AUSTRIAN PHOTOGRAPHER CLIFF KAPATAIS INTERVIEW

Austrian Photographer Cliff Kapatais

Cliff Kapatais is an Austrian Photographer and goes by the name Pixelcoma online. He specialized in shooting food, people, and music.  I have seen him lately in some fashion events in Vienna and became immediately a fan of his work. The last time I saw him, was at the Fashion Camp Vienna last month, and I took advantage and ask him for an interview.

I personally believe his work is impeccable especially when it comes to food, and the detail he works with to make and produces his photos.

Were you educated in photography, or are you self taught?

I am largely self-taught, although I did take the “Meisterprüfung” to qualify as a photographer on the Austrian market.

What camera do you use the majority of the time?

My workhorse is a Canon 5D MKII or my smartphone 😉

Which photo are you currently most proud of and why?

My current favorite photo is a picture of the dance Cat Davis:

I like how it captures beauty, fashion, and power in one simple-looking image. Capturing such moments and making them look easy is one of my passions.

Tell us the most important thing about food photography

I’ll tell you two very important things: first of all, only take pictures of good looking food, it will make your life so much easier and second of all it’s all about the light if you know how to work with the light you can take pretty pictures of practically anything.

Comparing where you are now with where you are when you first started, what could you have done differently to get to where you are sooner?

Start earlier, believe in yourself and follow your heart/passion. It sounds kitschy but if you enjoy doing something it is a lot easier to be good at it. Also no matter what you do, networking is incredibly important, the more people you know the more chances you have.

Describe a typical shoot.

The nice thing about my job is that there is no typical shoot. Every session is different and brings different challenges to it. However, if you shoot people usually you discuss the type of shoot you want to do a week or two in advance to have enough time to plan and prepare everything. On the shooting day itself, I will usually be set up the studio and the lights while the model is getting her make-up done, then outfits and sets are finalized and then we shoot. The shoot itself usually takes a lot less time then all the preparations, this is even truer when shooting food as you only have minutes to take the picture you want before the food starts looking less appetizing.

How much time do you spend taking photos, versus retouching photos?

I try to spend as little time retouching pictures as possible, but in the end, I guess my time is split about 50/50 between shooting and retouching.

Favorite accessory?

Photography wise my favorite accessories are my 50mm lens and a reflector, you can take great pictures with just these tools. Fashionwise I love hoodies, comfort and style untied 😉

Who would you like to work with most?

That’s a very long list, but if I had to pick my favorites I’d love to work with photographer Paul Ripke, Model Nika, and Make-Up Artist Carina Pusch.

What is your favorite Photography book?

“Bitte Lächeln Von San Telmo bis Leipzig”  as it combines my favorite photographer and my favorite band. In the fashion world, it would be Peter Lindberghs A Different History of Fashion.

To know more about this amazing photographer please visit: Cliff Kapatais