Dave Jensen

David Jensen Wellington

I started my photography journey about 6 years ago when I had the chance to go to Thailand kid free for 10 days! Not wanting to be one of those people on holiday with a selfie stick and cell phone I decided about a month before I went to purchase an entry level Nikon D3200 and kits lense. After watching a few YouTube videos. I went straight to Manual Mode and shoot only RAW. I have never used Aperture or Shutter priority or any other modes on any camera as I find them too restrictive. I found the quickest way to learn was dive into the deep end! I studied photography about 30 hours a week for 3 years on top of a full-time job.

This helped me accelerate my skills fast. After I came back and put my photos on Facebook, everyone commented how great they were and that me thinking maybe I had an artistic streak and natural talent towards photography. My whole family is artistic in some way, my dad a country and western singer and my mother a painter. Maybe I had the genes. After that I met other photographers that were part of a fashion collective that worked with makeup artists and models.

I was invited in and quickly made friends and was able to learn from other photographers about portraiture and lighting. It was great experience and I would recommend if anyone gets the chance to learn from such a group, they do it. After a couple of years perfecting my skills, I was asked to photograph a wedding. I was extremely nervous as I only had an entry level camera and lenses. I took the job and headed to Hawkes Bay.

I learned a valuable lesson as why photographers recommend two cameras, as I dropped my camera on the concrete very early in the morning. Lucky it survived! You cannot reshoot a wedding. I have done several weddings now and even though they are high pressure and high stakes. I enjoy it and I always take two cameras. Then I went a Mark Gee Astro workshop here in Wellington and caught the “Astro bug”.

There was something about standing under the stars, trying to capture what my eyes could see. It was a lot harder than expected and it forced me to start using the editing program photographers often fear. Photoshop. It was the only way to blend foreground and sky together. I have been doing Astro ever since and I find it challenging every time I go out. I try and push myself and my gear to the limits. I recently purchased a star tracker so I look forward to mastering longer exposures. Mostly I photograph landscapes, I enjoy the travel to location as I find its quite calming and gets me away from the hustle and bustle of suburbia. Being a natural introvert, I find landscape photography is the perfect escape. Its very peaceful enjoying a beautiful vista and being alone in the moment.

Next year I would like to go travel around some more and do an Astro trip down the South Island and get some snowing winter landscapes. Its also great for Astro down south as the skies are dark and little to no light pollution. I have also purchased some new studio lighting and would like to get back into modelling and portraiture. Why do I do photography? Well, I guess I find it relaxing and since I work in a technical industry, I find photography a great escape. I can imagine my photography journey will last me my lifetime as I strive to push the boundaries of my gear and my creative self. As I say to anyone wanting to learn, get out there and shoot.

"I work in a technical industry, I find photography a great escape"