This interview with Lorena Masi, a female Swedish photographer, is the first in a series that will include many great photographers from Google+ and, in some cases, from 500px and Flickr. I won’t waste your time, so let’s dive into the interview right on…

Peter From (PF): You have a great variety in your photography. What made you interested in photography in the first place?

Lorena Masi (LM): Yes, you’re right about the variety in my photography – I guess I haven’t found a favorite subject yet. On the other hand that does not worry me because photography for me is about capturing memories! That’s what I love about shooting with a camera. It is fantastic how much more observant and open you become when you are into photography.

PF: Which is the best picture you ever took? Why?

LM: Well, that’s a difficult one Peter… Actually I can’t choose a photo that I like the most. Of course it happens that I like some of them better than the others, but not a best one! For example, this photo where you can see both my children having fun toghether is on of my favorites. Technically it may not be a good photo, that pole just in front of my daughter, the shadow of it cutting her in halves, etc, but then I see her beautiful inocent childish smile, and my boy next to her trying to be cool…well, I really love this one!

PF: Where is your favourite place for photography?

LM: My favorite place for photgraphy is outdoors, the subject may vary from street to landscape, but I’m a true sun lover and most of my photos are taken with the help of its light! This doesn’t mean I don’t take photos when it’s cloudy, haha… Indoors photography is something I may explore more of in the future.

PF: Which editing application do you use and why?

LM: Since I always shoot in RAW, I edit all the photos I upload, some more, some less, but I do tamper with all of them. I started with a very simple and easy-to-use application, that you could download for free; Photoscape. I still like it and use it very often, however, the last 4 months I’ve been using Adobe’s Elements 8. I just love Elements, although I still got lots to learn. The Adobe application is perfect for my needs, quite easy to use, you can work with an entire photo or just with a part of it, lots of different filters, settings, macros and more things I still need to learn how to use.

PF: Name three photographer’s that have inspired you thru the years and why.

LM: I find lots of inspiration on Google+ and Flickr. Peter From (hey, that’s ME; editor’s remark) is a fantastic source of inspiration, both when it comes to photography and editing! A true artist, thank you! Kicki Holmén is a fantastic Swedish photographer. You can find her work mostly on Flickr. She’s an all-around photographer, with a very unique way to see and capture life! Thomas Hawk is, of course, a photographer I also like a lot, in my opinion he is a very versatile photographer – I never get bored of his work. 

There are a lot more of talented people I like but it’s a long list… 

PF: What is it about photography that you like the most?

LM: I’m very fond of colours, sometimes I think I see life in pure colours… Colours and Contrast is what I like most about photography.

PF: If you had lots and lots of money to spend on your photography, what would you buy?

LM: I’d buy new lenses. I would love to have a 14/2,8, a 35/2,8 and also I would like to try macro photography with a Canon 60/2,8 Macro, and I’m sure I could find more cool stuff to spend my money on … if I had a lot of money of course!

PF: Could you share a photography/editing tip with my readers?

LM: Of course! I never delete any photo directly in the camera because the photos that you might not be so happy about are perfect for experimentig! Open one of those “bad” ones, apply some cool filter, play with the exposure and contrast, and suddenly your bad picture has become magical! 

PF: Great tip Lorena… Now… What are you planning photographywise for the future?

LM: I actually never plan what I’m going to do photograpywise, maybe I should! lol My only project right now is my 366 album on Google+, a photo a day, and I’m planning to complete that task! Well, maybe I plan a little, I mean, I don’t plan what I’m going to photograph but I plan which places I want to go to and when I can do it and things like that, but once there I take photos of everything my eyes like!

PF: OK, one last question… Could you share your thoughts on Google+ with me and my readers? What do you think about the new Google social project?

LM: One of the most interesting and fun parts of taking photos, for me, is the possibility to share them with other people, on the internet. I post lots of photos on Flickr but I post more on Google+. I’ve been posting on Google+ since July and I could never have imagined that it could be such a great experience. Aside from posting, I really enjoy seeing other photographer’s work there. So much inspiration and source of knowledge this community is, and the interaction is fantastic! 

Also, thank you Peter for giving me the chance of being part of your great project here on PeterFrom.com.

PF: Thank you Loren for giving me the opportunity to put forward these questions to you – and for answering them.

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