Page 48 - Demo

48 || FITNESS MAGAZINE || AUGUST 2015FMM: You have distinctive colors and post processing technique you use for your images, how do you define your style?GK: Thank you, I am looking to capture the best physiques in the world in images that are very classy and tasteful, either in amazing natural locations, or in creative studio setups. FMM: How much time do you spend on post processing? Do you envision your post productions for each project before or after the shooting?GK: I actually don%u2019t do much post processing. I believe in shooting it as close to the final result as possible during the time of the shoot, and I only add a little contrast and color correction to my photos in post processing. FMM: You are a self-taught photographer, what was your first step in exploring the field?GK: Yes I am completely self-taught; I started by just shooting photos with a small camera every time I traveled somewhere, and I remember I was always interested in finding out how to make my images better. At some point while I was in London doing a Management degree I decided to start learning more about it. Once I started exploring the world of photography I fell in love with it, and I started studying every book and magazine I could and practicing on my own in order to learn everything I could about photography. FMM: You earned your Bachelor%u2019s degree in Management at the University of London and then moved to LA-what made you decide to move?GK: It was always my intention to explore as much of the world as I could, so as soon as I turned 18 I moved from Greece to London, which is a major metropolitan area, with the purpose to use it as a base to travel to many other places around the world. I was also always fascinated by the major US cities like New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, etc, and as I started traveling and exploring the US while I had my base in London, I found myself falling in love with the US lifestyle. I started spending more and more time first in Vegas and then in LA. So the move happened naturally, as I was spending more time in the US than in Europe. First I moved to Las Vegas for 2 years, and then I moved to Los Angeles where I have been living for the last 10 years and absolutely loving it. FMM: Where do you find your inspiration for your projects? Do you still get excited for each project?GK: I find inspiration in many different art forms that I see around me, such as Hollywood movies, video clips, paintings, and sculptures. Also I have always been fascinated by the major fashion/celebrity photographers that were successful while I was growing up in Greece and seeing them in all the magazines. Such photographers of the 80%u2019s and the 90%u2019s are Helmutt Newton, Herb Ritts, Francesco, Scavullo, Andreas Bitesnich and a few more.Yes, I still get very excited about my photoshoots. I really enjoy that I am at a stage in my career where I have a lot of experience from the 15 years that I have been a photographer and from the many resources I have by living in Los Angeles and traveling around the US for shoots. So it is great that now I can use all that, to try to create better images than ever before and also work with great models. FMM: What is your favorite camera/lens combination?GK: I am a Canon user, and I like the 5D Mark II, with a 28-135mm lens. I like to experiment with different lenses sometimes, but that is the one I use 90% of the time. However I do not like to focus too much on equipment, and I prefer to mostly focus on the creativity and on having unique ideas for my photoshoots to work on. By Darcy Tharp