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Interview with =piratephotography :

Is there a story behind your dA username?
Well, originally the username I had on DA was ~iheartpirates (it wasn't my first username, but it was the one I was using at the time) and I decided that I should create a separate account to post photography on and poetry and photography have rather different audiences. I created =piratephotography as it had the same theme, and its just stuck as my business name.

What do you do?
I'm a full time university student, I'm in my final year of my English Literature degree. I also work as the weekend supervisor in a WHSmiths which tends to surprise people!

What are your hobbies?
Well, the obvious and my favourite, is photography! I also enjoy reading, writing poetry, watching films and TV programmes like Star Trek and other geeky goodness, dying my hair far too much for my own good, watching football (I'm a big Liverpool FC fan) and hanging out in the pub.

What music do you like?
I'm a huge ska fan, as well as rock, punk, pop rock like P!nk and Bryan Adams, metal, and the one that always surprises people, country. I adore Dolly Parton, The Wreckers and Taylor Swift, though the UK is terrible for country music so I really have to hunt for it.

What are your best qualities?
My best qualities...I guess I'd say I'm quirky which people seem to like, and very patient.

What are your worst qualities?
I get overexcited much too easily, I'm rather pessimistic, I talk way too much when I know you, but am overly shy when I don't!

Do you have any pets?
I have a lovely kitty called Rokki who lives with me, and a kitty called Reggie who lives with my auntie.

Where do you live? Tell us about the town/city that you live in.
I live in a small town in North East England, which is known for being one of the roughest towns in the country. Its not as bad as people say, but I can see why someone who doesn't live there would believe it because its rather drab looking. It doesn't have much of a rock scene, but we are rather lucky to have some fabulous burlesque nights thanks to the Cats Pajamas burlesque troupe who are local.

What do you love most about where you live?
The people, all my best friends live here.

And what do you dislike about where you live?
It's too small. Unfortunately its the sort of town that's so small that everyone alternative knows everyone else and knows everyone else's business so it leads to lots of drama which I hate.

How did you find deviantART and how long have you been a member?
A guy I went to school with told me about it and I joined up, I think in about 2002, though I can't remember what username I had originally, I used to switch rather a lot!

What is it about nude photography for you?
I just love the beauty of the human form, whether male or female its so unique and so expressive.

How did you get into it?
The first semi-pro model I ever worked with suggested we try a nude shoot so I gave it a go and loved it. That was an implied shoot, and then from there I progressed experimenting more with different ideas and concepts, and only very recently (30th December) did I actually do my first full frontal nude shoot.

What are your tools of the trade?
I actually use a compact SLR, a Fujifilm finepix S9600, though I'm getting a new camera in a month or so. I also use a softbox and reflectors, but that's about it as far as kit goes. I use Photoshop 7, I'm a student so I can't afford to have the best equipment, but I hope that I show that you don't have to have the best equipment to still make something beautiful.

What are your top 5 favourites on deviantART?
Oooh, that is a toughy! I have a lot of favourites on DA, but if I have to pick 5 current faves, I'd go for..

by because Anna Evans is one of my favourite models, this was a collaboration between herself and her girlfriend which I think is brilliant. They are both really nice girls from the times I've spoken to them on DA too.

Shot by one of my photography heroes and of another fave model of mine The colours are beautiful and its so relaxed which I love in nude photography.

by is so eery and haunting, the focus is stunning and I love the mood Natalie conveys in each frame.

by of I love emotive fetish photography and this is an amazing example.

by One of the first images I saw that just blew me away. The lighting is sublime, and Mark who took it is lovely. He's always there if I want any advice.

Show us 5 personal favourites from your own gallery.
featuring It was shot in a public park in the middle of the day, and I was really unsure as to show the shoot had gone as we hadn't had long to shoot because it was so busy but I had so many great shots because Miki is just an incredible model.

A rather unusual shot for me, because its a regular fashion shot, but I just love how it turned out. Sammi was being silly and pulling faces at me, she did this, I told her to hold still and turn slightly more into the light and this was the shot I got.

of the incredible featuring clothing by It was a real privilege to get to shoot with Sohui as I've been a fan of hers for such a long time and she was even more awesome to shoot than I could have hoped, and just a fantastic person too. Not many people could pose in ballet boots like, or would, particularly at this grungy location.

It was a hilarious shoot with these two models, and another spur of the moment shot. I asked the girls to put their feet up on the wall and turn towards me, they both did the same pose without realised and I loved it.

My all-time favourite, of one of my favourite people, which is also DA's favourite apparently! It was my first time shooting and I was experimenting with a table lamp to create a moody atmosphere, this is what I got!

Choose 3 artists who you admire on deviantART.
This is a model who all models should look up to. She poses with every inch of herself and truly puts incredible amounts of effort into every single shoot.

I really look up to Cathy, and we plan to meet up this year. Shes not much older than me and its amazing to see how talented she is, yet how young she is.

He creates amazing fetish imagery that is bright and fun, which is so rare.

What other genres of photography interest you?
I also adore alternative fashion, fetish, pin up, conceptual and photographing kitties!

What do your friends and family think of your photography?
My friends are really supportive, I started off shooting them before I moved onto models. In fact, the first person I ever photographed was a great friend of mine and shes gone onto model which is brilliant as she's a great model and I love her to bits. My boyfriend has put up with me shooting him in the most awful of conditions and every time I've doubted myself, he's gotten me through it. He sees every final image from every shoot and genuinely critiques them for me to help me progress which is more than I could ask for.

My family love it, my auntie and my grandad were both photographers when I was really tiny and before I was born so it must be in my blood. The only thing my parents don't really like is the more fetish and fully nude work I do, I think that's more because they tend to meet the models and then it weirds them out to see them naked!

What does RESPECT mean to you?
For me, its a mutual thing between photographers and models, and any artists, as well as what anyone viewing art should automatically give. I hate seeing comments on peoples work by people who obviously don't appreciate that style of art and therefore abuse it.