Chris Mai on Fstoppers

Photographer, Retoucher

As a webdesigner and later a technical writer, I have been using Photoshop since version 4 in 1995. However, I never really took to photography because I found the development process for film too lengthy and costly and when digital cameras appeared, I found the results unsatisfying. The only thing I used for photography was my phone when it became possible.
Last year I was invited for a hindi wedding in southern India which included a ceremony at the Shiva temple in Dharmastala. When looking at the pictures I took with my (very bad) Samsung 360° camera and my Samsung S9, it dawned on me that I could have taken much better pictures with a real camera.

I studied the current state of technology and found out that the quality now is more than just satisfactory and bought my first camera in january 2019. It was a Lumix G85 and only 5 weeks later I bought my current camera, the Sony A7 iii (I knew that the Lumix would not be sufficient in the long run and wanted to avoid buying 2 sets of lenses).
My goal is not to become a professional photographer doing the typical stuff like weddings, as I would have to work a LOT to make the same amount of money I make in my current job (which I happen to like).

But I have this dream of perfecting various skills to become a multimedia storyteller. There is one particular story on my mind, about human migration in the deep past before agriculture. If this is something that you are interested in as well, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

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