FOR SOME wildlife photographers, the thrill of travelling to exotic, far-flung locations and tracking down rare species is what keeps the magic alive. But for Sam Rusu, who moved to the UK in 2015, magical moments can be found in the everyday, the commonplace, the closer to home, the unexpected and unplanned; a robin perching in the garden, or a chance encounter in a London park with a kestrel. “I focus on representing scenes that are usually hard to reproduce, capturing those ethereal moments. The technological tools are the brushes that I use to illuminate the surreal elements of nature,” he says. Sam uses the creative and mindful act of photography to relax and escape from what he calls “The madness of adulthood”. He loves to revisit species regularly to improve his images, and for the last year, he has been teaching others how to hone their skills and style when photographing nature.
Hey, Sam. Where did photography all start for you?
My photography journey started when I was quite young. I was 14 when I picked up a Panasonic Lumix compact camera and started taking pictures. I have always been the best in my family at taking photos and it was natural for me to understand the concept of composition and focus, even though I did not know anything about them at that time. Shortly after, one of my friends bought a Canon EOS 20D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens and that’s how I actually fell in love with portrait photography. I saved
