Peter Engström

Today's photographer feature presents Swedish photographer and editor at Streetfashion MagZZine Peter Engström. You may have read a sneak peek of his interview in our advent calendar, or even read the entire interview if you have bought our print edition where this interview was published in first. Peter started following us about a year ago and since then we have featured him in two editor's choice articles on our website (here & here). Having a large creative background and having touched many different surfaces in the world of art, like drawing, making music and of course photography, we are happy he settled on photography as a hobby and profession. We are very grateful and are looking forward to having him in our Editor’s team and therefore decided to publish his interview on our website as well so everyone of you has the chance to get to know Peter a little better!

Peter, please tell us a little bit about yourself to begin with.
My name is Peter Engström. I’m 37 years old. Born in Bergsjön, Göteborg, grew up in Jörlanda and now I live in Kungälv, Sweden. I have been working as a sales assistant / photographer in a photo store/studio in Kungälv, Sweden called Bomans Foto for almost 3 years.

Have you been involved in the arts in some form other than photography?
I have been a musician my entire life. Playing the keyboard in multiple bands and constellations. One is called ‘047’ and is a bitpop electro duo. Later on, I got more into music production and my primary instrument became my computer with logic pro.
In 2016, I started to get bored by music. It simply wasn’t fun anymore. That’s when I started taking photography more seriously. I had only been taking everyday photos since 2013, but in 2016, I bought my beloved Canon EOS 6D Full frame DSLR and during the autumn of 2017 I did my very first print model shooting. Since then, model photography is my new big passion/hobby and I strive to get as good at it as possible.

Model: Nicole Fors

What does photography mean to you?
Photography for me is creativity. It’s my way of being as creative as I previously was when doing music, but with more intensity and responsibility in a way. After a model shooting my brain is completely exhausted due to all the activity, talking, decisions, camera settings, lighting equipment, posing etc. But I simply love that feeling. Then I rest for a while and then I start my other creative process, which is editing my photos :-) I love that long “chain of creativity”. I need to create something otherwise I feel sad, anxious and bored. :-)

Seeing your remarkable work, we are curious where your creativity comes from?
When making music, you have the basic idea in your head. You record a melody, then you add chords, then you create the sound and turn the ideas into a whole uniform piece. Then you mix it, then you master it, then you let other people hear it and enjoy the finished result.
Photography is the same process but yet slightly different. You see a picture in your head, you pose the model, you check your settings, you take the shot, you edit the image, you post it on Instagram and get likes. Or you print it and put it on your wall.
I guess I was born a creative person. I’m terrible at many other things, like math, mechanics and sports so all my good abilities are abstract or on the art/music side. Sometimes that might be bad, but actually I wouldn’t change it if I could.

Model: Siri Josefsson

Model: Amelie Dynesius

Could you share with us how you first became interested in photography?
I guess, way back, during my childhood, I’ve always loved colourful stuff :-) I played a lot of Nintendo games, which also stimulates the mind in a way. I started drawing early and that was my first creative channel. Loved drawing characters from video games and the art on the boxes was fantastic.

So, Colours and art have always been close to me. Also, I’ve always admired the look of women. Their many expressions, makeup, hairstyles, clothes, bodies and poses made a huge impact on me even as a child somehow. I guess that when I post a picture on Instagram or in any other way finish a picture. It’s my kind of artwork! The true good feeling is when a photographer somewhere in the world sees my image and might think: "Wow! That’s a smart/great photo and not just give the model praise." Those times I’m satisfied :-)

What gear are you using today and with what did you start with?
I bought my first DSLR in 2013 and that was a Canon EOS 600D (Rebel T3i)
Nowadays I own a Canon EOS 6D as my main camera. The old 600D is still with me, but now converted into full spectrum to be able to shoot in infrared, which I sometimes do, even for model shootings. I also own a Canon EOS M, (also full spectrum mudded) with a 9mm wide angle lens to get weird perspectives and odd photos. Also, I try to use flashes during my shoots as much as possible because I like the artificial lighting. I use Godox flashes (AD600B and 2 of the AD200s with different lighting modifiers depending on the situation. Lenses are Canon EF85 1.8, 50mm 1.4, 24-105 f4L, Sigma 35 f1.4 Art, Tamron 70-200 2.8 and my Laowa 9mm.

What is your favourite lens?
Most of my photos are taken with my beloved Canon EF 85mm f1.8 which was my first prime lens and has always worked for me so I guess I have to say that one even if like my other lenses just as much.

