Sikksokk Feature 1: C4M30

Sikksokk sponsor young artists and display their work on our website, deviantART Group and Facebook profile. C4M30 is our first featured artist.

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Christina Mun is a 16 year old* aspiring photographer from the US. She’s entirely self-taught and, in her own words, “inspired by beauty and emotion”. Using her friends as models, she’s a natural at capturing the moments where light turns to fairydust and all your dreams just might come true.

In this interview she shares some tips from her own experience with photography and talks about her photoshoot for Sikksokk (pictures can be found in the original interview on our blog: sikksokk.deviantart.com/blog/3…).

Enjoy, and don’t forget to leave a comment for C4M30!
^{*15 by the time of the interview}

1. What kind of equipment do you use?

I use a Canon T2i with a 100mm lens and occasionally a kit lens. Sometimes I use a tripod and remote for self-portraits. I use Photoshop CS3 for post-editing, mostly for selective contrast and coloring.

2. You took a series of photos for us – which one is your favorite?

My favorite is definitely the black and white shot of the thigh-highs because of the way the light hits her heels and her knees. I adore the subtle ambience and soft blurriness.

3. When we sent you the products to shoot, we basically told you to whatever you wanted with them. How did it go - did you experience any problems?

During this photoshoot, I was a bit pressed for time and actually did it in about half an hour! My friends (the models) and I went right outside my house and shot in the roads. We encountered some cars, but luckily no one got hurt. It was a challenge for wardrobe changes, but the trees helped a lot!

4. What made you interested in photography?

I've always been some sort of artist at heart; when I was very small, I wanted to become an author. As I grew older, I found that I had hardly enough time to write, so turned to drawing and painting. I found that to be very time consuming as well, which is when I finally turned to photography. It was like capturing an idea in your head in a matter of seconds, and "painting" it when you post-edit. Now I'm currently a sophomore in high school with a love of photography since the seventh grade.

5. What is your favorite kind of photography? And why does it interest you so much?

My favorite kinds of photography are spontaneous shots of people, and film. I think that the best of photographs are taken when the person is least expecting it. In a way, it's like capturing the very essence of their being when they are off-guard and just being themselves. Film will always hold a special place in my heart, because it's the original form of photography. It has a magic of its own that can't be compared to anything else. I always think of the darkroom as a modern sort of Narnia.

6. You’re very young - where would you like to be in 5-10 years?

In 5 to 10 years, I'd like to see myself travelling the world. I've been in the same quiet town all my life, and my innate sense of wanderlust pulls my feet to places I've always wanted to see. I hope to be in the photography business, and maybe work for a fashion magazine. If all else fails, I plan on pursuing that childhood dream of becoming an author.

7. Any advice for people just starting out with photography?

I only have about two years of experience with photography, and I am by no means a professional. I know I still have a long way to go if I want to become a famous photographer, and I'm always learning new things about it. The single most important tip I have for any other aspiring photographers out there is to keep shooting. It doesn't matter if it's a simple picture of a cup on a table, because with the right light and mood, it'll be like magic. Keep taking pictures, even if it's of every-day objects or a big time project such as this one. You never know when you'll get that perfect shot. Most times, it'll be an accidental picture you took. Oh, and one more thing: don't pay any attention to people who say you'll starve if you become an artist. Because if you truly are one, money won't feed you--the art itself, will.

You heard her - get out your camera (or pen, or brushes, or tablet)! Capture the ideas in your heads; keep your passion burning and never stop practicing. And maybe you'll get that moment when everything is just like magic.

Thanks for the interview, Christina!

Want to be our next Featured Artist? Or just looking for a place to expose your work?

Sikksokk is a new Group for young people all over the world. We're looking for all kinds of artwork - painters, photographers, doodlers, grafitti artists and so forth. Head over to our Group page to read more and please this article to support C4M30. See you in the next feature!