Fadli, please tell us a little bit about yourself to begin with. (How old are you, Where were you born and where do you live now, What is your profession and do you have other besides photography?
My name is Fadli Bohari. Currently I live in Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia. I’m doing photography for full time. My major areas are fashion, editorial, portrait and documentary. I was born in Ampang - Selangor in a village named Kampung Berembang. Due to  state infrastructure development our village need to be demolished to build one of the states big projects. As I remember at the age of 17 I was assigned to take pictures of several houses before they got turned down. That was my first assignment of photography and I was in the opinion, that photography is interesting and i would like to learn more about photography.

Have you been involved in the arts in some form other than photography?
I’m a part time musician. I play drums, guitar and I can sing :D  I’m always relating music with photography since i started with photography.

What equipment are you using now and with what did you get started? what is your favorite lens?
Now im using a Nikon d7000 and d90. My first camera was a Canon 1000d. Some time ago I was having a Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens. It is my favorite lens. Unfortunately i need to sell it because of financial problems. But I plan to buy it back.

Can you tell us about your work flow from the point you first step onto the street until you showcase the developed picture?
My major areas are editorial, fashion and portrait. I have to find a good concept / theme for the session. For sure every session will have a different concept, not the one, that I’ve done before. Then I have to find a model, outfits, location and material, that is related tot he session like props, a team such as a makeup artist and an assistant. Normally every shot is planned upfront to get the visual idea first for the mood, emotions, pose, light, set, styling, model’s look and so on. Most of my shots were planned because it is more satisfying for me.

What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
Identify what you want to do. Put more efforts on it. Learn, what is a good shot, what elements you need to put in your shots. “The creative adult is the child, who has survived.”- Ursula K. Le Guin.. so fight to survive.

Cy, please tell us a little bit about yourself to begin with. (How old are you, where were you born and where do you live now, what is your profession and do you have other besides photography?
Hello, my name is Cy Davison and I am 41 years old. I was born in a small Texas town called Van Alstyne. But now, I currently live in Lancaster Texas which is approximately 15 minutes south of downtown Dallas, depending on how fast I drive. My profession I would say is actually just media in general. Not only do I create with photography, but I am a film maker, graphic designer, and film composer which is my 1st passion. I have been doing this business since 2013 when I first picked up a camera.

Have you been involved in the arts in some form other than photography?
Absolutely! I am a musician and composer. I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and was a music major in college. I also may occasionally do some acting and screen writing in the midst of my film making.

What equipment are you using now and with what did you get started? what is your favorite lens?
I am currently using the Nikon D810 as my primary with a Nikon D610 as my secondary. My first camera was the Nikon D3200. My favorite lens right now has to be the Nikkor 50mm 1.8. It is my workhorse! I think it’s because while I’m doing a shoot, I will change modes and start filming behind the scenes footage. The 50mm gives me a great deal of flexibility.

Can you tell us about your work flow from the point you first step onto the street until you showcase the developed picture?
The first thing is…I never approach the location or studio with a preconceived idea on what the photos need to look like. I don’t start bringing out the strobes when the ambient lighting is doing something for me. Im not a colors or shapes guy, so I’m always looking for where light and shadow have a relationship with the particular scene. After that, I try putting the subject(s) in certain poses or situations that compliments the scene and create a story. I don’t take a lot of snaps because, I just don’t point and click. I literally compose the elements in the scene and how they relate to the subject. Once I get home, I immediately upload what I grabbed and start to flag the ones that jump out at me on first glance. Once I pick one or two I then start the processes of retouching and other techniques to make the photos pop.

What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
Learn all the technical aspects of shooting, just so that you can break the rules. I think all photographers say this, but I agree with it and have proven it to myself many times…the camera doesn’t make the photograph, the person behind the lens does. It doesn’t matter if you have a Nikon D3300 or a $70k Hasselblad, you don’t need a high dollar gear that puts you in debt if you can’t create art that speaks to someone with the gear that you have. Chase Jarvis published a book only using his iPhone as the camera. It’s called “The Best Camera is the One You Have with You”. I think this is a good starting point.

Tony, please tell us a little about yourself to begin with. (How old are you, where were you born and where do you live now, what is your profession and do you have other besides photography?)
I am 38, and live in vibrant Brighton, UK where I have lived for about 15 years.  I was born in London, but moved away to Horsham (a town halfway between London and Brighton) when I was less than a year old, which is where I grew up.  I wish photography was my job, but it isn't, at the moment it is more of a hobby, but do now dabble a little in the professional side of things occasionally.  My day job is in stock planning and control.

Have you been involved in the arts in some form other than photography?
I'm not really involved in the arts in another way other than photography.  In my college days I did briefly sing in a band, and played a bit of bass guitar, but I guess it wasn't really my thing.  Photography has in recent years kept me involved in music to a degree photographing bands and gigs (on and off for various people and reasons), and more recently got me involved in the performance arts having helped some actors with head shots, and also getting involved with burlesque performers and shows.

