JAFARI PHOTOS

I am an avid hiker and nature and landscape photography enthusiast. I started getting interested in landscape photography and image editing over 20 years ago. At first I was more interested in image restoration and collages, then I became immersed in the colour theory, page layout programs and illustration, and so on.

I purchased an A3 Epson photo printer and started collaborating with photography studios to do photo restoration for them as a side gig. I often ended up spending more money than I made, but it was fun. I think I purchased my first digital camera, which was a 4 mega pixel FujiFilm in 2002. I took landscape and cityscape photographs and then used Adobe Photoshop to create my own compositions in post processing by blending different pictures together. I also spent countless hours painstakingly aligning and stitching tens of photographs into panoramas before programs were created to automate this process. I purchased my first tripod and started to play with slow shutter speeds and attempt night sky photography. Looking back at some of my earlier works, I still actually find some of them not too shabby.

After I moved to Canada, I spent a few years settling down and trying to find a place for myself, so I kind of turned my back on photography for a while. What rekindled my passion was moving to Thunder Bay and starting to hike the beautiful trails here as well as starting to do back country camping. When I do go camping I often spend many hours star gazing or night-time hiking.

I often visit the same locations under different weather and light conditions to see how that might affect my perspective on things. I also often plan my photo shoots using apps that help me figure out where and when the sun or moon would rise or set in a specific location or when the Milky Way would be at a specific perceived elevation in the sky or in a specific direction.

Currently I have no intention of becoming a full time professional landscape photographer, because I believe this could make photography more of a job than a passion, besides I do have a full time job I enjoy. I think continuing to do this as a hobby or semi-professionally on the side is what I will continue to do.

Murad Jafari