Can you tell us about your workflow from the point until you showcase the developed picture?
I shoot my photos. Usually between 100-300 photos depending on the session. If the model and I have the time, we transfer the files onto my iPad which I always bring on my shoots. She can there quickly choose some of her own favourites and also, I can see so I don’t miss any pose or shot. When I come home - I transfer all my raw files to my Canon CS100, just for backup. Then I transfer my files to my photo drive and to an external backup as well.
Then I bring them into Capture One and start my culling process. Blurry or bad pictures gets a red flag and good ones get a green flag. Perfect killer shots get a star as well. I check the exposure, so I don’t clip any highlights or such. I sometimes make minor adjustments in C1, but then I edit the image in Photoshop. Here I remove blemishes, sometimes use Frequency separation or other smoothening methods, use Dodge and Burn, adjust skin colour with adjustment layers and gradient maps. Then I save the image.
I then make the final adjustments in C1 where I sometimes add styles or create more uniformed skin tones etc. Then I export the image to different formats straight from C1.

What or who has influenced your work?
Since I’m pretty new in the photography world, I really don’t have any favourite photographer that I try to take after. There are a lot of skilled photographers out there and I try to find inspiration from images, more than from photographers. But I guess the goal is though get people to see that the image is yours without the need of a watermark and for some photographers you can actually see it’s their work from look of the image alone.

Model: Emma Andersson

Model: Josefina Ostlund

What is your favourite subject to photograph?
Women. I’ve always admired the look of women. Their many facial expressions, their different makeup, hairstyles, clothes, beautiful bodies and poses. Pictures of girls and women made a huge impact on me as a child for some reason. I guess they were a bit goddess-like to me and I was actually jealous sometimes of how beautiful they were and of the attention they got in magazines, commercials etc. Maybe my self-esteem wasn’t that good back then!

What would you say characterises your work in comparison to other photographers?
I really don’t know actually. Every time I shoot and every time I edit, I try to make some part of it different to previous times. Otherwise I don’t evolve. Also, I love editing and see that part of the process more as creating rather than adjusting. More recently I’ve found an edit process that I like and when I shoot models today, I try to take at least one picture that would fit as a print in a frame on a wall. Something more than just a photo of a beautiful woman. A tiny detail, something odd… Something that gets stuck in the viewer while still just being a photo of a beautiful woman somehow. That is my goal nowadays, I guess.

Model: Angelica Skofterud

Model: Tahere Heydari

Among your works, which is your favourite and why?
The one with Julia Häll next to the big tree. The lighting was amazing under that tree and I spotted the location from a distance.
I knew the shot would be good before I took it. The pose of Julia, being beautiful as always, yet loose and relaxed and also the mix of the city girl/ modern outfit next to the greens and vivid colours of the nature is a great combination for me. The tree is also a nice element in the picture with all the structure.

Model: Julia Häll

In your opinion, what makes a good picture stand out from the average?
In the Instagram/ digital world we all scroll quite fast.
If something gets your attention or if you swipe up again to see the picture again. You have succeeded. Like I wrote earlier, if there is something extra, a tiny detail or something more than just a beautiful girl posing that gets your attention you have succeeded. Unfortunately, the landscape mode photos don’t come out the way they are supposed to because of the smartphone format so I guess it depends on the way we view pictures. For me, the editing should be good, but I don’t want the pictures to LOOK edited. Sometimes you see a picture of a girl where the smoothness or dodge and burn has been overdone. I don’t like that kind of photos. You should never see the retouching work in the final result, I think.

Model: Victoria Njie

Tell us your funniest photography story.
Not sure if I have any funny stories… A few terrible photography stories though! Those where you come home and notice that 90% of the shots are blurry because of a drop of rain snuck into the camera body when switching lenses.
I truly hate rain… when I shoot models at least. I have also forgot THAT piece of equipment you need the most at certain shoots. And you simply want to kill yourself for being so stupid to leave it at home.

What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
Before I got my job in the photo store, I was working as a warehouse employee. I was lifting/carrying truck parts. Heavy, dull things I still don’t know the name or purpose of. Worst of all, I did it for 10 years. The reason for that was that I didn’t feel good and I’ve had issues with myself for many years.
After going through therapy for almost two years I felt more stable much better, emotionally and mentally. During this time the company reorganised, and I was let go. So, I decided to do something different this time. Something I WANTED to work with. This was the time where I got interested in photography and model photography, so I decided to find a job in the industry somehow and I was lucky to get a job as a photographer here in Kungälv. It was scary in the beginning, both socially and technically but I evolved quickly and learned and studied photography as much as possible. To me, creativity is more important than money!
My advice to newcomers is to find out what you LOVE to do, what makes you happy and stimulates your mind. If you are a creative person you will probably find yourself thinking about different kinds of photography, music or art when you’re out for a walk or such. Try out the ideas in real life. If you enjoy it, do it again but this time, try something new. Otherwise you won’t evolve.

Peter Engström feat.
Julia Häll

Read all about Peter and Julia's tropical cooperation in this Editor's Choice! They'll talk about the everything from location (yes, it's in Sweden!), the enchanting hair pieces and the different make ups matching different outfits to the process of posing and capturing everything!

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