Eelco Roos

Dutch born Eelco is an IT specialist at IBM Amsterdam by day, as well as an award winning photographer, having won two categories in the iPhone Photography Awards 2012. His passion for photography has taken him around the world and he's worked for big brands like Samsung and Johnnie Walker who flew him to Iceland to take over the company's Instagram account last year. His images are realistic and not over filtered - and we're big fans here at Pocketstock HQ.

“I wouldn’t call Instagram an obsession anymore”

You've mentioned your obsession with Instagram in the past – how are you managing it these days?!

Haha, It´s pretty good! But I have to say I wouldn’t call Instagram an obsession anymore. There was a time I was refreshing my news feed every hour, but I'm passed that now, luckily. I do still love sharing my photography through Instagram, but it got to a point where it felt unhealthy to be focussed on Instagram all the time.

I am still obsessed with photography in general, always looking for opportunities, angles. And my success on Instagram has given me the opportunity to travel all over the world the last year and a half, so I feel blessed.

Do you feel Instagram is synonymous with mobile photography?

It is, it´s the platform that sparked my interest for mobile photography. Before Instagram, I had never thought of taking photography on a mobile device seriously.

You've obviously been honing your skills for many years so would you agree with Edward Weston who once said "If I have any 'message' worth giving to a beginner, it is that there are no short cuts in photography".

I agree with that statement, but it certainly would not be the only ‘message’ I would give a starting photography enthusiast - I wouldn´t want to depress them immediately, I like to be more positive.

I would say in this age of digital photography, shoot, and shoot a lot. Be creative, get out of your comfort zone, make mistakes and learn!

Your photographs have a very calming feel about them – is that a reflection of your personality?

It is, I'm a pretty laid back and relaxed person. Not easily rattled and sort of a loner.

“Shoot, and shoot a lot”

You're not a big user of hashtags yourself but is there a reason for that and would you recommend others use them?

I don´t use hashtag´s that much anymore, but I did use them a lot in the beginning. I feel that if you use more than 1 or 2 hashtags, it gets in the way of your photography, it distracts. But hashtags are a very good way to get your photography out there, be seen, get noticed. So I would recommend people to use them, but no more than a few. You can always try to ´hide´ the hashtags between comments of followers!

"12 significant photographs in any one year is a good crop" according to Ansel Adams. What's your crop been like this year?

This statement was made in a different era, but still true. I will not compare myself to Ansel Adams or any other great photographer for that matter, we live in a new, digital era. Where sharing your photography is much easier. I think I wouldn't even come to 12 SIGNIFICANT photographs in a year, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't share photo´s that you feel like sharing.