Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Who are you :
I works for a diverse range of clients amongst those leading brands, agencies and media corporations. I have a degree in advertising photography and my work has been published by a number of magazines and exhibited around the world. My City Surfer project made me the winner of Hasselblad Masters 2012.
I urge to explore photography from around the world, from secluded regions of India and Ethiopia to the big city landscapes of New York where I have worked for renowned photographers like Brigitte Lacombe and Asger Carlsen.
Your current job :
Commercial photographer
In which city are you located?
Copenhagen, Denmark
A word to define what kind of worker you are :
Hardworking and is welling to go very far to achieve my goal
What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..)
I have a few essential tools: my Phase one camera, lighting from Broncolor, Wacom board, my Macbook pro and Photoshop.
What does your office space look like?
My office space looks a little messy, most of the time there is stuff everywhere. I share room with and Ad agency and we are located in and old villa in a residential area of central Copenhagen. I like sharing my office with other creative people, being a photographer can be a lonely job sometimes..
What kind of music do you listen when you are working ?
Mostly house music, at the moment I listen to Darkside with is really great – They just played a really great concert at Roskilde festival this year. I also listing to my friend Djuma Soundsystem brand new remix on Soundcloud.
Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work ?
Im a big fan of a TO DO list, specially on the slow days…it makes it easier to get all your stuff done. Being a photographer a big part of your job is actually not shooting pictures, there is a lot off organizations, e-mailing, locations scouting, meeting etc and it can sometime be time consuming and it imported to keep track on that.
What tips would you give to improve productivity ?
That is a good question, I which I could answer that. I sometimes find it hard to come up with new ideas and be productive. My work is a balance of my personal project and commercial work, sometimes I really busy working on commercial jobs and when its more slow I try to fill ind the gabs with my personal work.
You’re better than your colleagues to :
Do personal stuff – many photographers just do whatever they get paid for and nothing else.
What is the best advice anyone has given you ?
I still remember one of the first photograpiy “rules” from my old boss: ”entrance angle equal to the angle of reflection” (don’t know if this it the right translation, but its about the angle of the light reflecting something and how to avoid/use it) but it has been very useful every since.
What is your best tip for saving time ?
My TO DO list and be busy…Im a lot more productive when I’m busy
What is your routine start and end of the day ?
Double espresso & double espresso
Aside from your computer and your phone, what gadget can you not you go without?
I dont know if you can call them gadget, but beside all my photo equipment I always bring a VERY power full led flashlight and a few external hard drive when I go travel. If you are in a remote part of the world without electricity its nice to see what you are doing if you are shooting late. That way you can also make sure you can find all your equipment when you are doing shooting and when its dark. Backup is essential everywhere..
