“Martin Podt” Starpics Photographer Interview

Can you tell us about yourself briefly?

I was born on a farm in the eastern part of the Netherlands, a rural area in which I still live with my wife and two sons. Next to my job as R&D engineer, I have a passion for photography. My camera is almost always by my side. My main subjects are trees and forests. It is important for me that photos express a certain mood and evoke emotions and feelings. For this reason, photos of misty tree lined roads belong to my favorites.
I won several prizes in national and international contests and I am constantly working on improving my skills. Through photography I have gained a great appreciation for the Dutch countryside and especially the forests in my area form a continuous source of inspiration for me.

Can you tell us about what you are currently working on?

I mainly focus on tree and forest photography, but I want to expand my working field to other kinds of photography too. For example, I am interested in combining forest and portrait photography.

What made you decide to be a professional photographer?

I am not a full professional photographer. Photography is a passion and a way to get rid of daily life stress and to relax. I am not too concentrated on becoming a full professional either, but I do give workshop and sell my photos.

What’s your photographic style?

I think my style can be best described as dreamlike landscape and nature photography.

How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?

I like experimenting and that helps to keep me inspired and to improve my skills. I really believe that you have to try new things continuously.

What kind of gear do you use?

Camera body: Sony a5100
Lens: I have 9 lenses, but mainly use a 10-18mm and an 18-200mm lens
Filters: several ND filters
Flash: none

When do you feel happy as a photographer?

That is a combination of things. A beautiful forest scene can make me feel very happy. Giving workshops also makes me happy. I also really like shooting photos and working together with other people on photography. Through photography I got to know some great people, including Edwin Mooijaart, Niels Barto, Frederik van der Veer, Kitty Broeders, Josee Poth and Yen T Do.

When was the most difficult time as a photographer? How did you deal with it?

Actually, I have not faced great hurdles yet. With everything that I do, I set goals to myself that I want to achieve within a certain time. So far, I achieved all of my personal goals w.r.t. photography.

What was your most memorable experience in this photography field?

Up to now, that was winning a Gold Medal Award in the Trierenberg Super Circuit 2017. In October 2017 I went to Austria to the pick up the medal at the Gala of photography. We spent one week in Germany and Austria and that was a great experience for several reasons.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? Or What photographic ambitions would you like to achieve?

I plan to continue with giving workshops and plan to extend that. And I hope that in 5 years, I have mastered some more fields of photography. What exactly, I don’t know yet. I also hope to have photographed some beautiful forests in the world that I would like to visit. And finally, I hope to continue working with some great people and try to realize some of our common dreams w.r.t photography.

What would you say to people who would like to be professional photographers?

Ask yourself why you want to become a professional photographer. If photography is your passion, make sure it stays like that. Try to improve yourself continuously, experiment and practice a lot and set (realistic) goals. Once your photos are of high standards, your photos will get noticed automatically and then you can decide whether you want to make the step to become a professional photographer or not.