Then & Now - Daniel Sprague

Then

Introduce yourself.

Hi, my name is Daniel Sprague. I was born in Worcester, Mass and I live in Dover, New Hampshire with my family. I love tacos and pizza and beer and wine and liquor and traveling to find all those things.

Now

How did you learn photography?

My first formal training was at a small art school in southern Maine.

Then

What year were your "Then" pictures taken in?

Around 2008 - 2009

Now

What did you do to better your photography skills?

I shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and I am still shooting.

Then

What is one piece of advice you would give to a new photographer to help them excel in their craft?

Shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot. Take breaks from looking at other photographer's work. Then shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and keep shooting. I am showing some of my oldest and most embarrassing work because I want everyone who thinks they will never be as good as they want to be to know that almost every single one of us started in the same place. It is about struggling through and putting the time in to become what you know you like. You have good taste, hold on to it, and just keep creating work until it aligns with your good taste. Here go watch this so you can hear someone who is good at talking explain what I mean https://vimeo.com/85040589

Now

What gear do you use and what is your favorite preset?

90% of all my work is shot with a Canon 35L 1.4 lens on Canon 5D Mark II. I spent about a year editing and tweaking the Portra 400++ VSCO preset and now I use that for nearly every photo. It looks nothing like the original Portra 400++ preset, but I like it. That's all that matters, use what you like.

Check out more awesome work from Daniel below.