Enax -- August's Artist Of The Month!

Aug 11, 2003 at 11:37 am by MonkeyLek


Who is 'enax'? First I want to say thanks to the members of R'osity who voted for my option. Also thanks to the members who didn't vote for me, because the nominees are excellent photographers. My name is Francesc, I'm married and enax is the abbreviation of e-naxian. I'm Catalan and I live near Barcelona, the language normally used by me to speak, write and think is the Catalan; for this reason, sorry if I use some wrong expressions. How long have you been rendering/doing computer graphics/photography? I've been rendering and doing computer graphics for a year and some months but the important thing now is the photography. I started taking photos with a friend at nine years old with a very bad camera, at sixteen I bought my first reflex and two years later I had my darkroom. During these years our diversion was take the car on Sundays and go somewhere with our girlfriends to take photos. Do you have traditional art experience? No, my formation is in business administration. What are you currently working on? In reference to the photography, I want to start a series on Barcelona, possibly with a sub-series about Antoni Gaud I want to start this weekend. Also, I must work on my abandoned website and re-install Poser and Bryce; recently I've bought Vue d'Esprit and I was waiting for the version 4.2 to import from Poser 5. I've got some ideas, like "From the Isola di San Michele to Sant' Antonio". I have a clear image of what I want, but I need these programs and to model some props, anyway it's a very difficult image. I've got 2 props and the Sky_13 ready to upload to free stuff section too. This, alternated with my business and my studies: at present, a superior degree in New Technologies of Information and Communication. What software/equipment do you use and why? The software for excellence is PhotoShop; everyone who wants to work seriously with images needs PS, from the creation of textures for 3D, to resize a photo or change the White Balance, and save for the web with quality and quick downloads. I know some people here use other software, and it is good for treatment of images, but I think PS has it all (3D, Web, Photo, 2D, Mixed Medium, Fractals...); for this reason I bought PS. With Adobe Web Collection I also got GoLive, Illustrator and LiveMotion, this software isn't as unique (without competence) as Photoshop, other options like Dreamweaver, Flash and FreeHand are excellent and maybe better. Of course I've got Poser4pp and Poser 5; perhaps without Poser I would have never known Renderosity. I use other software for 3D, like Bryce, Vue, and Rhino. About the equipment, first the computer, I selected every piece of it, from the processor to the power supply. The processor is an Intel Pentium with Hyper-Treading technology, really effective in multitask, and I always work in multitask. Also I use two CRT monitors, not necessary for Bryce for example, but a comfort working with PS, P5 and all the programs with palettes. At last but not least my equipment photographic, I use two bodies of Canon with some lenses from wide angle to tele. I also own a fantastic second hand Mamiya645 (I like the quality) with three lenses, wide angle, normal and tele. One essential photometer (Gossen) and flash. Finally, an Olympus Camedia E-10, is reflex but not with interchangeable lenses, its unique lens is a macro-zoom (9-36mm). What do you think your best piece of work is and why? Almost all images in my gallery are of the last three months, I started uploading photos last May. I like very much some of my B&W (Tri-X 400-135) photos of people and a few portraits I took with the Mamiya, also in B&W (Ilford FP4-120). I can't scan the rolls "120" and the master prints are 30*40cm, excessive size for my flat scanner. I also like a series of still life I took with the Mamiya too, with Agfa rolls, 25 ASA exposed at 12 ASA and developed with two developers to get more quality in the shadows. For the light metering in these photos, I used photometer to meter every light and shadow in the image, this is the "Zone System" of Ansel Adams applied with a 6x4.5 camera, and this is really quality. I took a few nudes (of woman) that I like too. From my gallery generally I like the last work, I'm very selective and when I upload an image it's because I like it for any reason. One of my favorites is "4U Again"; I used it to say thanks to the members of Renderosity who has voted for the AOM and to those who with their comments have encouraged me to take more photos. Why do you like to work with 3D software and photography? This is two questions in one and very different. Photography, the most difficult to answer, I don't know why I began taking photos; I suppose that is an excellent alternative to the shit-manipulator TV and foments culture, friendship and creativity, basic terms for a stable person. You can say that some of the most excellent artists were eccentric, mad, angry or crazy, ok, I'm not an artist but generally the photographers are stable, except these old-fashioned snobs for whom their work is pure art. Well, the answer, the World, with its inhabitants, is full of beauty and it's a pleasure to play with the images, light, shapes and colors of this World. Mankind has created infinity of beauty as well; this is the bucolic part of the photography, but also it offers the "very important" possibility to be witness of primordial moments in the history of our time or of our particular history. 