It is such an honour to me to see my recent interview featured in Lensbaby
” Cristina Venedict is an award-winning photographer from Romania. Much of her work focuses on fine art and environmental portraits, but she also enjoys shooting more candidly at various festivals around Europe. We spoke with her about the beautiful images she captured recently at the Samsara and Waha Festivals, with the Twist 60.”
What do you enjoy about shooting events like festivals?
I like shooting at festivals because I find that it makes people be real; they show their true self. Festivals bring people together and it makes them be themselves.
What do you try and capture?
There are special moments when people are one with the music and the place. Those moments are so beautiful, it would be a shame to not capture them.
I like shooting everything that catches my attention. I often like to anticipate a moment I want to capture, and let it develop naturally, then capture it at just the right time. There are certain moments when there is unity between the people, the place and the music. Then everything is perfect from my point of view.
It fills me with energy and spirit when I have a beautiful story to tell, and the people in that story are connected in such a way that they can’t be disrupted.
Do you have any favorite images? And why?
Yes, I have many but I will talk a bit about this one. This beautiful moment between a couple, they’re not young, but they have such a beautiful relationship. The harmony between them, the music, and the place is wonderful and hard to top in my opinion.
Much of your work is fine art portraits and other shoots that would typically be planned ahead. How is the process for this type of shoot different?
I think that festival photography is related to portrait and even fine art photography. For me, photography in general should convey an emotion, and the whole composition should match my tastes and style.
Even with portraits, when sometimes it’s difficult to pick a theme and choose a model. It should all come together naturally, beautifully – where the model is one with the place and the theme.
At first there might seem to be a huge difference between these styles, but in my opinion they are related and both need to convey emotion.
Are there any challenges you encounter at these types of shoots?
I like to use Lensbaby, even though they are manual lenses. Because they are manual focus, you don’t have to press click so often, and you also have to be present to anticipate the moment in order to create the perfect shot.
Because festivals have lots of people, things can happen. Like when you are ready to take the picture and other people might walk in front of the camera. Sometime people will also feel that they are being photographed and it will change their mood.
Which Lensbaby lenses do you use at these events? And why?
I usually use Twist 60, it is a lens I very much like. I’ve also used Edge 80 and find it very playful. I will definitely be using it more often.
What other items would you have in your camera bag at this type of shoot?
Batteries, they are very important! Especially since I work on live view and it drains my battery faster. Other than that, a lot of enthusiasm, love of people, love of nature and everything that surrounds us.
All photographs were shot with the Twist 60.
Check out Cristina’s Lensbaby Makers video.
Find more of Cristina’s work on her, Instagram and Facebook.
To see more photos from the festival Samsara, Waha.