Friday, February 06, 2009

Finish the Sentence...with Neil van Niekerk

[cue the very repetitive game show music]
"It's time once again to ask a well-known photographer, instructor or otherwise interesting person the same 10 questions and ask them to Finish the Sentence! This week the sentences are finished by.... Neil van Niekerk.

Neil, please Finish the Sentence..."

My favorite photography accessory (lights, modifier, bag, tripod) is
a speedlight. In fact, it is so essential to photography I wouldn't even call it an accessory. So can I say instead that a battery pack for my speedlight is my favourite accessory?

I’ve learned the most from..
devouring books and magazines and websites. Which really means that I learnt the most from other photographers.

If I could go anywhere in the world it would be_____ because….
a leisurely road trip through Italy. The romantic in me is drawn to the incredibly beautiful photos and movies I've seen of Italy. It is a country and people that seems endlessly interesting.

My most-used Photoshop add-on, plugin, action set (etc) is
The Totally Rad actions by Doug Boutwell. I use actions sparingly, but when I dip into them, it is most often these action sets.

I love the fact that Photoshop
takes a lifetime to master. There is always something new to be learnt and discovered.

I hate the fact that Photoshop
takes a lifetime to master. It's incredibly complex , and I don't see the top of this hill yet.

If I could turn back the clock 10 years
I'd be more careful, but I'd also be more bold. With hindsight I'd avoid the many mistakes I've made in my life .. but also more fearlessly attempt things which would bring success and happiness. But that's life lived in hindsight. I look forward to the future.

In 10 years
I still want to be a photographer, but with greater skill and passion undimmed.

If I could give one piece of advice it would be
to read voraciously, take it all in, and make it your own.

Your readers can find out more about me
at www.planetneil.com/tangents/

Ladies, Gentlemen, let's hear it for Neil van Niekerk!
[much applause and whistling as the music fades out]


Neil van Niekerk is a wedding and portrait photographer based in northern New Jersey. He also maintains a website - planetneil - described by Rangefinder Magazine as: “an unusual and informative web site dedicated to digital imaging.”

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neil is fantastic and I loved reading his responses because they were all things I could imagine him saying to you over lunch and not just on a computer screen.

Anonymous said...

Neil is one of my all time heroes. His is the only blog I have subscribed to and I devour everything he writes.

He is without doubt one of the biggest influences on my photography.

Anonymous said...

I love Neil, never met him, but ...

The information on his blog has saved my bacon on more than one occasion and gave me the information I needed to help make my photographer grow. Good choice for the interview.

Anonymous said...

"Neil is one of my all time heroes. His is the only blog I have subscribed to and I devour everything he writes.

He is without doubt one of the biggest influences on my photography."

I couldn't have said it better..

Tom K. said...

Neil is one of the most generous and talented photographers anywhere. He provides reams of great information on his blog. His straight forward advice is easy to understand and implement. He is one of the titans of the photography bloggers and one of the finest teachers in the world.