Stunning Photo Manipulations by Ionut Caras – with Exclusive Interview

 

A: I live in Romania, Iasi City and I am 33 now. I worked at sea for over 14 years, but now I quit my job, I’m unemployed for over 8 months, still looking for a job. I am married and we are going to have a girl very soon. After that, we are planing to go Germany/Holland/France/UK, for a better job. I hope that one day I will get to open a gallery and became a great Creative Designer. My life was very complicated, hard work and not much family help, so I had to make my way in life, fighting with the system and trying to survive. Even so, I think of myself as of a very funny person, kind and loving with my family and work> I try to create new and new stuff all the time, based on beautiful stories and the sense of humor. 

A: I believe both of them. Anyhow, I thing that being a photographer is more harder than going digital, but here it also depends, because to have one unique and strong idea is quite difficult, to know your “power” and to able you created it is also hard. My style is to create something easy readable, not some abstract strange work, because I love poetry, stories and beautiful art. Being a photographer is the best thing in the world, it allows you to see what other cannot, it allows you to capture a unique moment, a special emotion and save it for life. Being a photographer is also a great hobby, you get to be more emotionally touched with everything, you become a part of the whole world and try to save it and share it latter on. On the other hand, in order to be a digital artist, you need photography. Personally, I take shots of something and after that I combine them according to my vision. 

A: It happened about 10 years ago, when I was 23, but only in the last year I really created. Before it was some “training work” that now amuses me.:) I had several unpleasant experiences on photomanipulation sites, but this is how i grew and learned more. I got very ambitious and wanted to do better.

A: I use Adobe Photoshop 100% 🙂 This happens very often, because where I live the possibility to travel in some exotic places and shoot landscapes is limited. I do have some photos on my computer, but they don’t look as good as a creative edit. Usually I a shot, I change the sky and add some special effects. Long time ago I used Corel Draw, but because of its missing layer properties, I found it less powerful for my personal interests, therefore I changed to Photoshop. The main and the most useful tools/options for me are: the Mask Tool, Clipping Mask, Lasso Tool, Blur Section, Levels, Colors Replacement, Cloning, and of Course Layer Properties. 

A: I like very much to play scrabble, chess, travel, listen to music, watch movies – especially comedies 🙂

A: The main thing here is of course “creativity”. Even if you have some small and simple ideas, try to work them out. And try again… Don’t start by thinking that it can not be done. With such excuses you never will succeed. Explore every day the world around you: things that you could use in your creative work. Maybe not today, but in the future. Obviously you need some Photoshop skills, but everybody can learn it. Read some good books and tutorials. Look at similar work on the internet and learn how others did it. Be patient and love to work on it and that is the only way to succeed.