Fascinated by Lights and Lenses- Andrew Mageto
Andrew Mageto is a fine tuned professional at what he does: Director of Photography, Photographer, and Cinematographer at Motion Image & Sound Ltd. “Fascinated by lights and lenses, I like to live my life behind the camera” he says on his Behance profile.
In light of the amazing photography at his latest shoot brought to you by Andrew Mageto Photography, Magiq Lens Kenya, Lorna Mutegi and Odupoy Charity Namnyakova with Deliah Ipupa winner of the Nivea Cover Model Competition, UP asks Andrew some question to try and find the basis of his magiq.
Q1. What kind of gear do you use?
Well, I’ve had my Canon 7D for a while and I actually owe it for bringing me this far. Got it in 2010 and I use it primarily with a 50mm f 2.5 lens. I recently acquired a Nikon D800E; this is a workhorse and the best camera I have ever worked with.
Q2. Which is your favorite lens? Why?
Well, I actually have two favourite lenses. The first is the Canon 85mm f/1.2. This is just the sweetest lens both for film and photography. Primarily i like it because of its speed, it allows you to shoot in extremely low light and the depth of field is God given, for portrait photography, this is as good as it gets. Secondly is the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8. I love it as its an all round lens as it covers such an important focal range of between 24mm to 70mm. This is a must lens for every photographer. You can use it for landscapes to portraits. Saves you the trouble of buying many prime lenses.
Q3. When you go in one of your travels, what all you take with you? Why
My Canon 7D with its lenses and my Laptop. This allows me to do quick street photography (when feeling inspired) and able to edit and post them on the move.
Q4. Among the gadgets that you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought? Why?
Ummm…yes. The Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6. I don’t know why this lens was made. It gives you noisy images and it’s just a very cheap lens. It has helped me so let me not hate it as much but the fact that when you zoom in, you lose almost a full stop which I really can’t stand.
Q5. In the field, what are your settings?
In the field it’s quite simple. I shoot with the highest RAW setting together with Small JPEG files. The RAW gives me maximum post processing capabilities and I use the JPEGS either for quick viewing before I start to edit images or I send them to clients to select the images they want me to edit.
Q6. What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.
My special sauce is a mix of Adobe Bridge, Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. I will open all my images on Bridge then flag the ones that I want to edit. I then open this images in my Lightroom where I do basic colour correction, balance my shadows and highlights (people usually use CAMERA RAW) Then export to Photoshop where I do all my retouching, once this is done, I go back to Lightroom for final touches and export from there. I love how Lightroom and Photoshoop work together, because whatever tweaks I make in PS, it automatically changes it in Lightroom.
Q7. How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?
I like to work with other photographers watch and learn where you can. This is the best experience. Also by watching tutorials on YouTube. I also watch many films, since I double up as a cinematographer, for me lighting and composition to tell a story is my life.
Q8. Among your works, which one is your favorite? Why?
This is a very difficult question for photographers, it’s like picking a favourite child. I’d say it would be Deliah’s Going up. For me, challenges are what I live for. Chasing the sun is never a fun thing to do, you know you have literally a gap of like an hour to get that golden sunrise so you must set up earlier in the dark. The location was also quite lovely, thanks to Azra Premji at Best Western Premier Hotel. But most of all for me, it’s the team I was working with. I want to thank all of them for sacrificing their sleep and making this lovely shoot happen.
Q9. Whose work has influenced you most?
Osbourne Macharia. I don’t know how he does it or what he eats for breakfast, but I love his work and I didn’t know that such talent existed in Kenya. I hope he can teach me his tricks someday.
Q10. What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?
That a good camera doesn’t make you a good photographer. I spent so much on my 7D without knowing a lot of the principles to do with lighting and composition and settings and lenses. You always see professionals with big fancy cameras and you think that that is the way to good pictures. No no no. Also that patience is key. It takes years to master the craft. Once you have, then get better tools.
Q11- What was it like working with Deliah Ipupah
I really can’t find a word or phrase to describe the experience but this is the best model I have worked with. This was our second shoot together. She defines crazy sexy cool. It was actually her who had been pestering me for a shoot ever since I got back to Cape town. It took us like a whole year to get this shoot done. I want to thank her for really pushing for it because we did a fantastic job. She is a natural and I’d work with her 50 times over.
Q12- How is it working in MIS and Magiq Lens.
These guys are my good friends so working with them on projects is always fun. Having creatives around you always keeps you fresh with ideas and helps maintain your craziness. Jaaz is the youngest most talented music producer in Kenya, and when I say Producer I don’t mean beat maker, Listen to Wanja Wohoros album and see what I mean. Actually before i finish, I’d like to give Migwa Nthigah a big big big thank you, for us it’s been a challenge to get here but having each other’s support and best interests at heart, we have managed the challenges to get our names in the industry. I owe that dude a lot to where I am now. He is also a brilliant photographer. If you want to know why my images come out nice, he is the lighting expert
Check out the awe inspiring shoot at the Best Western Premier Hotel Nairobi: https://www.behance.net/gallery/GOING-UP/15941047
Model: Deliah Ipupa
Photographer: Andrew Mageto
Lighting: Migwa Nthigah
Styling: Namnyak & Soraya Mugambi
Make-up: Lorna Mutegi
