What’s a pious lad from Canada’s east coast doing in Taiwan? Shooting photos, of course. Josh Ellis says he’ll go anywhere or do anything to get a great shot. His images of Asian culture and Taiwan’s landscape are a breath-taking reminder of how diverse our world is. What is Josh’s philosophy? What’s his specialty, what are his secrets? Read more about Josh on today’s Photog Friday.
Photographer Josh Ellis
Name: Josh Ellis
Country of residence: Taiwan
Brief Bio: Born on the beautiful east coast of Canada and moved to Asia to live and work in 2005 after falling in love with Asia during previous exchange trips through university.
How did you first get interested in photography?
I’ve been into photography as a hobby since I was a pretty young using any equipment I could get my hands on – including an old 35mm film camera as well as a 24mm Kodak Advantix camera and Polaroids up until I finished high school when I first got into digital photography and then 6 years ago when I bought my first DSLR.
What do you like to shoot?
I love shooting anything to do with Asian traditional culture and in particular religious symbols. Any view of my photostream on flickr would show you that I spend quite a lot of time visiting temples here in Taiwan and shooting their very elaborate beauty. I’m also quite into macro photography, landscape and nature as well as portraiture. You can often find me chasing wild animals, insects or standing in a field of flowers.
Sun setting on the Confucius temple © Josh Ellis
What’s your approach to photography, your philosophy? What do you look for? How do you set-up a shot?
Its hard to say that I have any real philosophy to setting up a shot beyond the point that I will typically go anywhere or do anything to get a great shot. An outing with me typically includes me climbing or jumping over things or putting my body in strange positions to get the in best possible position to get a great shot. I find that putting myself in these areas often helps me get shots that others might miss.
Studio portrait, Model: Victoria Chen (Escape Model Management) © Josh Ellis
What is the best photo you have taken? Why? Background and details, please…
It would be difficult to choose one picture over all the others of which I could say is the best (I think the others would be jealous if I did) I’m pretty sure though that I can say that I haven’t taken my “best” photo so far and hope that in the future I can eventually show the world something very unique and special. There are of course some shots that I hold in much higher regard than others but as I become more and more experienced I tend to see some of my older shots as shots that could have been improved upon and I tend to give myself a lot of self criticism.
What gear are you using? What else do you want to buy?
I’m currently (and likely always will be) in love with the Canon EOS system (450D/50D) with several Canon lenses ranging from 10mm-300mm. In the future I would like to upgrade my flash/lighting equipment as well as getting more studio equipment.
Which area of photography would you like to explore further (macro, landscapes, portraits) ?
I’ve been lucky in my life to have had the opportunity to live both on the beautiful and picturesque east coast of Canada as well as in Taiwan – a country of endless beauty. So landscape photography I feel that I’m quite familiar with. I’ve also had requests from my mother in the past for more and more macro shots of flowers here in Taiwan so being quite the pious son I’ve done my best to get as many macro shots of the multitude of flowers growing here. Where I’d really like to grow though is in the area of portraits and studio photography – which I’ve had more and more opportunity to enjoy in recent months. I really enjoy the technical aspects of this kind of photography and find that it is much more demanding and requires more skill than other types of photography.
Where do you see your photography 5 years from now?
Photography is an ever-changing and constant aspect of my life. Over the past 6 years of shooting with an SLR, I’ve found that my skill has improved quite a lot so I can only imagine that five years in the future I will have had a lot more experience and understanding of photography.
Flowers at Alishan Sakura © Josh Ellis
What’s the best advice you would give to fellow photographers?
The best advice I could probably give is that photography as a hobby or as a career is quite fulfilling and even though nowadays it is much more accessible and easier to get great results – its still not for everybody. I often get asked by friends and family – “What camera should I buy” or “Which is better ___ or ____” and although photography has basically consumed my life its really hard to always stay on top of things. I think the best advice I can give to anybody is that if you are really planning on getting into photography whether or not it is with a point and shoot camera or a DSLR – make sure you do your research first. Make sure you find out what fits you best and what would best suit your own particular interests. Not everybody enjoys carrying around a 5++KG backpack with their camera gear everywhere they go. That being said though this is a hobby that gives almost instant results; Results that you can be very proud of and can give you the tremendous feeling of “I did that” and that’s fulfilling for people on so many levels.
Where can we find your images?
I’m currently in the process of setting up a website for my photography. Currently you can find my shots on my flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/goteamjosh
As well as being a nice guy, Josh is a very talented photographer. A good choice for Photog Friday.