by Yvette Depaepe 

Teddy Hariyanto is a self-educated photographer reaching a high quality level in his photography.  His work is very diversified and he is always in search to discover new styles and to improve his skills.  Enjoy this interview, learn more about the man behind his images and admire this compilation of some amazing shots.

"ignorance" 

Briefly tell us about yourself, your hobbies and other jobs.
My name Teddy Hariyanto, I’m 41 years old and married. I live in Bekasi - West Java Indonesia. I work for an investment banking company in Indonesia as a VP Credit Analyst. Reading books, travelling and photography are my hobbies in the last five years to balance my working life, family life as well as social and personal life.

How has your history and life experiences affected your photography?
I actually found my interest in photography since early 1991 when I was in senior high school student. I joined the local nature lover club in my school and my uncle gave me a very old Canon camera. I started as a self teacher, exploring and using the manual of this analogue camera while travelling with the nature lover club. But after three years exploring this hobby, my camera broke and I stopped photographing.

When later, when I started working and was earning more money as credit analyst, I started again with photography. I got my first Nikon D80 with kit lens in 2007.  I bought it from a friend in my office. At that time I still was experiencing by myself but 2010, I joined some photography communities and classes as well as photographic journeys.  Since than I take photography more seriously.

Which are your most important experiences that have influenced your art?
I learned so much from my friends i.e. Cibo Heriansyah, Irwan Budiman, Fitra Pranadjaja, Hardijanto Budiman and Eko Adiyanto and their artworks strongly influenced my artworks. Their pictures showed me that creating photo art has to be driven from the inside. Thanks to them, I realized that it is all about imagination, happiness, humour, sadness, stories about the place where you live, about the environment, culture, nature and family. Creating mood in my images sometimes happens by listening to music or by watching good movies. It all motivated me to join  photographic communities, including 1x.com.  And from these communities, particularly from 1x.com, I developed my ambition to increase the level of my work by discovering so many photographers known nationally and internationally.

“Out of Tune”

“cooking rice”

What first attracted you to photography?
The most important that attracts me to photography is the art of creating a story telling image. Another very important fact is that through photography, I was able to meet new friends, new communities. It fills me with happiness, new motivation to discover new styles, new places.  It is a continuous self-actualization when shooting on your own or together with photo friends.

Describe your overall photographic vision.
My personal photographic vision is that I want my photos to be unique, full of mood and story telling.  Sometimes these stories are imaginary.  I want the viewers to discover something artistic in my photos and feel the mood and emotions like I feel them. 

“Dancing 'en-pointe'”

“The Scream”

Your work is very diversified.  Why are you drawn by so many styles or themes in photography?
I think that every photographic style about several different themes all have their uniqueness and complexity. Each style needs different skills, different tools and a different sense of art. To me, it is a challenge to try something new and a big motivation to go on. I love many photographic genres but my favourites are Landscape photography, model/people photography.  It allows me to explore and promote the beauty of my country: Indonesia. I love mood photography and also water-drop photography. I can play with my imagination in these two genres.  It is a way to express myself through art.

“Waterfall”

“fumotupara”

What is more important to you, the mood/story behind your images or the technical perfection?
The mood, story and the technical perfection are very-very related. We should have good technical knowledge in photography, fitting and adequate gear, post processing skills, an attractive environment and spots, good light and imagination or background stories to create good images. 

Do you prepare carefully the locations where you are intending to photograph?
A good preparation before we create a good photo is a must. For landscape photography, I always search detail information about the spot through Internet, looking to reference photos, asking friends or sometimes asking the local people/guide. I also look for information about the weather, sunset and sunrise info, the tide chart info, moon's phases and inclination, detail access to the location, accommodation, information about photo permit, doing the budget calculation, and other details. I usually go in a small group for landscape photography. For mood/model photography, I always prepare in detail the location. If the photo session is conducted in open area I will look for information as I do for landscape photography particularly about the location, the permit, the access, the facilities for the make up of artists and models etc.  If the photo session is conducted in a studio, I will make sure everything is well prepared before photo session. 

“Coffee Morning”  

What gear do you use (camera, lenses, bag)?
Some of my favourite gears are

1. Canon 5D mark 3 and Fuji XT2
2. Fujinon 23mm f1.4, fujinon 18-55mm f2,8, fujinon 10-24mm f4
3. Canon 24-70mm f2.8, canon 16-35mm f.2.8, canon 70-200mm, canon 100mm macro and Tamron 150-600mm
4. Casiotel Filters system (for landscape photography) – ND 6 and 10 stops, GND reverse, and GND 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9.
5. Casiotel and photix shutter release
6. Canon and Nissin flash system
7. Sirui Tripod
8. Thinkthank and lower pro camera bag.  

What software do you use to process your images? 
I use lightroom and photoshop and some plug-ins such as nik software and exposure 7.

Can you tell us something more about your work flow?
I always shoot RAW files. If I want to use photoshop for post processing: first, I adjust the raw file: temperature, tint, highlight, shadow, clarity, vibrancy, hue, saturation, luminance, etc in adobe camera raw before then post processing in photoshop. I use nik software (particularly color efex pro and sometimes HDR2) and exposure 7. I always strive to create the best photo in my  camera so that I don’t have to spend too much time to process it. Using Lightroom or photoshop is a way to reach the mood, the emotions.

What is your most important advice to a beginner in Photography and how do you get started?
To me, photography as an art has no limits. We can take any picture and create and artistic image with our imagination and by post processing. To be a good photographer, we have to endlessly keep learning, keep reading about photography on the net and watching the you tube tutorials.
Be well prepared before each photo session/photo travel.  And the most important is to join a community where you can learn from seniors.

“The Presidential Campaign”

“Boat light trail”

Who are your favourite photographers and more importantly, how has your appreciation of their work affected how you approach your own photography? 
For model/mood photography I admire Hardijanto Budiman and Fitra Pranadjaja. For landscape photography, I admire Jesús M.  García, Trey Ratcliff and Elia Locardi. Their photos were so inspired me and I learned their photos and I hope someday my photos will be the same as good as theirs’.  

Is there any specific photo taken by another photographer that has inspired you a lot and why?
Yes, I like to mention once more Jesús M. García.  All of his works are very inspiring to me. I love the strong mood, the colour mix and tones.   

Are there any specific directions that you would like to take your photography in the future or any specific goals that you wish to achieve?

I will continue to improve my photography and post processing skills. My target is to have more than 100 photos published on 1X.  Furthermore, I want to explore landscape photography in Iceland, South America and some countries in Asia. I like to explore surrealistic photography too.    

Describe your favourite photograph taken by you and why it is special to you? 
I love this photo so much because I succeed to reveal a romantic story full of mood.

“Long distance Relationship”

Is there anything else you wish to add and what do you think about 1X as a home base for your work?
For me 1x.com is the best web-based photography community in the world. It inspires and enriches me. I learn a lot from the published photos.  I hope 1x.com will continue to improve and innovate along with the developments and trends in photography and digital technology. 

“a lonely tree story”

“lonely little bird”

“water drop”

“Head Bang”

“The dancer”