The lifestyle section of your site is something I also enjoyed immensely, tell me Nour, any portable lighting u take with u on those environmental shots, what would u pack if u were to go shoot a picture like the one u have of that factory worker?
I always do my best in using day-light before I put my hand on my bag to get the SB800, my first priority is not to interfere with the existing light, but to deal with it, sometimes I move with a gold/silver 32’’ reflector, but this is not often, all the factory work photography was dealing with the existing lighting there, because it was more like a documentary work for GTZ about small and medium enterprises, so interfering with lighting was not recommended.
I used two lenses frequently in the factories, the 10-20mm and the 50mm f1.8
I always do my best in using day-light before I put my hand on my bag to get the SB800, my first priority is not to interfere with the existing light, but to deal with it, sometimes I move with a gold/silver 32’’ reflector, but this is not often, all the factory work photography was dealing with the existing lighting there, because it was more like a documentary work for GTZ about small and medium enterprises, so interfering with lighting was not recommended.
I used two lenses frequently in the factories, the 10-20mm and the 50mm f1.8
Now I know you have worked as a photojournalist for a brief period of your life? Tell us a bit about shooting as a photojournalist, small things u learned to do and not to do when shooting documentary?
Not as a photojournalist, but as a documentary photographer, I was covering the way of life of people in Old medina of Fez in Morocco, and same for Constantine in Algeria, I learned many things that I can’t count them here, I learned to be quick, to be patient, to be charming with people on the street, learned to go to the exact place taking the exact composition but in different time of the day, learned to walk with bags full of equipment and different lenses, learned to see and think in wide angle and tele zoom at the same time, as one of my friends said, ready for hunting photographs that tells the story.
Not as a photojournalist, but as a documentary photographer, I was covering the way of life of people in Old medina of Fez in Morocco, and same for Constantine in Algeria, I learned many things that I can’t count them here, I learned to be quick, to be patient, to be charming with people on the street, learned to go to the exact place taking the exact composition but in different time of the day, learned to walk with bags full of equipment and different lenses, learned to see and think in wide angle and tele zoom at the same time, as one of my friends said, ready for hunting photographs that tells the story.
Ok, now let’s move a bit towards the more "business side" of being a pro.... Negotiations... Any advices when negotiating a client, certain dos or don’t do’s?
Confidence, discipline, and understanding, don’t throw yourself in something you don’t know.
After you feel that you know all the faces of the coin and all the corners of the situation, you already know by now what to do, and then focus in doing it.
Copyrights, licensing, and other rights of the creator, are sometimes under negotiation too, what would your advice be on those? Especially knowing that some clients will ask for photo copyrights in exchange for a higher price
All this should be settled on the first meeting, I ask about the purpose for the photography (website, brochure, magazine, etc) then about the quality they want and the form they want (printed or CD), foreign clients make a contract with everything and this is good, but Egyptian clients usually don’t, but they know if they violated any term from the first meeting, I won’t work with them again.
How do I copyright my photos in Egypt?
There is a way to copyright your work in Egypt through an institute by giving them original copies and paying very little, this way are more followed in Drawings and other Art work, but you know about red-tape in Egypt, I prefer gaining from technology and save time and effort by dealing with stock agencies.
Last business question of the interview, how do u see the photography market in Egypt, headed towards a certain direction maybe, a certain trend, certain advices to aspiring pros maybe ?
Commercial and Fashion, because it makes better money and the demand in Egypt supports it, and relatively the easiest category, artistically speaking, it is not good, because Art is not appreciated by the vast community, of course people like you and who may read this, and people you find in photography groups appreciate Art much, but you are asking about the market, so we are talking about more than 70 million people, not you and me.
Exhibitions, exhibitions.....Now I know you are a very well recognized artist in Egypt, and have had award winning photos in more exhibitions than I can think of, in fact some of your photos have won internationally. How important do u see exhibitions are to an artist, what are the pros and cons if any?
That’s because I enter contests more than entering exhibitions, I love to compete under a specific theme, but this is dangerous for beginners, because some when lose, they lose hope and feel so much disappointed, and it became their end, while others after winning feels that they became suddenly the best in the world, and also this could be their end, only the photographer himself knows if he is ready to avoid both of those or not yet.
