Interview with Daniel Slavov

Hi Daniel! Tell us about yourself in two sentences - who are you?

I have a degree in marketing & communications, and up until recently, I was working in a office as a social media specialist. Photography is one of the out-of-office activities that I really enjoy. Since I am no longer employed, I am planning on devoting more time to photography and my other hobbies.

QWhat's the weirdest situation you've found yourself in while taking a photograph?

AThat has to be the night I went out to a restaurant with my girlfriend. I had recently bought a new fast prime lens, which I wanted to test in a low light situation, and there was a perfect opportunity to do that as we sat down at a table in the garden. While I was taking pictures (no flash) of my girlfriend, a seemingly drunk gentleman from another table shouted "Hey, stop taking pictures of me! Are you working for the press? I don't want to see myself in the newspaper tomorrow". I was stunned for a few moments, and then I tried to explain that I was simply photographing my girlfriend... but he wouldn't listen. So, I stood up and went to his table with the intent to show him the few photos that I had taken so far, but after seeing them, he murmured "Where are my photos, did you hide them?!". Hearing that made me realise that there was no point arguing with him, so I wished him a good night, went back to our table and tucked the camera into my bag. Weird at its best.

QWhat do you shoot on? What's your favourite set up?

AI have the pleasure to shoot on the wonderful Fujifilm X-T1. It's small and discrete, super easy to control the settings, and it can produce some stunning images. It's cool looking too :) I use prime lenses only, and I have 2 of them at the moment – Fuji 35mm F1.4 and Samyang 12mm F2. This set up covers all of my photographic needs – from portrait to street to landscape photography.

QWhat's your number one tip for an aspiring photographer?

ATip number 1: don't seek inspiration by looking at other photographers' work - you might end up recreating the same photos you looked at. Tip number 2: stop thinking about new equipment and what you don't have – try instead to find ways of taking the shot with what you have – this is how you become more creative.