Daryl Benson
Type of photography: landscape, still life, travel
Personal website: http://www.darylbenson.com
Country: Alberta, Canada
Camera type: film
Please introduce yourself. How old are you, where do you live and what is your job?
My name is Daryl Benson, I ‘m a photographer born and raised in Alberta, Canada, married for 28 years with two beautiful daughters. I turn 50 this year (cards and gifts can be sent to the address on my website : )
How long have you been taking photos and what brought you to photography?
Been shooting for 30 years, the last 20 years as a livelihood. Like most it started as a hobby, became a passion and was able, via Stock photography, to turn it into a living. In many cases one doesn’t choose these things it chooses you.
Do you follow any photographic icons? If so, how do they inspire you?
While inspiration is drawn from many sources, constantly, there are three photographers I admire and learned from, in no intentional order, Ernst Haas, Pete Turner and Freeman Patterson. I feel inspired when I can see a mind at work behind the camera, when I recognize some thought or imagination in the image, not just a point and let technology work.
A lot of your photographs look unusual and novel, where do you get the inspiration?
Borrowing from one is plagiarism, borrowing from many is inspiration.
What photographic equipment do you use?
I’ve used many different brands and formats over the years, currently a Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 15mm, 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 100-400mm lenses and Singh-Rays Warming Polarizer, Gold-N-Blue Colour Polarizer and their Variable Neutral Density filter (because of digital this is seriously reduced from the 40 filters I used to carry)!
Whilst photographing you travel all around the world, which place fascinates you most?
Every location is unique, all the trips are interesting and each delivers a different experience. To be honest my favourite location to shoot is here, Alberta. It’s home, the place I know best.
What is your recipe for a good photograph?
There is no recipe, technique or formula. Photography is the application of visual awareness and experience to the subjects you photograph.
Its clear from your photographs that you like colors and atmosphere of first and last daylight, what exactly do you find appealing about it?
I’ll photograph anywhere at any time given the opportunity but there’s no debate that the most dramatic light and atmosphere usually happen in the early morning and late evening. When you start editing your images for a website or promo item a good percentage of them are going to be from those times of day.
Don't you have problems waking up early in the morning?
Absolutely! It is so easy to let the gravitational pull of that nice warm bed pull you in at 3:30 am. It’s a mind game. I bribe my mind with a reward for getting up, perhaps telling myself I can come back and have a nice long afternoon nap (it’s the mind you have to convince not the body). Don’t get into a debate with yourself when that alarm goes off that it’s cloudy outside and probably not going to be a very good morning for shooting. Just don’t even let your mind go there because you’ll loose that debate and find yourself still in bed come sunrise. Some of my favourite images were taken on mornings when it didn’t look very promising at 4:00 am. Funny thing is, typing this today, I have those images and don’t notice that I missed any sleep.
What does photographing mean for your life?
I truly Love what I do and feel incredibly fortunate that I have been able to make a living as a photographer and have this life. To be honest it’s largely a case of born at the right time getting into stock photography, through no foresight, just when it was taking off. I think most successful people should give luck more credit than it gets. To be sure you have to work hard, but that’s just the price of entry. Work hard and be lucky.
