If you surf you’ve more than likely seen Cape Town based Richards photos in the Zigzag, classic travel shots of perfect waves that make you want to take out the credit card and pack your bags. Going through his website you can see why he was nominated for surf photographer of the year, anyone can take a photo but you can see when someone has a passion and an eye for photography in the mood captured in an image. Thanks Rich for answering some questions for us.

How did you get into photography?
Well i was always interested in imagery when i was younger and when i went travelling overseas after univeristy i thought i should buy a camera to document my travels. I got into it more and more as i was travelling and when i got home later that year needed a job and didn’t want to do what i had studied so I started working in stills production in Cape Town. I met a really cool fashion photographer on my first job and 5 months later i was assisting him in London. I worked with him on and off for nearly 5 years, as well as with other overseas photographers while shooting my own stuff in between.

What have been some of your favourite photography missions overseas and why?
The Operation Smile mission to Madagascar back in 2008 was pretty memorable. It was cool to actually feel like you were making a difference with your pictures and not just taking. The work the whole Op Smile team does is amazing and really is life changing for the patients.

Do you have a destination thats top on your list to photograph and why?
The Mentawaii Islands in Indo are pretty incredible to shoot purely for the quality of the surf you get there but no, i don’t have one place that’s on top. Any place i haven’t been actually would be on top of my list.

What equipment do you use most of the time? camera / lenses?
I use mostly Canon gear. 1D MK4 body with an array of lenses from fisheye to 500mm, primes and zooms. I also use a Lubitel 120 film camera and a Polariod camera for personal stuff. I’m a bit of a camera junkie so I’m always looking for old novelty cameras to add to the collection.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to make a career out of photography?
Make bloody sure its what you actually want to do. With the advent of digital every man, women and their dog is now a photographer. The technology has opened up a lot of doors and made things easier in many ways but its also flooded an already competitive market with many more people. I like to think that inevitably the talented will rise to the top but sometimes it seems its the talented marketer and not necessarily the talented photographer doing the rising. Try educate yourself as much as possible to the real world workings of the genre of industry you want to get into, be it weddings, news, fashion, sport. When it comes to making a living out of your photography there’s much more to it than just clicking the shutter button, thats the easy part.
See Richards work at www.richardjohnson.co.za

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