Mobile Photography Interview – A Day in the Life of Kristie Benoit from Culpeper, Virginia, USA
Welcome to our very exciting interview column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled “A Day in the Life of…” is where we take a look at some hugely influential, interesting, newcomers as well as accomplished individuals in the mobile photography and art world… people that we think you will love to learn more about. This is our 138th interview of the series. If you have missed our previous interviews, please go here.
Today we are featuring a highly accomplished mobile photographer, Kristie Benoit, we have long been admirers of her work. You will love this!
If you would like to take part in our A Day in the Life interview series, please send an email to myself at [email protected] and I will get back to you.
Contact Details:
Untitled ©Kristie Benoit
Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?
If it’s not a weekday, I like to lounge around and have my coffee. I will also browse all my social media sites and catch up on everyone’s wonderful art. During this time, I also like to edit, if I’m feeling inclined to do so.
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Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?
If it’s going to be a foggy,moody morning, I love to get out early and shoot. Otherwise, I’m more of a late afternoon/golden hour shooter.
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How did the transition from traditional photographer to mobile photographer develop?
It was actually the opposite for me. I started out as a mobile photographer and then got into traditional photography. I use both, pretty evenly. I favor editing everything on my mobile device, though. There are a lot of wonderful and amazing apps out there for us.
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Do you like to download new mobile photography and/or art apps regularly?
Yes, if they are free. I try and keep up with the latest editing/art apps. Some I’ve grown to love, and some I didn’t like at all. It’s got to be pretty fantastic for me to pay for an app.
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What is your preferred platform, Apple iOS, Android, Windows?
I’ve always been an Apple iOS gal. I’ve never used anything else.
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Would you consider changing platforms and why?
I love my Apple device. I pretty much follow that age old adage…. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
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How often do you update your existing apps?
I check for updates once a week, and if there are any, I will do them.
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What are your favourite photography/videography apps and why, what features do you look for in a new app?
My favorites are Mextures, Snapseed, Lightroom mobile, VSCO, RNIFilms, 1967, Retouch, Tadaa, and Splice.
I love Snapseed & LRmobile for simple edits, small tweaks, bnw’s and to finish off photos. Tadaa I only use for masking. It is the best app, for me, to use when I’m looking to achieve a masked look. Splice I find the easiest for me to edit videos with, although I don’t do a lot of those.
The other apps, are great for my preferred style of editing, which is often moody. You get great fade, textures, and tone from all of those.
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Where’s your favourite place in the world for a shoot and why?
That’s a tougher question than I thought it would be. I’ve never really thought about it either. I suppose anywhere in Europe would be lovely. I’ve always wanted to shoot in the desert and any tropical location. I’m not really picky. I just need natural light.
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Where do you like to upload your photographs to – Flickr, Instagram etc?
I primarily upload to Instagram and Flickr. I’ve got a Facebook photography page and I’ve recently joined 500px.
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Do you use your mobile phone everyday to take images?
Yes, as it’s always available to me, at any given moment. It’s the most convenient camera I have.
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Do you like to use external hardware products with your mobile device for image and video capturing, such as lenses, tripods, external storage and battery packs?
I have a gorilla tripod for my phone and a remote shutter device that works with an app I have downloaded.
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Do you edit images on your mobile devices or do you prefer to use a desktop or laptop computer?
I prefer to edit on my phone. I do use Google Nik and Lightroom sometimes too.
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Where do you envisage your mobile photography passion will take you? Have you been involved with exhibitions etc.
I really do this for fun, as a hobby. I never envisioned my work would go anywhere, but I am happy to say I have been exhibited several times over the last 3 years with my mobile artwork.
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Where do you see the future of mobile photography?
I think it’s only going to continue to grow. It’s not slowing down anytime soon. I believe the equipment will only get better, as technology does, and so will the apps.
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What do you think is the most popular area of mobile photography?
I’m not really sure about this, but if I had to guess I would say street photography and portraits.
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Do you think it is country Specific, are some nations more clued up?
I’m not sure about this either. I suppose some countries would be more clued up depending on their technology levels. I think it’s more about the individual users and the access they have to all of this.
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If you could select a specification for a smartphone, what features would you select, photographically speaking?
One of my favorite new things, on the iPhone, is the portrait feature. It gives great DOF, which I love. Especially when using it for portraits, which is what I mainly do. I can’t think of anything else, other than that.
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What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?
Is there enough time and space to write all the things I love about Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?! The tireless amount of hours that are put into this website, by Joanne, is incredible. She has given us a platform to create, share, and learn from. A place where I have met so many incredibly talented artists who are always more than willing to share techniques, positive criticism, and their time. Joanne is loving and caring human, who deserves all the accolades given to her. I am very thankful for the numerous opportunities that have arisen for me, from the connections I’ve made through theappwhisperer.com’
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While you’re here…
TheAppWhisperer has always had a dual mission: to promote the most talented mobile artists of the day and to support ambitious, inquisitive viewers the world over. As the years passTheAppWhisperer has gained readers and viewers and found new venues for that exchange.
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
