It is time to meet our April 19th - 25th, Weekly Feature Creative, Martin!
Creative's Name: Martin van der Sanden
Type of Creative: Photographer
Genres: Portrait & Landscape/Nature/Wildlife
Tell us about you! What is your story? Married, kids, fur babies? What things do you do besides your craft? I was born in the Netherlands and came over when I was 21. I have been photographing since I was a kid and it's always been my passion. I am married and have two beautiful daughters. We also have cats, dogs, birds, horses, and chickens. Besides photography, I love woodturning.
Be straight with us...what brand do you use? What is your favorite piece of gear - lens, camera body, etc? I have two sets of camera gear, depending on what it is I'm photographing. I have a Leica M10 and a Leica Monochrom with 18, 28, 50 and 135mm Leica lenses and I have a Nikon DF and a Nikon D850 with 14, 20, 17-35, 35, 50, 85, 105, 125, and 200-500mm Nikon lenses.
When you go on one of your travels, where do you go & what gear do you bring with you? For wildlife and landscapes, as well as portraits, I use my Nikon gear but for travel, street, and black/white landscapes I use my Leica gear.
What editing programs do you use? I use mainly Lightroom, but every once in awhile I use Photoshop as well. But my main editing is only done in Lightroom to a fair minimum. And I use Goodsync for backing up my files. And WeSendIt to email large files to clients.
What has been the hardest part of being a photographer? How long have you been a photographer? I have been photographing for about 43 years, but not always seriously. It's been really the last several that I become very serious about it. The hardest thing is to balance it with family.
What makes your passion shine and what are you most passionate about when you see your finished work? I love being out and photographing, but coming home and going through my work and being able to print an image that I took and can really enjoy and am proud of is the icing on the cake. I would love to have my work shown in a serious gallery or museum one day.
Would you change anything that you have learned? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind with your work? I admire Clyde Butcher and his lifetime commitment to preserving the Everglades through his work, and I would love to find a way to make my work be associated with a great cause.
Among your works, which is your favorite and why? I prefer black and white landscapes. I just love them, especially as large prints. I like the detail and textures and the classic look. There's just something special about it.
What inspires you? Who's work has influenced you most? What is the most rewarding part for you? As a child, it was Fran Lanting. I believe he was still living in the Netherlands when I got into photography and his wildlife images were in magazines that I would admire. For now, I would say for the black and white landscapes, it's Clyde Butcher.
Tell us something we wouldn't know about you, from looking at your portfolio. Something that you wouldn't know about me from looking at my work is that I still have a lot of insecurities about my work even though it's been so long that I've been working on my craft. Opening myself up to be judged by your personal work can be hard.
What advice do you have for people just starting out? Jump in and read, ask questions and learn as much as you can. It's a very rewarding hobby and I found that fellow photographers are quick to encourage and share information with each other. Learn from them.
What is one accomplishment you achieved this year? I opened up a portrait studio in Downtown Eustis and I'm very pleased with it. That's an area of photography that has always interested me, but I've never gotten into before.
Thank you, Martin, for sharing your creative journey with us! We love having you as part of the Artistic Alliance Community!