Sam Tabone is regarded as one of Melbourne’s most accomplished media photographers working among the world’s leading creators and distributors as a media professional for Getty Images.
Sam Tabone’s passion for photography, however, began shooting landscapes, with each photo telling a story of its environment that is revealed to us uniquely through his use of light and shade. Spending time in nature and enjoying the solitude of being alone in vast picturesque locations around the world is what Sam calls pure magic.
Interview
Please tell me when you began as a professional landscape photographer? Sam says, “there is no real answer to that because you don’t actually know when you become a professional but I started photographing around 25-30 years ago, and as I developed my style I found an affinity for it and I’ve just kept going and perfecting my work. It’s only over the last five years that I’ve wanted this to become my profession”.
How did you begin and where did this passion come from? Sam says, “years and years ago I was at a friends house and he had a photograph of a cheetah in full stride and next to that he had another photograph of the mountain K2 which sits next to Mount Everest and these images captivated me as the sense of scale was so real. So, the challenge for any landscape photographer is to get what you see to become as real as it can be in the image”.
What do you look for when taking a landscape picture as in angles, lighting and so forth? Sam says, “lighting is extremely important to me as it is to any photographer, I don’t look for anything until I see the wow factor. Angles are angles you can probably take the same image in a hundred different ways, but its what appeals to your eye and what’s ascetically pleasing to you is generally what I go with”.
What kind of camera and gear do you use? Sam says, “I use a Canon 5D mark IV, but as I’ve continued this work over the years, I always make sure to upgrade my camera to the latest. The 35mm lens is my favourite and I also love my 14mm”.
What kind of tools do you use for post-processing? Explain your workflow. Sam says, “It’s very simple it goes into Camera Raw and this does all my basic editing and then I also use photoshop for colour saturation and to bring out certain parts of the image that I think may need adjusting for highlighting”.
How do you educate yourself to take better pictures? Sam says, “educating yourself all comes down to experimentation and I do a lot of reading and I look at my favourite photographers for inspiration and then I may try and emulate their work in a different way unique to me without copying and making it my own”.
Which photographer’s work has influenced you most? Sam says, “it would have to be Michael Fatali, he mainly photographs the South West in Utah and I’ve been to his gallery and met him personally. His work astounds me, and I love it, I see his passion and I think I have a very similar eye to him when looking at an image and we have a very similar style, not deliberately it’s just turned out that way”.
Among your own works, which one is your favourite and why? Sam says, “oh wow everything I shoot is my favourite. If I must choose it would be the Pyramids of Giza because of the story behind it, I was hustled by the police and nearly got arrested. Egypt is by far my favourite country to photograph and Utah would be a second”.
What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos? Sam says, “I would have to say hyperfocal focusing, it took me a long time to learn and no one showed this to me, I merely found it through reading”.
Where haven’t you been that you would like to travel to next to photograph? Sam says, “the whole world. Antarctica is a place that captivates me, another passion I have is to travel there. Machu Picchu in Peru is also on the list, South America so many places to see and Africa. The list is endless”.
What is the most challenging place physically you’ve photographed? Sam says, “Iceland was challenging because of the weather. Among them all it would have to be Utah; I was hanging upside down from bridges and climbing rocks. I’ve nearly killed myself so many times but it’s a risk I’m willing to continue to take as its all part of my passion”.
Sam’s stunning images of fine art photography span across Australia and around the world. His remarkable photographic depictions of diverse landscapes express his vision of the world as he sees it. Each image is brought to life with extraordinary light and a vision that makes Sam a professional in his field spanning over 30 years.
By Melinda Sullivan
Sam’s photography is available to view and purchase via the link https://samtabone.com/
