Learning from Rachael Talibart and Mark Littlejohn
My image “Goldene Schunteraue” was exhibited at this year’s GDT photography festival in Lünen, Germany as part of the German Nature Photography of the Year Awards.
Learning from the best. This is the chance that I get each year at the international photography festival in Lünen, Germany. Over two days, I had the chance to visit the exhibition of two photography awards (which featured one of my images this year as you can see above wooh!) and listen to numerous talks from invited speakers. 48 hours of pure photography!
My personal highlights this year were the talks by Rachael Talibart and Mark Littlejohn. I follow both photographers on social media for years and was looking forward to learn more about how they approach photography. And what can I say: Both of them exceeded my expectations. Rachael and Mark authentically shared their personal way into photography, what they want to achieve with their work and in particular gave a good amount of advice on both photography and life! In the following lines, I try my best to capture and share this advice with you.
What a start to this year’s festival: A deep dive into ocean photography with Rachael Talibart!
Repetition is key - Rachael Talibart.
One of the central messages by Rachael was the importance of getting bored of a location. For her, this boredom is a source of creativity. It motivates her work with different shutter speeds, take on different perspective, revisit at different conditions. This things, in combination, allow her to take outstanding images. To nurture this creativity she intentionally limits herself to five locations that she keeps visiting over and over again.
“Dance as if nobody was watching” - Mark Littlejohn.
The strongest personal message by Mark was his take on finding a personal style in photography. On stage, Mark openly shared his love for split-toning. It allows him intensify the feeling he had when capturing the image and it is one of the reasons why I quickly notice a ‘Mark Littlejohn Original’. While I personally love his edits, it appears that many people criticize his edits. Mark’s response is full of self confidence. He compares his approach to photography to dancing along as if nobody was watching “Photography is about finding you own tune, dancing to your own rhythm. As long as I am happy, as long as I smile, I’m doing the right thing.”
