Life of a Life + Style Photographer - Tien Austin

       I had the lovely opportunity of talking with Tien Austin, an amazing life+style photographer from Honolulu, Hawaii.  Her photography is so naturally and organically beautiful that life is awesome.  One of the things that I really admire of her work is the amount of natural beauty she lets shine through every person in her portraits.  Austin also does stunning creative work by illustrating her photography as well. 

1.  How did you first get into photography?
- Oh man, that's really hard to say. I remember always being fascinated with cameras and how they were able to capture images. I think when I really became obsessed with photography was when I saved up my money and bought a canon rebel. Ever since then it has been a huge passion of mine.

2.  How did you learn and develop your style?

- My style is constantly developing. Although a style that I would really like to achieve and perfect is being able to capture candid moments. This is one of the most challenging things that photographers struggle with and I would love to master that.  

3.  As a style/lifestyle photographer, what do you think is the highlight of your genre?

- The highlight of my genre comes from living in Hawaii. Hawaii has such an eclectic group of people that you always have the opportunity to shoot a variety of people. Also because I live in Hawaii I am never short of beautiful places to shoot, which I am extremely grateful for.

4.  Where do you think newbie photographers should start?

- Take pictures EVERY DAY and also be humble and be willing to learn new things from everything around you. I am constantly learning new camera tricks and different angles that look better and illusions cameras can create. But all these things take time to learn and lots of practice. If you really love photography make it a goal to take a few pictures a day and as each day progresses you will notice that your photography skills will begin to progress as well.

5.  For budding photographers, what are some essentials for an amazing shoot?

- For any photographer starting out I think they automatically want to go to these amazing places and unknown areas to take photos that will make people wonder where the heck that photo was taken. But what I've learned is that some of the most magical places I've shot have been in places where people are every day and just don't take the time to notice the beauty of that location. Almost everywhere has some beauty in it and your job as the photographer is to find it and capture it!

6.  What is one thing that currently inspires your art?
- Gosh, I am always constantly inspired by everything around me. Things that help a lot though are reading, hiking, being out in nature and surrounded myself with influential people. I also religiously stalk some people's travel blogs to keep my wanderlust alive and to inspire the pictures I take!

Find Tien at her website / blog.