About Exhibitions, no big harm from that, but there are kinds of exhibitions, ones for showing photos, and one for selling photos, each has its tips.
For showing pictures, it is different when it is a group exhibition or a solo one, if it is a group exhibition, the team decide on a certain title and you submit with few of pictures following the title, each picture could stand alone, or the three or two could work together under your name. ( I asked many times to enter in that type and I usually agree but depends on the team ).
If it is a solo, usually it is better and more powerful that all the pictures work as a story or one piece of work, you can’t take one from them, they work together, act as a symphony. (Difficult to achieve) (I made only one from that type, it was about Al Mulid)
For Selling pictures, it is not a big difference if it was a group or solo, but in a group there is a high competition, in a solo, each picture should stand by itself as very few who buy a group of pictures working together, finally take care not to compete against yourself.
Nour its been a great interview , weve been honored to have u here today on our blog , and thanks for ur time .
Thank you
Confidence, discipline, and understanding, don’t throw yourself in something you don’t know.
After you feel that you know all the faces of the coin and all the corners of the situation, you already know by now what to do, and then focus in doing it.
Copyrights, licensing, and other rights of the creator, are sometimes under negotiation too, what would your advice be on those? Especially knowing that some clients will ask for photo copyrights in exchange for a higher price
All this should be settled on the first meeting, I ask about the purpose for the photography (website, brochure, magazine, etc) then about the quality they want and the form they want (printed or CD), foreign clients make a contract with everything and this is good, but Egyptian clients usually don’t, but they know if they violated any term from the first meeting, I won’t work with them again.
How do I copyright my photos in Egypt?
There is a way to copyright your work in Egypt through an institute by giving them original copies and paying very little, this way are more followed in Drawings and other Art work, but you know about red-tape in Egypt, I prefer gaining from technology and save time and effort by dealing with stock agencies.
Last business question of the interview, how do u see the photography market in Egypt, headed towards a certain direction maybe, a certain trend, certain advices to aspiring pros maybe ?
Commercial and Fashion, because it makes better money and the demand in Egypt supports it, and relatively the easiest category, artistically speaking, it is not good, because Art is not appreciated by the vast community, of course people like you and who may read this, and people you find in photography groups appreciate Art much, but you are asking about the market, so we are talking about more than 70 million people, not you and me.
Exhibitions, exhibitions.....Now I know you are a very well recognized artist in Egypt, and have had award winning photos in more exhibitions than I can think of, in fact some of your photos have won internationally. How important do u see exhibitions are to an artist, what are the pros and cons if any?
That’s because I enter contests more than entering exhibitions, I love to compete under a specific theme, but this is dangerous for beginners, because some when lose, they lose hope and feel so much disappointed, and it became their end, while others after winning feels that they became suddenly the best in the world, and also this could be their end, only the photographer himself knows if he is ready to avoid both of those or not yet.
About Exhibitions, no big harm from that, but there are kinds of exhibitions, ones for showing photos, and one for selling photos, each has its tips.
For showing pictures, it is different when it is a group exhibition or a solo one, if it is a group exhibition, the team decide on a certain title and you submit with few of pictures following the title, each picture could stand alone, or the three or two could work together under your name. ( I asked many times to enter in that type and I usually agree but depends on the team ).
If it is a solo, usually it is better and more powerful that all the pictures work as a story or one piece of work, you can’t take one from them, they work together, act as a symphony. (Difficult to achieve) (I made only one from that type, it was about Al Mulid)
For Selling pictures, it is not a big difference if it was a group or solo, but in a group there is a high competition, in a solo, each picture should stand by itself as very few who buy a group of pictures working together, finally take care not to compete against yourself.
Nour its been a great interview , weve been honored to have u here today on our blog , and thanks for ur time .
Thank you
Nour El Refai
By the way u guys , Nour also does product photography , yet he hasnt posted that section yet on his site , so i'll be lookin out for that.
Interview By : Ahmed El Semary
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