摄影师Steve Grogan

—首先——您能否指出谁是来自曼彻斯特, 联合王国的最优秀的摄影师？:)

—Oooooh crikey, that is a very good question. There are many that I admire from my home city, but I'll plump for Pete Farrell of Pixies in the Cellar. His eye for composition is just ridiculous!

—您上相吗？

—No. I absolutely hate having my photograph taken as I have a head like a thumb.

—您是如何进入摄影行业的？

—If you'd have told me 5-6 years ago that I'd be a wedding photographer I'd have laughed at you. I believed that all wedding photography was contrived nonsense and it didn't appeal to me at all. However, once I'd photographed a couple of weddings as a second shooter I realised that wedding photography could be whatever you wanted it to be. So I took the plunge!

—在您看来，一张好的照片最重要的组成部分有哪些？

—For me it's all about the moment and composition. I'm not overly technical and don't stress about a little over/under exposure. The moment is so important to me.

—您热爱旅行吗？

—Yes. I love it. Thankfully I've been able to travel rather a lot and being my own boss has enabled me to do more than ever.

—对于您的职业，您最喜欢什么地方？

—Perhaps a little cliched, but I like the idea of leaving behind images for future generations to enjoy. Plus I get to work alongside some amazing people. I've made friends for life since I started out.

—对于您的职业，您最不喜欢什么地方？

—Of course, there is always going to be something. The only part I don't enjoy is doing the staged group photos, but that's only a tiny percentage of the wedding so I can live with that.

—摄影的前景如何？

—I honestly have no idea. Who knows what the future holds?

—您专长的摄影风格有什么特别？

—Wedding photographers have to deal with a myriad of changing lighting situations throughout the day. This is definitely one of the most challenging aspects, especially when there are restrictions placed on you by churches for example, where you are rarely allowed to add any flash.

—您如何应对批评？

—I take it on the chin. If it's unsolicited then I'll always question it, but any constructive feedback I get is valued as it'll help me to improve.

—摄影有什么趋势？

—A lot of weddings in the UK do follow a similar pattern, so it's quite easy for your images to eventually become repetitive.

—客户选择摄影师时应该遵循什么标准？

—If I was looking for a wedding photographer then I'd obviously be looking for someone whose images connected with me in some way. Once you've established that you like the images then I would advise any future newlyweds to meet up with the photographer, go for a beer/coffee/cake, have a chat with them, see if you like them as they are going to be around for pretty much all of your day.

—拍摄时绝不允许什么事情？

—For me, not much. I'd photograph anything if it happened at a wedding. Obviously, if someone objected for any reason then I'd stop. But I'd also use my common sense and gut feeling.

—有哪些摄影师可以捕捉的通常会被忽略的细节？

—One thing I learned quite early on was to step away from the couple for most of the day. There is so much going on around them that you can miss if you are too focussed on photographing just the couple. My couples seem to appreciate that I can show them images from moments they had no idea happened on their wedding day.

—什么影响照片的价值？它的元素有哪些？

—Any photo can hold value to anyone. I've probably taken thousands of "average" simple photos that could be so valuable to my couples and their families/friends. For example, someone who has recently passed away. Those photos then become priceless.

—在您看来，什么人可以成为 21 世纪的代表人物？

—Mark Zuckerberg, undoubtedly.

—您想要为谁拍摄？

—Easy one. I'd love to spend some time photographing and chatting with Sir Alex Ferguson.

—您担心什么？为什么担心？

—Yes, the constant wars all over the world. Utterly awful.

—如果有机会成为一个动画、文学或电影人物，您想成为谁？为什么？

—Bananaman.

—您如何定义成功？如何衡量它？

—Happiness is the only measure of success. People who equate money to success are totally missing the point, in my opinion.

—您非常受人喜欢或尊敬吗？

—A bit of both.

—当您准备去旅行时，要携带什么？为什么？

—I travel light.

—您如何提高自己以拍摄出更好的照片？

—Practice, practice and practice. Take photos, thousands of them. And if you don't like them or they don't look right, figure out why that is, and then work on it. That's pretty much how I managed to become an established full-time professional. I lived and breathed photography until I was confident I'd reached a certain level of competency to be able to charge money for my work. Oh, and practice more. Did I mention practice?

—谁的作品对您作为摄影师的影响最大？

—There are a few whose work I admire and these were inspiring for me when I was first dipping my toes into the world of wedding photography. Andrew Billington, Alan Law, Steven Rooney, Adam Johnson, Two Mann Studios & Pete Farrell are all wedding photographers that I admire. There are more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.

—什么激励您继续拍摄下去？

—The genuine love for what I do. Being surrounded by happy people is infectious and good for my soul. I rarely do negativity.

—您的父母是否应该更严厉或变得温和一点呢？

—Possible more strict, especially at meal times as I have a lot of mental blocks to certain types of food.

—如果能够回到过去，您会有什么不同的举动？

—I'd probably have traveled more in my late teens/early twenties.

—对于其他星球上的生命，您有何看法？

—Based on the laws of probability, I'd say yes.

—您在业余时间会做什么？

—With my family and friends plus lots of napping with my dogs, reading, traveling and being idle.

—公众从不会看到您的哪一面？

—My insecurities tend to be kept under lock and key. But I worry myself to sleep most nights.

—您很容易就会交到朋友吗？

—Yes, I like to think so.

—您想生活在什么地方？

—Reykjavik, Iceland.

—您有最喜欢的玩笑吗？请告诉我们。

—Why was the sand wet? Because the sea weed.

—您喜欢狗还是喜欢猫？

—Dogs.

—您讨厌谁，或者厌恶什么？

—Hate is a strong word. Wow. That's a hard one. Perhaps Donald Trump or Theresa May could fall into that category.

—明天我会去做...

—I'm going out with some fellow photographers for drinks in Manchester. Our weekends tend to be during the week given what we do for a living.