Dan Dinu – Interview from Iceland

The Country of Ice & Fire

The Manfrotto School of Xcellence is very honored and proud to have interviewed Dan Dinu, after is last expedition to Iceland.
Dan is a multi-awarded Romanian photographer, very keen on travel and nature. He has published in many magazines in Romania: PHOTO Travel, PHOTO Magazine, CHIP foto-video, Vacante & Calatorii, www.fotografa.ro, www.fotomagazin.ro, www.nikonisti.ro.

Between 27 May and 21 June, Dan was in Island together with another important Romanian photographer Ioan Muresan. Their expedition was called Iceland – the country of ice & fire, and featured Nikon, Kata and Gitzo equipment.

Here is the brief report/interview (kindely delivered to us by PHOTOSETUP) and some very nice shots from the expedition. Dan will talk about his career, the Iceland expedition but also about his equipment and his style. Don’t miss, also, to check Dan’s website for more of his art at www.dandinu.net

[Manfrotto School of Xcellence] Iceland is a very remote place, what inspired you this expedition?
[Dan Dinu] Iceland is really an isolated place but this is just one of the reasons that attracted me to this island. The nature I found there is still in the initial stage, still in the process of creation and many of the landscapes are quite unique in Europe. This is the only place on the continent where you can admire the entire terrestrial volcanic activity in its plenitude of splendour. I find myself as a photographer much more attracted to mountains. But some time ago I ended up desiring to take some shots of the seaside, especially the ocean shores and close to the volcanoes. For this reason, Iceland was the perfect choice for this new expedition. In addition to this, in Iceland I could find glaciers, geysers, huge waterfalls as well as a huge diversity of birds. Can you now see why Iceland is the perfect place where any photographer would love to be?

[MSoX] What kind of story you want to tell about Iceland?
[DD] For sure, the story of Iceland is the story of the Earth. This island is in a continuous movement, being sculptured by the same forces that have been involved in the process of Earth creation like we know it nowadays: the ocean, the volcanoes, the atmosphere, the glaciers. The Ocean erodes the shores and creates new shapes; the volcanoes involve the entire island surface in their eruption processes; the wind and rain helping as well in the erosion process and the glaciers creating the astonishing glacier valleys. The landscape is in a continuous ongoing movement and change. Besides all of that, Iceland is placed in the junction of the tectonic plates and each year because of their movement, a crack in the island becomes 2 cms larger. Very likely, in the future, a very far future, Iceland will be split into two islands. For sure, everybody is fascinated by all these facts and certainly this is a story to be told for the next generations, a story about the strength of the nature in front of which we are all helpeless.

[MSoX] You are very young, but you have a long list of awards already, what’s your background, did you study specifically photography?
[DD] I have never attended any photographic school, I always have been a self-taught person. I’ve learned from mistakes and from experiences, from advices ad from the books. It took me longer to learn but this way offered me more satisfaction. The passion I have for photography came from the passion I have for nature in general and especially for the mountains. I always wanted to bring home with me the images I could eventually show to other people, and have them see the beauty of the nature through my eyes. This work is still on going and any expedition I undertake is followed by an exhibition. It’s a pleasure for me to let people see what I’ve seen; this is the ending of any photographic project.

[MSoX] Which photographers mostly inspired your career?
[DD] I don’t want to talk about names; I think I prefer to talk about specific pictures or specific projects. There are too many photographers that I appreciate but usually I’m attracted by pictures. For instance, I found it very interesting the album “Life” of Frans Lanting -, for sure, the type of work where I can discover many concepts and ideas that I really appreciate. Another example could be Manuel Presti, a photographer I had the chance to meet him in Danube Delta (Romania), an exceptional photographer when speaking about wildlife. I like his works; they have a special aesthetic sense. However I think the list of photographers I really like may continue, much longer…

[MSoX] In terms of equipment, when you plan an expedition like this, what do you usually bring with you?
[DD] I am a very rigorous person when talking about organizing something. I like to be prepared for any event. Of course, my camera joins me everywhere and I carry always in my backpack a diversity of lenses from 12mm to 500mm. In fact, in this last expedition, I couldn’t help myself noticing that I tended to use mostly the extremes in terms of lenses. Above all, there are the filters and a tripod I can rely. I think the tripod is the most important things, that need to be ready to be used in many different situations during a mountain expedition, not only for taking pictures. For instance, I remember when I was once in the mountain together with my wife, she is a mountaineer too, but she got her knee injured during the trip and since she didn’t carry any trekking stick, she took the tripod to lean on it . For me, when I need to carry the camera and all the photographic gear with me during a trip, the weight is a highly sensitive subject. This is the reason when speaking about tripod, I always choose carbon fibre. In the Iceland expedition, as a tripod I had a Gitzo GT2531 with a head GH2780QR and as a camera a Nikon and I think I it was the right choice!

[MSoX] To end the interview, can you give any suggestion to young photographers who are starting now to approach it as a profession?
[DD] My friendly advice for them is to be persistent in everything they would like to undertake and to consider everything they are doing, with professional and serious approach, to search for good ideas and interesting projects, to be as much original as possible and the rest will come in time. I think each of us is passing through different stages so no need to be afraid to experiment and to wait for the right time to come, to make the big leap from an enthusiast photographers to a professional one.