You’re active in the forums and have been involved
in many events. What’s your history with KelbyOne?
Many years ago, I saw Photoshop User magazine on a
newsstand here in Portugal and decided to buy it. Even
though I was already enjoying photography, I was one
of those who wouldn’t edit my images apart from a
crop or minor adjustment, but I was fascinated with the
possibilities of Photoshop. I wanted to learn more about
the Adobe suite of products, so I bought the magazine,
having no idea how much it would change my life!
I discovered NAPP (the National Association of Photoshop
Professionals) and decided to become a member and
learn my way into Photoshop. From there I became a
regular at The Grid shows, started going to Photoshop
World, became active in the KelbyOne Community, and
here I am today, really happy to see a Photoshop User
cover with one of my images. It’s still hard to believe!Please share a little more about the cover image and
why it’s special to you.
This January will be seven years since my dad passed
away. Only after he passed did I realize I didn’t have
enough photos of him that could be considered a portrait
of who he really was to his family, his friends, and to the
world. My mom will be 89 this year and I didn’t want
the same to happen again, but I was still postponing
it over and over. When I saw the KelbyOne Member
Portrait Challenge, I thought that was my wakeup call,
and I really needed to create a portrait of my mom. One
thing that she’s known for is her cooking, so I wanted
to include that, but also show her as she is. I wanted to
create an image that portrays her dedication in feeding
the family not just with food, but also with love. She
dedicated all her life to my dad, and I wanted him to be
part of the image, and that’s why I included his office
chair. The octopus adds the Portuguese cuisine to the
picture, showing our heritage too.You seem to love both portrait and landscape
photography. Who has inspired you the most?
I’m not sure I can identify anyone as a big influence on
my landscape work. I was probably influenced mostly
by my personal life at the time. Photography was an
escape, not just to be by myself in open spaces, butalso to find the tranquility and peace that I needed
so much. For portraits, I do love the work of several
photographers. In no particular order, they are: Annie
Leibovitz, Gregory Heisler, Joel Grimes, Pete Souza,
and Steve McCurry. I also absolutely love the work of
Glyn Dewis, and I have to say Joe McNally for the way
he can see and use light in his work.It’s been a tough year for everyone. How have you
kept busy but safe during the pandemic?
I’ve been working from home since March. That’s the
safe part. For the busy part, I had to learn more about
video, including streaming and creating content for the
KelbyOne Community in our weekly CommunityLIVE
event that I cohost with my friend Ross Chevalier,
who’s also a Community Leader and Moderator. The
KelbyOne Community also keeps me busy and focused
on photography. I help many people there, but I also
learn a lot from them.Let’s talk about gear. What are the top three
things on your shopping list for 2021?
My shopping list for 2021 includes a Canon EOS R
body to replace my Canon 5D Mk IV and a Canon RF
70–200mm 2.8L lens to replace my EF equivalent (my
favorite lens). I want to have the eye focus available
on the new mirrorless bodies. The third item I want
to add to my bag of tricks is a set of strobes because
I want to improve my portrait work and I believe those
will help. Profoto is out of my budget, so I’ll probably
go with the Godox AD600 Pro.Based on your software background, how
important do you think Photoshop and Lightroom
are to photographers?
Knowledge and tools are extremely important in any field
of work. Those who don’t use tools such as Photoshop
and Lightroom are being left behind. It’s not impossible
to create great work without those tools, but it’s a lot
harder to be able to create consistent quality work
without them. The same goes for knowledge: you need
to invest in your own education, reading books, watching
classes, going to workshops and seminars, etc. nFernando Santos is a photographer based in Lisbon, Portugal. He’s an Adobe ACE in Lightroom, as
well as part-time trainer and aficionado. Fernando started to photograph seriously when cameras
became digital, merging his photography passion from his teen years with his IT career as a software
engineer. You can find him online daily at the KelbyOne Community where he’s very active.WHO’S WHO IN THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY
FERNANDO SANTOS
KELBYONE.COM KELBYONE COMMUNITY