3D is like the photography in some aspects but radically different, there you aren't the witness of a moment, you are the creator, and you can put the people where you want, the light as you like, the scenery that you prefer and finally take the photo. Who / what inspires you? All I like inspires me, and all I dislike too! I've got more inspiration than time, I think this happens to the majority of active members of Renderosity, but I can't create all the images that I have in mind, and the generation of mental images is superior to the generation of tangible images. Books, for example Dante's "The Divine Comedy" is like a slideshow, every three verses is one image, not a fractal or abstract image, is a real image with a lot of 3D work if you want to materialize it. It's an intriguing and stunning surrealism, very expressive, the churches used to terrify the poor people of Dante's time. Poetry, Catalan poets like Salvador Espriu, Joan Oliver or Miquel Marti Pol...and the Spanish Antonio Machado. Music, all the music: from Alessandro Marcello to Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich. From Tomaso Albinoni to Igor Stravinsky. From Mozart to Norah Jones. Also Catalan singers, and composers, as Llu Llach or Joan Manuel Serrat. The titles of my first photos in the gallery are from songs of Llu Llach. Also the touching interpretation of Pau Casals, and the powerful and vital conduction of Leonard Bernstein. Movies, such as "Eyes Wide Shut" with the symbolism of Kubrick. The color and expressiveness of some painters like Salvador Dal Joan Mir Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Renoir, Kandinsky or Pablo Picasso...This and more is what I like. The CNN, Sky News, and the news in general have inspired images like "Spring.03" (Original title "Sadness"), "Black Tears" or, not uploaded yet, "Brothers in Arms". Finally some friends, members of Renderosity, principally my Vue dEsprit images. Well, this can be endless, only add my beautiful country and the cradle of all the blues, the Mediterranean Sea. How has this online community (Renderosity) enhanced your work, relationships, and learning? Renderosity has many members; I think it's the most active community of people creating images in Internet. I like this community, and I like the people and communication, now I consider I've got some friends here and they are, with their comments on my works, who enhanced my work, and I'll never get tired of saying thanks to them. As the real world the relationships not always are as you would like, but I'm very happy with the people here. About learning, the forums are an excellent tool, and the tutorials too. This helped me, especially with my 3D work, and I even dare to write a tutorial. Summarizing, the three points very positive for me. Parting Comments / Advice to other Artists? If you are reading this maybe you've read the whole interview writing in my bad English and this is harder than the heat wave, well for some members now it's the winter...Hey HC! It's really great to know people around the World, with different cultures, religions, languages...making and sharing Art. Advice, well if you want, I could recommend some of the points I have in consideration in my work. First and essential "self criticism", if you aren't sure about an image put it as wallpaper for two weeks, if after two weeks you don't like or you don't know how to improve, discard it or wait two months. If you need help for one image put it in the forum, not in the gallery, be serious with this, people are fantastic but we can irritate them with our messages. Moderators are expert people and kind, they can be an excellent help. I think that the gallery is for images that you really like. For the photographers: The best recommendation is "don't go anywhere without the camera", you and I always lose our better photos when the camera is at home, when the rolls are finished, when the battery says no more for today or when the CF is full. Also important for me is to do the composition and metering the light in the moment of taking the photo, now with the digital cameras you can crop the photo 10 times and get 10 different photos of one, and if you crop a macro you can get the most amazing macro ever seen, but this only serves in the gallery, not for print; it can be impressive, but not efficient. And the last but not least, be selective, taking photos is easy. All of us are able to take 100 photos per day technically perfect. My nephew said me, two months ago, "With your camera," referring to the Olympus, "it's easy take cool photos". I gave him my camera and he took a lot of photos during the day, perfect in focus and light. When we compared the photos he said, "Well, it isn't the camera". Thanks again! Francesc
Be sure to check out enax's gallery! Click on 'AOM 2003' on the sidebar to learn more about Artist of the Month and to view our past winners.
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