It’s no secret that I dream about traveling journeys a lot. I can spend hours looking at pictures of cities that are on my wish list and planning trips that are only fantasies in my head. For now.
When I stumbled across Lina Skukauské’s travel pictures, I was instantly taken far away. Her Porto photos caught my eye right away. It’s like I could breathe the city’s air. I reached out to her and asked her a few questions about her travels.
Here is what she had to say:
Can you briefly explain what brought you to Porto?
This trip to Porto was a short (4 days) mini-vacation with my husband. I personally love such “long weekends” and I find that four days are easy to squeeze in almost any time, but at the same time it’s enough to relax, refresh yourself from the routine and get inspired by the new scenery. Porto was on my list for quite a while – I love patterns and warm weather and this city has both!
A few words about yourself?
I’m a lifestyle photographer from Vilnius, Lithuania, currently living in Munich, Germany. I’ve studied graphic design in Denmark, but soon after that started working as a photographer. I tried many different niches in photography trying to understand what I like most and what I’m good at. Right now, I’m taking mostly food/interior/product images for work and I love capturing beautiful nature and travels in my free time.
How did you first get into photography?
Actually, I never planned to be a photographer. My interest in photography started when I was about 16, but it was nothing serious; I just played with my parents’ simple camera and at that time I was more interested in drawing.
The big reason why photography seemed interesting for me was the works I found online. I remember how I used to look at work on deviantART or Flickr and at that time I had no idea how they created those wonderful photos; it kind of seemed like magic to me. In my graphic design studies we had a short introductory class in photography, and then I started to better understand how to take and edit images. I bought a DSLR camera and started learning all I could.
“When we get used to some place we tend to take it for granted and don’t notice anymore the things that make it special.”
Do you have a specific creative process with photography?
It depends on the project; obviously work projects require lots of planning, mood boards, discussions with clients, prop selection, etc. When I’m shooting for myself then most of the time it’s totally spontaneous and I just follow my intuition and try to capture what I feel to be beautiful. I love telling stories via images and also try to capture what I think is specific to that place/event.
What camera gear do you use when you travel?
If I consider the country to be safe I take my normal camera, a Canon 5D Mark III and at least 50mm lens (Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art). Depending on how willing I am to carry heavier weights, I might also take 35mm lens and 100mm lens to give me more variety. I also find that my iPhone gives me lots of flexibility and totally different ideas than what I would do with a camera. The pity is that the quality is so bad…
Which city did you find the most challenging to photograph?
I guess it’s always the one in which you live? When we get used to some place we tend to take it for granted and don’t notice anymore the things that make it special.
If you could leave tomorrow for the destination of your choice, where would you go?
I have two dream destinations and to one of them (Iceland) I already have tickets for this spring, so I would choose my second dream destination: New Zealand!
What is the best travel advice you could give?
Be open to people, local culture, views, sounds, tastes… Try to soak it in and learn something from it. And of course, capture it in images!
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