Fulfilling Dreams with Dreamy Images: Kevin Biberbach

In every aspiring photographers’ dream – Turn the hobby into career, leaving the part time job, putting all of the efforts into one’s photography project. Kevin Biberbach did it. Biberbach is a student from Aachen, who has completed a 365-day photography project called “EVRY DAY” with his passion and insist. The project is widely getting attention throughout the internet, which includes a variety of portraits content such as wedding, family and couples. Biberbach shared to Lomography exclusively about his work, passion to photography, and also his experience with the Petzval 85 Art Lens.

Name: Kevin Biberbach
City Aachen, Germany
Profession: “Communication & Multi-media Design”
Camera: Nikon Df // Nikon D600

Hello Kevin! Please introduce yourself to our Lomographers.

Hello everyone. My name is Kevin, I am 27 years old and I am currently livng in Aachen. After finishing the intership in a foriegn trade company in my hometown Coburg, and two years of working experience in Stuttgart, I am having enough of life facing numbers everyday and wearing suits. Therefore, I went back to campus for a diploma, been in Australia for 6 month and spent 7 weeks traveling in South-east Asia. And now, I found this beautiful imperial city of Aachen to land.

My love for photography particularly started growing whilst continuously traveling and ultimately became my no.1 main occupation during my studies. Last year, when starting my own Facebook page, I made myself a quite ambitious birthday present. A 365-day long photo series named ’EVRY DAY’. From the 6th of March 2014 to the 6th of March of 2015 I approached one person on the street per day with one goal: 1 picture a day, 1 spontaneous question, 1 spontaneous answer. This was to date the most amazing but even so the most exhausting project in my life yet. It was absolutely worth it because I was not only able to meet a lot of special people but also managed to gather around 2 000 Likes on my Facebook page. I would have never expected that! I was especially delighted about all the kind words, compliments and the motivational pushes associated to all the people that kept accompanying my project. Due to the project’s growing reach there also was a growing demand in commissions ranging from weddings to certain firms. It so arose, that I was able to accept my first commissions as a freelance photographer in the beginning of 2014. Just over a year ago I abandoned my side job to pursue photography not only as form of leisure but also a profession. The main part of my job now consists of wedding reportages, couple and family shoots and sometimes commissions from firms.

You are a proud owner of the new Petzval 85 Lens. Why did you decide to get one and what makes it special, in your opinion?

My main motive certainly was the unique swirly bokeh. The appearance makes it special, but not as much as the aspect of projection. I love the feel of the lens as well as the fact that it kind of slows you down in the fast moving world of digital photography. For instance the process of manually focusing or manually changing f-stops. It all takes up time and demands conscientiousness and that is exactly why this lens has this certain kind of charm for me.

What have you photographed with the Petzval so far?

I try to deploy the Petzval whenever possible. The first time I used it when I was testing it in a photo shoot with Jana in Bielefeld. Right before sunset, we made our way to the roadside where we found this really great spot for photographing. The last time I used it was just recently at the wonderful wedding of Janine & Ben. I already photographed Janine with the Petzval lens while getting ready at the hotel. The tapestry in the background was just perfect for the portraits of the stunning bride. The shoot in the woods with the couple later on was shot with the Petzval as well.

The Petzval Lens is perfect for portraits. What, in your opinion, makes a great portrait?

Trust! Besides all the technical and visual aspects (there are tons of information on that online) the trust between photographer and subject reflects in a perfect portrait. I often notice that in my own work — only if the person in front of the camera is relaxed, can really stunning pictures be produced. It is the dot over an i.

Which person (dead or alive) would you want to photograph?

Laura Zalenga – I would prefer her alive though! Some of you might know her already. Laura is an incredibly talented young German photographer who is also ambitiously putting herself out for animals. In the course of an appeal for donations, she cut off all of her hair and was able to raise an amount of over 1 000€ for charity. I admire her for that and would really like to meet her in person one day. In addition to that, I am pretty sure that the two of us would have a fantastic collaboration shooting photographs. She is the person that I would like to photograph with my Petzval.

Please share some advice on using the Petzval Lens, specifically for portrait photography.

First of all, I try to focus with the Petzval as accurately as possible via the rotary wheel on the side. For the final touch I lean forwards or backwards until the focus is defined, precise enough. With some exercise you will master this technique without trouble. When shooting portraits, I initially try to get the right ratio between background and model/person in the foreground. And after that part is set, I secondly concentrate on the person… try to improve the expression, body language etc. until everything harmonizes.

Have you heard of our new Lomography Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens yet? If yes, what do you think about it?

You bet I have heard about it! It is very likely that this lens will find its way into my collection too. The focal length of 58mm gives a little more room to tell a story and is still super for portraits. The possibility of using the swirl effect through twisting makes the bokeh magic probably even more enjoyable.

Find out more about Kevin Biberbach on his website and view more of his work on his Facebook page, on flickr or instagram.

The Lomography New Petzval 85 Art Lens is a stunning reinvention of the legendary Petzval Lens which was first conceived of in Vienna, Austria, in 1840. It is compatible with all Canon EF and Nikon F mount analog and digital cameras. Photos shot with the New Petzval 85 Lens are distinct for their sharpness and crispness in the center, strong color saturation, wonderful swirly bokeh effect, artful vignettes and narrow depth of field. The New Petzval 85 Art Lens is now available in our Lomography Online-Shop!

written by zonderbar on 2015-08-31 #people #portrait-photography #petzval-85 #kevin-biberbach
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