Seeing your remarkable work, I am curious where your creativity comes from?
Actually I find this a very difficult question to answer.  The truth is I'm not really sure.  I think it must just come from years of flicking through magazines such as NME and the now non existent Melody Maker for band inspiration, but also men's and women's lifestyle magazines.  I think having lived and worked in Brighton for years now will have had a big impact on my outlook too.  The city is awash with creative people of all art forms and you see great examples all over the place from the graffiti, to street sculpture, to street performance, to pop up galleries.  It's everywhere in all forms, and I think this influence has rubbed off on me.

What equipment are you using now and with what did you get started?  What is your favourite lens?
So as per the previous question, I started out with my uncle's Pentax ME Super, but I also played around with a very old Praktica MTL3 which I picked up in a charity shop and experimented with a few screw on lenses.  I did stick with the Pentax as I preferred this camera for real every day usage, and then when I moved on to digital got an entry level Pentax K200D.  I went with Pentax for a couple of reasons, I liked their design and feel, you seem to get a lot of camera (features) for the money, and I could use the old lenses I already had.  Occasionally I still go out with the film camera, but now I'm using predominantly a Pentax K5, which I bought about 6 years ago, as I wanted a little more professional body and better low light ability.  I have several lenses, my favourites of which are the Pentax DA* 50-135 f2.8, and the Pentax FA 43mm f1.9 Limited.  Both are perfect for portraits as they render image colours and bokeh beautifully.  I've only acquired both these lenses in the last year, but they're great.  The 43mm is so small to carry about and an old film era lens, but the smoothness of the image is lovely.

Can you tell us about your work flow from the point you first step on to the street until you showcase the developed picture?
This is something that varies wildly from shoot to shoot.  It is not unusual for me to have no real plan when going out for a street shoot.  If this is the case I'll likely have camera, a couple of lenses and a speedlight in case it's needed.  Then walk around and pick areas to shoot off the cuff.  This can work well and can help give a nice candid feel to the work.  However, I do usually prefer to have a small plan in place of the type of thing we're looking for, and in these instances location and end image goal has already been discussed.  We'll go to the location, set up shot (which may now include off camera lighting depending on required shot), and take several until we feel we have captured the right shot of look and pose.  Then it's post production which for me is usually reasonably light.  Unless there is a specific effect I need to achieve, I'm not really going to be using Photoshop much.  Most of my work flow is produced through Lightroom, and is good, but fairly basic adjustments to lighting, contrast, clarity and colour balance.  I like a more natural look to the models, so I don't edit the “lumps and bumps”, but try to get flattering poses rather than worry about this after.  I'm a believer in showing the model as they are.

What would you say characterizes your work in comparison to other photographers?
I think I take a very relaxed approach to what I am doing.  Although I tend to try to work quite quickly through an idea before moving on to the next, I'll very much be involving the model and allowing equal influence from both sides.  I work to a principle that there is no pressure from either side, and mutually we reach a point where we know we've got the shot we require.  I've been told that I tend to work towards darker and maybe more contrasty end images than I see a lot of other people do.  I'm not sure why and it may not be to everybody's taste, but I'm told it makes my images stand out a little in the crowd.

Tell us your funniest or most awkward photography story.
This has to be from my first beach shoot.  Happily shooting away, and then from out of nowhere I saw a man in a canoe appear in my viewfinder.  A bit of conversation followed, he was complimentary and polite, enquired as to the reason for the photographs, where they were going to be published and the like, had his photo taken with the model, but then didn't go anywhere for a while, not sure what he was waiting for, but we had to move our to remove him from the shots.
 
What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
Begin light, don't worry about lots of equipment, camera and a couple of lenses will be fine.  Get to grips with the basic principles of photography possibly from a course or from self teaching.  Try to go out and do a few practice shoots with friends or family.  After this, just put yourself out there and network – social media is a great way to get started, join local photography/model groups, don't be pushy, but don't be afraid to ask people on these groups if they'd help you out with shoots (be prepared to pay a model to get someone with good experience as they often know what looks best with the lighting – either natural or studio – and will be prepared to give you advice on this).  Try to take part in a locally organised group shoot – this is a fantastic way to network with other local photographers and models of all experience levels.  Look out for photography workshops in the field you're interested in.  Look out for courses (although some tend to be theory based which personally never worked too well for me).  Ultimately keep going, don't let yourself be put off if things haven't worked out as you intended, treat every shoot as a learning curve, and every shoot will improve your skill and confidence.

What’s better editing or shooting?
I love them both parts of the photography process. But if I had to choose, I would say shooting. It's truly incredible to have a vision and make it come to life in camera.

black&white or color?
It all depends! The subject, the lighting, the mood that I want to convey all play part in determining what's the best version of my final image.
 
What are your favorite lenses and why?
Canon 24-70 2.8 is my ultimate baby. My mind is always racing in regards to how to frame and angle each image. The 24-70 allows me to zoom in for a tight portrait or go wide for a full length shot, without having to worry about how much space I have in order to back up and get the shot I want. Plus! It's so amazingly sharp.

Studio or on location?
Location offers a lot of variety

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to have my own photography studio right here in Central Florida.