Tnash

There are different types of art forms  painting, drawing, music etc. this month  7:30 brings you an artist that creates art with his camera........... 

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Tinashe Njagu, however, I go by “Tnash.” I have mad love for design, film and photography. I have a great appreciation for the arts as a whole. I am very reserved and quiet yet I enjoy pushing myself to new levels in all areas of my life. I am a determined person, I know what I want. I've been told I'm insanely creative. I am not a fan of laziness. I love seeing people doing what they were born to do especially in this industry. I want to do big things, but I also want to give back and help others in any way I can. It's not all about the fame and the money for me so much as it is that I really want to make a difference in this world with the things I have been given. I like surrounding myself with people that talk art, business and future goals.




Where is home?

I grew up in Kuwadzana Ext and I still live there today.




Did you go to school to study photography?

I am self-taught. I did so by reading books, watching tutorials on the internet and working with others, it came easy to me because of exposure and experience. I started doing graphic designing, then went to film and now photography. I've learnt things like lighting, framing and the like by shooting videos, so now I am just applying the same principles in my photography. I try to get as much knowledge and experience in photography as I can. I have good photographers I love to watch, follow and learn from. such as Michele Fortmann, Henry Hakulandaba, Zash to name a few, but there are many more.




How long have you been a photographer?

I started in late 2011, so almost two years now.




Which five words would your friends use to describe you?

Passionate, positive, creative, teachable and hardworking.




What kind of gear do you use? Camera body, Lens, Flash 

2 Camera Bodies: Canon EOS 50D and Canon EOS Rebel T3i

Lenses: Canon 70-200mm f2.8, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 18-55mm, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, Sigma 70-300mm 

Flashgun: Sigma EF-530 DG ST




Which is your favourite lens? Why?

I like the Canon 70-200mm f2.8, it's just a beautiful piece of glass. It's very fast, good with low lighting and shooting events. The Autofocus is fast and silent it’s good when playing with focus. It's just the best.




What lighting equipment do you take on a shoot?

Well, I currently use natural lighting and flash lighting, which is very small and limited, but I use what I have to achieve whatever goal is set. I work with reflectors a lot and my flashgun. I am looking forward to getting studio lights soon.




Are you a MAC or PC lover?

Haha... MAC all the way. I find PC's and windows are just complicated and a bit boring. I feel Apple caters to the more creative and free-thinking type of person. I love Apple Products, and that's all I use at work, C: Media, where I do video editing. At home it's also just Mac ;)




Among the gadgets that you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought? Why?

Well, yes. It's my Sigma lens and Canon 18-55, they are slow and currently not the best lenses on the market. I am going to sell them and get better glass.




What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.

I shoot (RAW or JPG), import and copyright (metadata). I select the good shots; I edit in Photoshop and create actions. I do this so I don't have to repeat the same process over and over. I then put watermarks, deliver them or put them up online. The more projects I do the faster I get and the work flow changes.




How important is Photoshop in your final images?

Photoshop is very important to almost all my photos except events because they don't need much editing. I don't shoot just to shoot. I shoot with a final picture and feel in my head. With that, Photoshop is a tool that I use just like a light or a reflector because it helps me achieve whatever I want. Photoshop is a great program. I am still developing my craft and not yet at the point that I can take a picture and it come out perfectly as I imagined, so Photoshop is a tool I use to get there.




The last workshop or seminar you attended and why?

The last workshop was on Adobe Suit CS6 at Solution Centre. The seminar was a while ago. It was cool seeing how they developed Photoshop and what it can do now especially with photos. Things like creating panorama, HDR and better ways to work with layers and effects. I also learnt faster ways of using the Adobe softwares that was really awesome I learnt a lot. I also do online workshops at creativelive.com, they're quite good.




If you could live anywhere on this awesome planet where would you build your dream home?

Good one, anywhere that has nice warm weather and beautiful scenery.




How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?

I read a ton of books. I watch a lot of tutorials and then practice. I shoot events whether I'm getting paid or not, just for the experience. I also get a bunch of friends together and just shoot them. I do that all the time, actually, I just did that on Sunday.




What advice do you have for somebody who wants to pursue photography?

If you have the passion, study how it is done then go out and shoot. Ask when you don't understand something and don't pretend to be taking nice photos when you're out of focus. Stop, focus up and shoot.




Whose work has influenced you most?

Internationally, it's Lindsay Adler, Lee Moris, but there's a bunch of others.

Locally, it's Michele Fortmann, Henry Hakulandaba, Greg Robinson, Nick Mancuso Traddos just to name a few.




What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?

How to work out my exposure, which is your Shutter Speed, ISO and f-stops. It took me time to understand how all that works!




Oh one more, what do think of 7:30 apparel?

I think that it's a label that we'll be speaking of in years to come, if you don't give up. It has great potential and I like it, it's got a modern-urban type of feel. It's one of the labels I think will dominate the clothing industry.