Varina Patel
Type of photography: landscape, atelier
Personal website: http://www.photographybyvarina.com
Country: USA
Camera type: digital
Please introduce yourself. How old are you, where do you live and what is your job?
My name is Varina Patel and I am 33 years old. I am a freelance wilderness and landscape photographer based in the US.
How long have you been taking photos and what brought you to photography?
I have been interested in photography since I was a small child. I took my first photography class in the 7th grade, and I majored in Art for my first few years of College. I soon decided that photography was impractical as a career choice, so I changed my major. In the end, I graduated with a degree in Information Technology – which has helped enormously in my not-so-impractical-after-all career choice. :) I am able to build my own websites, process my digital images with ease, and understand the complex workings of the camera.
I know that you are a member of Lightharmony photographic group and your husband a member of Timecatcher. Is there any rivalry between the two of you?
Jay and I are competitive with each other, but there is no animosity between us when it comes to photography. We have much in common – including our love for traveling and our passion for photography. We train for our wilderness treks year-round – running about 12 miles each week and spending a few hours in the gym doing strength training. We teach together as well – which means we must prepare material with the same curriculum in mind. Jay and I are each others harshest critics, and we learn from each other constantly. We have our share of arguments, but we thoroughly enjoy traveling and shooting together. We get along well because are working towards shared goals.
You have got small children; is it difficult to combine a landscape photographer career and family?
Without question – YES. Jay has two children, and I have four. We work hard to make sure our kids feel that they are the most important part of our lives. We take them hiking and fishing, canoeing and biking, sledding and swimming. We are a very active family, and we love the outdoors. The kids sometimes join us on long trips, but in most cases, Jay and I travel alone. We must work our trips into an incredibly busy schedule (for example, we attended approximately 65 soccer games last fall… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg) and make sure that each child gets the individual attention they need. I am a stay at home mom as well as a professional photographer – so I can spend time with the kids at home in between trips as well.
Jay and I try hard to balance our photographic careers with our family life. Most of the time, I think we’re pretty successful. ;)
Your perception of nature is similar to your husband’s; do you have the same pictures from the same places?
Although Jay and I do shoot in similar locations regularly, we find that very few of our images are the same. We see different things in the landscape – and our processing tends to be quite different as well. I prefer more subtle colors and simpler compositions. Even when shooting the same location side-by-side, we tend to come away with completely different compositions.
What type of landscape do you like most for taking pictures?
A few years ago, I visited my sister and her husband in Wisconsin. One evening, we were talking about travel – and how badly I wanted to travel the world. At the time, I was unable to travel – tied down by finances, family, and circumstance. My brother-in-law brought out the globe he’d owned as a kid. He had drawn little circles with a Sharpie marker around all the places he wanted to visit when he grew up… Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and so on. He has been able to visit nearly all of the places he’d circled so long ago – so he handed me the globe. He asked me where I’d go if I had the chance. I put my finger in the air and circled the whole globe.
I want to see all of it. The cities, the countryside, the people… but most of all, the wilderness. I love every kind of landscape…. mountains, waterfalls, rivers, oceans, deserts, volcanos. I am absolutely fascinated by the diversity of this planet.
How long in average does it take to post-process one of your landscape photographs?
An image can take just a few seconds to process or a few hours depending upon the techniques I choose. Images with a narrow range of light – low contrast landscapes and macro shots for example – take very little time. I shoot RAW, so I need to let the computer know which color, contrast, and other settings to use. For photographs with a broad range of light, the process can be quite a bit more complicated. Some scenes will take ten minutes, and others may require experimentation. I usually have a very clear idea of what my finished image will look like even before I release the shutter – and I have a good idea how long it will take me to produce that final product as well.
You also do studio photography; do you prefer studio work or landscape?
I enjoy studio photography immensely, but I absolutely love landscape work. Each presents entirely different challenges – and I enjoy the challenge above all else.
In the photography area, what would you like to achieve?
Once my children are grown, I’d like to spend several weeks in each location before moving on – allowing me to capture a wider variety of locations in excellent weather conditions. I intend to build a photography business that will allow me to travel regularly and make photography a way of life. I’d like to build a portfolio that reaches to every corner of the Earth… and that’s a goal that will take a lifetime.
