Victor Liu Photography

http://www.victorliuphotography.com

http://www.flickr.com/liuyu098

http://500px.com/Victor_Liu_Photography

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?

I use a Nikon D700 body and the lenses I use are Nikon 14-24/2.8, Nikon 24-70/2.8, Nikon 70-200/2.8, Nikon 105/2.8 and Nikon 400/2.8.  My tripod is Gitzo GT1542T with a Markins Q-Ball Q3 head.

What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

As a nature photographer, I love my Nikon D700 body for its low light performance, which allows me to easily use ISO 2000 for wildlife shots without sacrificing any image quality and its full frame sensor captures every detail of the great beauty of nature. The Gitzo traveller tripod is amazing for its light weight as well as sturdiness, especially good for pack-packing trips. The Nikon lenses are all of top quality, and the only complain I can think of is the heavy weight of my 400mm lens, but the images it produces are no doubt the best.  In the future, I will purchase a new camera body as a backup, and it is most likely the Nikon D800.

What is your favourite lens, and why?

I use my Nikon 14-24 lens a lot, not only because I love landscape photography, but also due to its top performance and my own shooting habits. I am always looking for interesting  foregrounds to show in my pictures, and even when I do wildlife photography, I tend to blend my subjects into their environment, which both require a wide angle lens to do the job.

When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?

When I travel, I prefer a light weight kit for photography. I rarely carry my Nikon 400mm lens, but I do bring the 70-200 lens for long distance shots. The 14-24 lens and the 105mm macro lens are the must. To me, the macro world of our planet is as important as large-scale landscape. A good cleaning kit also plays a key role, since I need to keep dust and dirt away from my lenses.

What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

Post-processing is an important part of my photography. I mostly use Photoshop CS5/CS6 to adjust curves, blend layers, and apply different filter effects. I sometimes use Lightroom 4 to tweak the white balance of my images if needed.

How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration? How do you take your pictures?

I have been taking photographs for 3 years. I love nature, and inspired by photographers around the world, especially the ones from National Geographic. I also gain inspirations from other forms of art, including paintings, music, architecture and literature. I shoot pictures to not only focus on the beauty of nature, but also tell a story behind each scene. My works sometimes include human elements to describe the connection between mankind and our planet. My flora and fauna works are based on the concept of “love”, “death” and “life”.

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

I like all kinds of photography styles, but my special love for nature makes me appreciate macro, landscape and wildlife photography the most.

What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

The goal of my photography is to show the beauty of nature and let people appreciate and protect our planet. There is endless beauty of nature waiting for me to find, so I don’t think I will ever reach my goal and stop doing it.

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? Please provide a link to the picture.

My favourite work is “Artist of the light” at http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-jWgw8mp/0/M/i-jWgw8mp-M.jpg. The reason I love this piece of artwork is because it shows a great amount of connection between mankind and our environment, and also as a nature photographer myself, I could feel a personal connection with the artist in the image.

Does your work fit into any one or more distinct genres  (nature, landscape, long-exposure, black-and-white,  infra-red, urban, artistic, macro, vintage, vernacular, social, street)? If other, please specify.

I would describe my works as nature photography in general, but the way I express the beauty of nature falls into different genres such as landscape, wildlife, macro, long-exposure, artistic etc.

Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

Yes, I visit quite a few websites regularly to find inspirations, such as National Geographic, 500px, flickr and 1x.

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

The most important lesson I learned so far is never ignore or underrate a certain scene. I have been shooting in the Canadian Rockies since the very beginning of my photography career. There are always subjects, moments or lighting conditions not suitable for photography according to certain rules, such as star trails on a full moon night,  shooting landscape on a overcast day, or photography under a strong noon light. I have been successfully accomplishing my ideal results under all kinds of “wrong” conditions. My experiences tell me nature is never lack of beauty, and we just need the eye to find it.

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

I have been inspired by many great photographers around the world, and I especially love to see the works from Paul Nicklen, Mark Bridger, and Shikhei Goh.