really moves me. When I think: Wow, did I capture that? When it makes me feel proud that I've created these images.

—Ar tikite tradicinėmis vyrų ir moterų rolėmis?

—Absolutely not.

—Ar lengvai randate draugų?

—Quite easily. Although sometimes, at first I stay in the background a bit more. I like to evaluate people before I connect to them.

—Kur norėtumėte gyventi?

—Tough question. I've always enjoyed living in the Netherlands, but lately, this feeling of joy has diminished quite a bit. Not because of the horrible weather, but mainly because of the political climate, the discontent of society, the tension. There's a lot going on, a lot of frustrations among a lot of people, causing the general atmosphere to be a lot less relaxed, in my opinion.

—Koks yra kvailiausias dalykas kūrį buvote padarę?

—In photography...or... ;-)

—Ar gyveimas tęsiasi po vedybų?

—Certainly. When it's a good marriage, it enriches your life a lot. A bad marriage can bring you down by an equal amount though.

—Ar turite mėgstamą anekdotą? Papasakokite.

—I can't. It's too gross.

—Labiau mėgstate šunis ar kates?

—I own both. Although I've always considered myself as more of a dog person, I can thoroughly enjoy the relaxed but also stubborn attitude of cats. They have a mind of their own, which I can relate to.

—Ko nekenčiate?

—I hate it when people aren't real. Off course, everybody has skeletons in their closet. But too many people pretend to be something their not. Relating to that: I also really dislike how much we're being lied to. In advertising, in politics, in a lot of things. There's very little sincerity and authenticity left.

—Geriausias dalykas gyvenime yra:

—Love, good company, good food, sex and friendship.

—Labiausiai erzinantis dalykas gyvenime yra:

—Having to type VERY long interviews. Sorry, had to do it ;-)

—Ar yra kas nors aplink jus, ką norėtumėte pakeisti?

—Yes, quite a few things. But that doesn't mean that I'm not happy!

—Ką norėtmėte pakeisti savyje?

—I'd like to be more patient, and to be able to focus better.

—Ką norėtumėte pakeisti pasaulyje?

—Total cliché, but peace. There's too much anger, aggression and frustration. Terrorism, war, mass shootings. Things that are making the world ill. I wish that the world would chill a bit more.

—Ar galite duoti keletą patarimų tik pradedantiems fotografams?

—Be confident, but don't want too much too fast. Take your time to educate and train yourself. Being a good photographer is hard. You don't become one in a year, but that's a trend I'm seeing. People doing a couple of workshops and styled shoots, and calling themselves a professional wedding photographer after that. Workshops and photoshoots are absolutely nothing like shooting a real wedding. So take the time to develop the skills that are needed for doing that.

—Jei į žemę atvyktų ateiviai ir jūs būtumėte pirmas jų sutiktas žmogus, ką jiems pasakytumėte?

—I'd love to tell them about planet Earth. And I'd love to hear where they're coming from, and also how they got here.

—Jei filmuotumėtė filmą, koks būtų jo žanras?

—Probably something artsy, even though I hate that term. I love movies like The Grand Budapest Hotel.

—Rytoj aš eisiu ir darysiu...

—shoot a wedding!