Interview with Marina Broers : A Travel Photographer, Successful Housewife and a Beautiful Lady

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself, your blog(s)/website(s),and your aspirations and your hobbies!!
English is not my native tongue so please excuse me if there are faults in syntax and grammar. My name is Marina, married for more then 30 years, and we live in a small town in Belgium. My hobbies are photography, traveling, ballroom dancing, cycling, gardening, walking, baking and being creative with the computer. Until the beginning of this year I had a major fan club based website that was designed by me by scratch. The designs were created in Photoshop and/or Paint Shop Pro and It was a real challenge. Now, and this is all still very new, I have created a site with blog for my photography work. I was hesitant at first, meaning, I love photography but always kept it to myself; friends and family were the only ones to see the photography. But then I took that, for me, big step, and created a new site where the rest of the world could see my photography . It is still a work in progress but a collection of my travel photography is in the process of being uploaded.

2. How you first got involved in with photography, are you an imaginative person?
My first steps in photography were the usual family snapshots with a simply point to shoot camera. But then over the years, interest in photography was growing and the need to learn more about the whole process made me buy books and later on search the Internet to find more information. Digital photography opened more doors. I just loved the fact that you could take a photo, return home and had instant access to the images. You didn’t had to wait until negatives were developed. You also could shoot more images without having to worry about the develop cost. And further more, with digital photography there is full control over the final image. I always shoot in RAW format and develop it in Lightroom. Composition, exposure, corrections, color tweaking, etc … you can correct it all and control the look of the finished image. And to me, that’s also a fun part of photography : the developing process. It’s not just go out there, snap some photos and done … the photos are ready .. no, I like to work on each image and try to get the most out of them.

Am I an imaginative person? Well, I like to explore the unknown, try new things.

3. What does photography mean to you?
To me it is a way of capturing moments and to be able to look back on them. It’s a way of art too. Create a perfect photo, where all is coming together is an art form.

 4. Photography is your passion or profession or both?
Passion. I am just an amateur photographer but I really love to work with the camera, to go out there and see all these beautiful locations and to be able to capture those moments is a lot of fun and yes, a passion.

5. What do you find most challenging about photography about your topic?
You have to know that most of my photography is done while traveling with others, a travel company. So it’s not that we travel by ourselves, and have time to set up things or just have time to wait. No, it’s in group and often there isn’t much time to stay at the same location to find the perfect spot. So to me, the real challenge is to find a beautiful scene and try to make good images in an instant. While traveling, I always walk around and look at the things around me, searching for something interesting to photograph. But in a way, that’s not that bad either because you learn to look around you in a more observing way. You learn to see things that others might miss. Often I get the reaction “Was that there? Really? I didn’t see that.”

6. Tell me about some of the catchy people you have met while clicking pictures?
Don’t really have an answer to this one … photographers who are more into street photography, are getting in closer contact with the people they photograph, stories are being told and I can imaging that some of those moments will be remembered by the photographer for a very long time if not forever. But you can also reflect this on landscape photographers : sometimes you have those magical moments that will stay with you forever. I remember for instance the moment I was photographing the sunrise while sailing along the Moselle River in Germany (see photo included with this interview) : nature was awaking, all was quiet, nobody else was on the deck : it was just me and the beauty of nature all around me. To me, that was a magical moment. Or standing on top of the 2950 mt Zugspitze mountain, clouds drifting below you and you feel as if you’re standing on top of the world.

7. How do you get the person, place or thing that is in front of the camera onto the film, chip or paper in just the way you want?
This is kinda answered in question 5, because often there isn’t much time to take photographs. It all has to go fast because we have to stay with the group or we only have a short period of time to walk around the area because we have to be in time at the bus or ship. I often wish I would be able to visit places on our own and really take time to create some special photographs.

8. How would (someone) describe your photography style?
I really have no idea, like I said before, my photography is being shared for only a few weeks now.

9. What do you do when you are not clicking any pics?
Household. A job that is underestimated! And taking care of my elderly mother.  A lot of time is going into those two tasks.

10 . Which photographers influenced you, and how did they influence your thinking and photographing?
Matt Kloskowski. His work is magnificent and he is a very talented guy. I have learned a lot from him in way of composition, what to look for, what not to look for, and about photography in general.

11. What networking do you do that you feel helps your photography?
I follow the on line KelbyOne Courses. There you have all you need. Info about photography, info about cameras, info about developing, info about software, you find it all there and so I did. This channel is my number one source.

12. What is your strategy with your photographs in general?
Tell the story of things we saw on our travels. It’s a way of remembering it all and I really enjoy it to be able to do something with the photographs now : working on a site again, writing a blog, share the work with others… it’s all part of the photography.

13. Any specific tips you have for newbie photographers?
Learn to work with your camera first. It doesn’t matter if you are a point to shoot owner or a DSRL user … learn to know your camera, learn to work with it. Go into your garden, or go out to a park or somewhere where you can just practice and try all the different settings of your camera. Look at the results of these settings and learn from them. Then when it is time for the real work, think before you shoot : don’t just take the camera and shoot. Look at the scene, look at the different angles to shoot from. Fill your frame.

14. What motivates you to continue taking pictures economically, politically, intellectually or emotionally?
Emotionally. I like to be able to look back and remember. Life goes so fast and to me the photography is a way of saving some beautiful moments for the future.

15. Five adjectives that describe you.
Perfectionist, Caring, Romantic, Friendly, Inquisitive.

16. What incident would you say has made the biggest impact good or bad on you?
The death of a relative that came very unexpected. It made us realize that all can be gone in an instant. We started traveling and see the world a bit more and enjoy those moments together. And the photography captures those moments and keeps them safe.

17. Do you get easily provoked by positive/negative comments??
I only try to listen to constructive criticism because CC is a good tool. You learn about the pros and cons of your work. Positive comments will make me smile of course and as far as negative comments goes : well, there will always be people who don’t like what you’re doing. So be it. But it would hurt, because you put a part of yourself in the photography, and negative comments just to be negative would hurt.To me, photography is a way to express myself, to show things I have seen while traveling and to capture special moments.

18. You have a website also, please tell me about that?
http://marinabroers.zenfolio.com/

This a new site, with a blog included. It’s only up an running for a few weeks now and images are still being uploaded. It’s the first time I shared my photography with all of you and I am happy to be able to do something with my photographs now. Working on the images and site is fun. Some photography goes in the galleries and others are included in the blog. The blog is a report of my travel experiences.

19. What motivates you most in life?
My husband. Because he always supports me.

20. So whats Next in your list?
A cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. And of course, the photography will be posted on my site afterwards.

21.Words for your followers and why they should follow you?
I think that if you love photography, it is always interesting and a way to learn to follow other photographers. To see their work, to see how they do the composition, the settings they use … it is a way of learning and a source for ideas. I am following several photographers and am a member of several photography groups.

22. Words and suggestion about my website www.indiaataglance.com
The site is very informative for those who want to travel to India.