Beautiful Landscape Photography by Christian Lim

It is irrelevant to say it here but persons engaged in hotel business know it there are three things that make a hotel successful: location, location, location. When it comes to nature and landscape photography, we believe three things - location, timing, and settings are of equal importance to create magnificent nature and landscape images. At Lenspeople we are on the lookout for good nature and landscape photographers which are a bit hard to find in the age of selfies, fine-art, and street photography craze. In this post we are showcasing the nature and landscape photography images of Christian Lim from Philippines… telling us about his photography:

Hi Christian! Introduce yourself to our readers:

Hello. I am Christian Lim from Manila, Philippines. I took up Industrial Design and got a Master’s Degree in Marketing shortly thereafter from De La Salle University. I am currently working as a Marketing Manager for one of the leading beverage companies in the country. My hobbies include travel, listening to car and home audio and of course, landscape photography.

Tell us about your photography experience:

I’ve been taking pictures only since 2010. My first subject was my newborn daughter (I was never really good at taking portraits). Then I became a bit serious about it after a year. Now I do long photo tours with workshops 3-4 times in a year and that is when I go out to do landscape, so I save up all my vacation time in the office. I’ve had to integrate our family trips into these tours/workshops as well.

What type of images do you like shooting most?

I mostly do landscape, I love being outdoors. It is my biggest achievement that I have had a very fast start in a very short time, in terms of magazine features, selling prints, doing workshops and tours in different parts of the world. I do tours for those coming out of Philippines, to Iceland with my friend Iurie Belegurschi, to Norway, and to New Zealand with my partner Patrick Ong. We actually are expanding the reach into other destinations, lately we have been getting clients from different countries. As for workshops, I have students based in the Philippines, New Zealand, Scotland and London.

What is in your camera bag, Christian?

My Gear? I use a Canon 5D Mark III, a 16-35 lens, 15mm FE, 70-200 and 24-70. I shoot always in Raw, and use Hoya, Lee and Singhray Filters. For post processing, I open straight into ACR and do some minor adjustments, then its off to CS5, CS6 or CC, depending on the machine I use for sharpening and resizing. I prefer to shoot on the lower end of the ISO band, I mostly stay on AWB unless I’m going for a long exposure over sunset or sunrise, most of my images are taken between F11 and F16.

What are the most important things to keep in mind when shooting nature/landscapes?

Landscape is all about shooting at the right place at the right time, though sometimes really astounding images come from the wrong times (but don’t bet on them too much, unless you are a really lucky person). Always be mindful of your composition and your exposure, these are the two elements that will push your image over the top more so If you are in a frequently shot location. Start off with having a vision for the shot, do your research and see images that have already been taken from the place to give you a preview. Go early, scout the location prior and its existing conditions, this will help you get a shot that is different from all others you have seen, you’ve to work hard for it as there are lots of very talented people out there.

How different are your images from those of other photographers?

Difference? I would say its a combination of the kind of composition you like (for me my wife says my signature is using triangular elements), of course I argue that its all pure coincidence, plus your style of output (post processing) it terms of mood and color preference.

What do you think about current trends in photography?

I think everything becomes over repetitive and cliched once it becomes popular. That’s just the way it is, I do hope though that photography teaches young people about the importance of taking care of our planet. Its actually good for sustainability awareness, however there are some places that complain about tourist arrivals being too much for a small spot to accommodate, this is where governments have to step in and balance profit with environmental protection.

Tell us something about shooting opportunities in Philippines:

In Philippines, you will find a lot of good places for coastal photography, journalism and travel. It will be harder to get around due to the modes of transportation, unless you are renting a car. The best places to shoot would be the mountainous regions up north and a group of islands called Batanes. Photography has made me very sensitive about my surroundings, I have never in my life been that way… tough to admit but I used to not care before.

Where do you want to go in your next photo trip?

I am not very ambitious. I keep it simple. I would just like to finish a few more locations on my list, will be heading back to Scotland, Norway this year, doing Argentina and Chile, taking a break for the holidays in the US and Canada, then I’m off to Iceland early next year. I’ll be pretty much on the down low after those trips.

Tell us about your inspirations in photography?

My inspiration is JOY. I love the looks on peoples faces when I take them on tours, their first Alpine glow, their first Aurora. These are the moments which I really treasure, more than my own images. I don’t have any favorite photographers. There are so many people with great talent that the list will keep on changing so it might be unfair to have favorites. I do like the work though of Kevin McNeal, Dylan Toh of Everlook Photography, Arild Heitmann, Antony Spencer, Raymond Cruz and Iurie Belegurschi.

Say something to aspiring landscape photographers:

Do Landscapes with a Vision of Possibilities and not Limitations. There are lots of excuses, once you use them, you have already failed.