“In the Spotlight” - Dejan Vuckovic aka @dejan.vuckovic
Today the spotlight falls on Dejan Vuckovic.
Dejan Vuckovic ’s Story:
I was born in Serbia, and most of my life I lived there. I have lived in France and Austria for short periods of time, but in the end, I guess that there is no place like home.
Talking about photography and not mentioning my other passions is like cake without frosting – something is missing.
In my younger days, I was strongly encouraged to pursue different types of sports. My father was a pro soccer player in his younger days, and soccer trainer until he retired. So, naturally, he insisted that I should find a sport for myself. After a few complete disasters, basically with all sports which included a ball, running or throwing something, I finally found a sport I liked - cycling.
I was only 10 years old when I started to ride for the local team, and approximately at the same time, I become aware that my father has another big love - photography.
One small room in our basement was his dark room and photo laboratory. A room full of unusual equipment and the smell of strange chemicals. This is where he went regularly to develop family photos, and I remember sitting there for hours just to witness the miracle of transferring white paper into photos.
My first camera was a small and inexpensive Russian 35mm model named Smena 8. It was a fully manual camera and very inexpensive, but somehow I remember this camera as very reliable and durable. In other words, this is the only camera I had and didn't break into small pieces. In my defense, cycling and mountaineering with a camera in the backpack is not healthy for the camera.
Anyway, my first film roll of 24 photos was a complete disaster - most photos were under or overexposed, and those few which were exposed correctly were so blurry that they looked more like alternative art than anything else. I still create same style photos even today, so it must be my 'art' signature.
After I finished with tears and blaming the camera and Moon phase for everything, my father showed me a couple books on the shelf about the theory of photography. That was the time when I actually started to learn about photography. I found that there are some strange rules how to hold the camera and how not to press the shutter. I've learned that you must think about at least three parameters at the same time, each one with the strange name and different rules. I found that there are actually practices about composing and... it was too much that I almost give up, but... The same book had some amazing photos from some of the best photographers around the world. A couple of them were the work of Ansel Adams. I still adore this guy, he was the sole reason why I continued to read that book and tried to figure out photography. His photos were, and still are, pure magic.
A few weeks later, I was ready for another roll of film. I remember that I made a note on small paper about proper values of shutter and exposition times for sunny and cloudy days and glued it to the back of the camera. From the second batch, we managed to develop a couple of photos. I was thrilled.
Next roll was even better, and my father promised me a brand new camera when I shoot a complete roll of 24 photos without errors. Couple times after that, he told me that my dedication and stubbornness cost him a lot of money, usually when he didn't expect it at all. So, a few months later, he asked me which camera I would like.
My brand new camera was again one Russian model - Zenith TTL. It was the closest thing to a pro camera my father could afford. The exchangeable lens was something new for me, but the feature I liked the most was integrated light meter. I didn't need a piece of paper stuck to the back anymore. After just a few months I bought my first zoom lens - cheap Russian no-name copy of Soligor 35-105mm lens. This was my gear for a lot of years until one day I accidentally dropped the camera which resulted in the cheap body cracking and therefore leaking the light. I was about 18 years old at the time, and that was when my long absence from photography began. For the next 15 years or so, I didn't have a camera and did not take a single photo. In my defense, it was a crazy time to live in Serbia and I had a lot of other issues and challenges to think about.
My big return to photography started when I began to work and got my first salary. It was the time to treat myself to something, and so I bought a cheap point and shoot Yashica. After just a couple of months, I realized that my old Zenith was much better, so I sold the Yashica, added some (a lot of) cash and bought a Canon AE-1. I used this camera for quite some time until I realized that digital photography was becoming more and more affordable.
After careful consideration of affordability and usability, I bought my first digital camera - Canon PowerShot S2. The digital format combined with the fact that I am not limited to 24 or 36 photos per roll finally kicked off my creativity. First landscape photos were created with this camera, and some of them are even published on Steemit, for example, the Zakinthos series. After I broke this camera, I bought the amazing PowerShot SX50 HS and most of the published photos are taken with this camera. And this is when I realized, completely accidentally, that all those books I read as a kid, and all the time I spent in my father's photo laboratory had a lot of impacts.
To tell you that story, I must get back to cycling. At age of 16, I was semi-pro in the youngest competitive group and a big talent with a bright future. There was only one problem - cycling was a very expensive sport. I didn't have enough money to continue cycling as a pro rider, and with all craziness which was happening in Serbia in those years, I simply quit. I continued to use the bike to get to places, but with time, even that became less and less. One day, without really realizing it, I stopped riding completely. My work seemed more important at that moment, and with a family on the way, I simply didn't have enough time to ride.
As a guy who used to burn all calories ever consumed, with less physical activity, I got fat... very fat. At age 35, I was well above 100 kg which combined with my short height of 175 cm implies that I was very overweight. My health started to deteriorate very fast and it was high time to change a thing or two. First - I bought a bike. Then I got in contact with my former team colleagues and guys from the Mountain Rangers which were also my family in younger days (long story, I was a voluntary Mountain Ranger for a couple of years).
With all those people motivating me, I started to ride again. In fact, I started to ride a lot. Every day I was in the saddle, or hiking or simply walking. My health got better and in just one year, I was back to my (almost) normal weight. With better health, my travels started to be longer and longer. I started to climb mountains again, and, since I was carrying the camera with me almost all the time, my photo albums started to fill with some awesome photos from amazing places.
I remember the exact moment when I thought that I may become an actual amateur photographer. It was one of my climbs to Mont Blanc in France. We were camping near Chamonix and the group was a mixture of cyclists, mountaineers as well as photographers.
One evening, whilst sitting in front of the tents, one of the photo guys took my camera and started to look through my photos. He was into landscape photography for years, a real pro, and I was actually his guide through that area. After a few minutes of looking through my photos he told me - you need a better camera and a little work to become better than me. He shocked me because his photos were used by several marketing agencies, they are published in numerous places and his exhibitions are known as stunning.
To test his theory a few months later, I sent a couple of my photos to the biggest Photo Stock agencies. They were all accepted. Just to test whether or not it was beginner's luck, I sent a couple more, and they were accepted too. Today, I have few hundred photos accepted and sold by different stock agencies. My acceptance rate is above 80%. So, I guess I have become an amateur photographer.
and for sharing your awesome photography with us!
As always, we will be sharing some of Dejan's awesome photos for the next 5 days,
BE SURE NOT TO MISS IT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dejan.vuckovic.313
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vuler/
Adobe Stock: https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/205941953/dejanvuckovic
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thank you @jlkreiss
wow.wow😍😍😍.A great photography experience, and I am still a beginner in the field of photography and inspire passion for me, hopefully you are more successful.thanks
Thank you, I really do not count myself as a photographer, I am just passionate amateur with the camera ;)
Thank you again @positivexposure for this feature, I'm really flattered :)
you are most welcome, I enjoy doing it!
I love his work, he really takes amazing photographs and the fact that he resembles a famous singer from his country works in his favor too :D
I am glad you enjoyed the biography, today please be sure to have a look out for the post with his photos. Thanks for visiting!
I loved reading this and getting to know Dejan even better! He is a perfect person for you to feature!