Flickr in inhabited with thousands of superb photographers, Jon “JD” Dysangco is one of them. I recently had some time to sit down an interview him about all aspects of photography.

Check out his Flickr photostream here.

Are you in favor of RAW or JPEG?

I used to shoot in JPEG up until about 2 months ago after learning about the flexibilities of RAW. I now shoot exclusively in it (I need to get a bigger external HD!). RAW format can be a real shot saver, allowing you to adjust WB, exposure, etc (in a sense, it can make you a better photographer).

I use DPP to PP and convert to JPEG, lately I have been using Photoshop CS3 Beta to experiment with and tweak my shots.

What does your photography kit look like?

My current kit is made up from the following:

30D + Battery Grip
24-105 f/4L IS
70-200 f/2.8L IS
70-200 f/4L (this is being sold soon)
50 f/1.8 mk II aka “Nifty Fifty”
Speedlite 430EX
Sto-Fen Omni Bounce EW
Sandisk Extreme III 1GB CF
Sandisk Extreme II 1GB CF
Rocket Blower
Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home bag

Why did you choose Canon over Nikon?

When I decided to get a DSLR, it was a toss up between the Canon 350D and the Nikon D50 - I decided to go for the 350D.  At the time this was down to the better reviews I read.  Today, I am glad I chose Canon because of the quality of their hardware.

What forms of photography do you find most enjoyable?

As you can seen from my Flickr photostream, my photographic style is very eclectic. If I like the look of a certain subject, I shoot it.  However over the past few weeks I have really started to enjoy portraiture (both taking and editing). I would love to try out studio portrait photography.  Another favorite of mine is street/candid shots because of the stories they can tell.

You have many HDR images on Flickr, run us through the process of creating these.

HDR can be quite tricky.  At one end of the spectrum an HDR image can look true to the eye, at the other, it can look like a painting or CGI.  People either love or hate both ends. I try to fall in the middle in this spectrum. 

In terms of producing them, if I want a shot to be HDR at the time of shooting I will take 3 exposures.  You can create one using a single RAW, but I have noticed that you do get the best affect from 3 exposures. If I want create one from a subject that is moving, i’ll shoot a single RAW.

I use Photomatix Pro to create the HDR, then Noise Ninja to reduce the grain, if any.

What about making money from your hobby, have you ever sold any images?

I would love to sell my images! Who wouldn’t? :) I have not made any real steps to do so just yet, soon I may do.

Does Wedding photography interest you?

As I said, I enjoy shooting people, so wedding photography would be a nice progression for me. In fact I have 2 lined up this year, one in the summer for a friend’s brother and one at the end of the year for my cousin in Australia. I am really looking forward to these, but at the same time rather nervous and anxious. 

Wedding photography is difficult, you need to know your kit inside out, as well as lighting. Its not just that however, depending on your style, its about people management.

At the end of the day, a wedding photographer is expected to capture once in a lifetime (for most at least!) moments, for the bride and groom to keep and treasure for the rest of their lives…so the thought of that is very daunting to an inexperienced photographer.

What resources do you use to further increase your knowledge of photography?

I have read a highly acclaimed book by photographers called Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson, this will teach one the fundamentals of photography, I highly recommend it.

I am also a member of Photography-On-The-Net (Canon Digital Photography Forums), this place is great and is a huge source of info for both novice and pro. The members there are very friendly too. (Glenn: I’m a member there too).

And the internet of course…Google is my friend!

Why do you like photography? What aspects keep you coming back for more?

There are lots of reasons why I like photography, from taking the shots, to owning the gear, to post production, to showing off the results.  

Since taking this up I look at so many ordinary things around me in a different way.  It has really opened up my mind in a creative way.

I also enjoy it as I have been to many places that I never did before, purely to shoot and enjoy the sights.