An Exclusive Interview with Kirsten Bruening

It's a great priveleg to have been voted 3rd place winner.

I took this photo relatively early in the morning in summer. The sun was still relatively low in the sky, so the plants were bathed in a soft light. The morning atmosphere was so beautiful that I decided to capture this moment in black and white. Color would have been simply disturbing in this case, because it would have destroyed the impression of the photo.

Flower Dreams by Kirsten Bruening

I believe that one is always the most critical person in relation to one's work. Personally, I often question my decisions and consider whether I should have chosen a different attitude or perspective and I am also very critical of the attitude mistakes I have made, but that is what drives me to perform better and motivates me to learn and improve continuously. I am grateful for the experience I can gather in the Photo of the Day award.

As a child I was introduced to the world of analogue photography by my father. It was an exciting journey, which eventually came to an end due to school, family and professional changes. I only started using digital photography again last year and quickly reached my limits. Luckily, I received good advice from the Light & Composition University, so that I can continuously improve my knowledge through the individual courses and always have a competent contact person from the support team.

My parents taught me early on that life means respect. That means that every form of life must be protected, nature, animals and people. I think this is also reflected in my kind of photography.

For me, black and white photography is the purest form of photography. Before I photograph something I imagine how it looks like in black and white. I fade out the colors completely. Light, shadow, contrasts, emotions are much clearer in black and white photography. The true beauty of photography only really comes into its own in black and white.

It took me a long time to really visualize. Like many others, in the beginning I just pressed the shutter button. Today, I am able to pay attention to the smallest details and compose an image in my head. I know from which perspective I have to photograph. This is a continuous learning process that cannot really be explained. Visualization must be felt and understood.

Go through the world with open eyes, practice, try something new, understand the rules. Talk to the support team at Light & Composition. Dare to take a course. It's fun! And it will help you - stop embellishing your photos with Photoshop, Snapseed and the like. They don't get better, they get worse. And your camera is not responsible for the result.