An interview with Architectural & Drone photographer and videographer Dmitry Tkachenko

“I have had a passion for photography and cinema all my life, and it was only when I was in Norway that I was able to fully realize it. The beauty of this country amazed me so much that I really wanted to learn how to photograph well and share it with other people. Over time, I was offered money for my pictures and pretty quickly my hobby turned into a job.”

Dmitry Tkachenko is 32 years old photographer. He was born and raised in Tallinn, Estonia and is now based in Oslo, Norway.

He came to architectural photography about 8 years ago right after he moved to Norway. Scandinavian architecture and design amazed him so much that he really wanted to learn how to photograph well and share it with other people. After a period of self-teaching his hobby turned into a full-time job.

He is mainly focused on architectural photography but he also pays great attention to drone and time-lapse photography.

Working for architects, property developers and filmmakers has taken him all over the Norway and beyond.

He gets his inspiration from the incredibly beautiful Norwegian nature and his lifelong passion for cinema.

Hi Dmitry, I hope all is safe and well with you and many thanks for taking the time to share with our community. Can I say I have been a huge fan for sometime when you first came onto my radar a few years ago.

Can you tell us what has been keeping you occupied recently throughout 2021 and what your plans for 2022 and beyond?

Hi, Pete.

Thank you so much for inviting me to join your wonderful community and present my work to other participants.

Oddly enough, 2021 was quite busy for me and the situation with the coronavirus had almost no impact on my work. There were a lot of interesting projects that I had to work with. I have travelled quite a bit within the country, both for work and leisure with my small family.

I plan to spend the next year following roughly the same scenario, but I would very much like to add travel abroad as well. Somehow it seems to me that everything will be fine and we will all start to travel without restrictions again.

I think many, if not all of us are craving the return of travel. Travel restrictions are starting to lift in most places, however still a little complicated with vaccines etc. Fingers crossed 2022 is the year things return to relative normality.

Could you tell us a bit more about your pasts, your education, ethos and how you both approach your work currently?

I was born in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and lived there until I was 25 in. In 2014, together with my wife, we quite spontaneously decided to move to Norway and live in a foreign country. Pretty quickly we took a liking to everything and decided to stay.

The interesting thing is that before I moved, I had nothing to do with the creative professions. At first, I was sure for quite a long time that I would become a professional basketball player. Later, realizing that I was not destined to go down this path, I graduated from university with a degree in business management. After that I had to work in logistics, but I had the feeling that I was doing the wrong thing.

I have had a passion for photography and cinema all my life, and it was only when I was in Norway that I was able to fully realize it. The beauty of this country amazed me so much that I really wanted to learn how to photograph well and share it with other people. Over time, I was offered money for my pictures and pretty quickly my hobby turned into a job.

Well it sounds like it is paying off!

I know it is such a cliche to say but always do the things you love and enjoy, the benefits will always outweigh the negatives. Also, what a brave and courageous thing to do in moving to Norway. I’m so fascinated by Scandinavia as a whole, perhaps if I come and visit you can show me around?

All of your work is so beautiful and with the scenic backdrop it becomes breathtaking. I bet you don’t regret it in the slightest. How do you go about getting work and what do you find is the best solution you've found?

From the very beginning of my career, I felt that if you do something for real, with your soul and as if for yourself, the work is bound to find you. I've seen this many times. Later, the key to finding a job was the growing number of new acquaintances. I think, just like everywhere else in the world, most of the new customers come from referrals. As a result, building and maintaining warm relationships with my customers has become a nice bonus of this profession, which I try very hard to appreciate.

I agree with that. It is always so nice to find a new client and build a relationship with them, however I love the relationships that I have with my long serving clients whom many of have become firm friends.

Where do you see the future of photography heading, not only in our genre but as a whole?

A very interesting and profound question to ponder. I am sure that over time, artificial intelligence, 3D, and the development of metaverses will affect photography.

However, we are not the first and not the last generation of photographers having to adjust to new realities, improve skills and learn something completely new. I am sure that dedication and love for what we do will help us adapt to the new world.

It is very likely that photography will become a more valuable way of communicating graphic information than it is now, if only because there will be a human rather than a machine behind it. A kind of "hand-made" in the digital world.

That is very interesting. I’m intrigued by the NFTs that seem to be gathering a lot of momentum at the moment, gaining the artist’s a lot publicity not to mention financial reward. We will have to wait and see what direction we head in….I just hope that there will always be an emotional human behind the lens and not just simply an AI.

What is the interior and architectural scene like where you live and is this where do you do most of your work?

Oslo is a beautiful city with lots of interesting architecture and a rich cultural life. The city is changing and developing very actively. At the same time, there is quite a lively public debate between supporters of modern architecture and classical architecture. I think this is good because the discussion brings additional public attention to the issues of urban planning, and the selection of architectural styles and solutions. I like to watch this.

I live in a city called Bath. It is probably one of if not the most famous Roman cities in the UK if not Europe and is a world heritage site.

As beautiful and as lucky as I feel to live and work here, I do wish a compromise was agreed upon where modern architecture can seamlessly live amongst the more traditional buildings in the city. Modern architecture doesn’t have to be big and brash…perhaps more glass or mirrored buildings to reflect the architecture which surrounds it, like ‘Cloud Gate’ by Anish Kapoor. Like you say though, we’ll have to wait and see. I would love to see a bit more contemporary architecture make its way into more homes in the city.

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process and editing.

Yes, I agree. Photographers love to chat about their equipment. It's cool.

This may be pretty interesting, but I'm still using my old but reliable Nikon D810 camera. In the meantime, of course, I'm really looking forward to the next generation of DSLRs that will replace the D850.

The thing is, I'm not really into the digital viewfinder and the need for lens adapters. I also shoot time-lapses quite often, so more shots taken with one battery gives some extra advantage over the mirrorless camera.

In my work I use Nikkor 19mm and 24mm tilt-shift lenses; Nikkor zoom 18-35mm; 35mm f1.4; 50mm f1.8; f4 70-200mm.

Just the other day, I also changed my Mavic 2 Pro for a Mavic 3 cine. I have been waiting for this update for quite a long time, as I actively use drone photography and video filming in my work and creative projects.

Sounds like we’re in the same place. I’ve hit a sweet spot with my D850 and with my workflow. I’m always considering weather to go for the new Z9, Fuji GFX 50s ii or stay put for a bit. I’m not going to lie but I’m getting a little twitchy…

I love your drone work and time lapses…they are just stunning. This is what caught my eye about your portfolio. Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce?

I quite often really fall in love with the projects I photograph. At the same time, I also often feel like I could have shot something a little better. Sometimes the weather and the light are not right for me, and sometimes, for example, there is a lack of a stylishly dressed pedestrian walking by. Anyway, a good architectural photo is also about luck.

Therefore, I feel a special satisfaction out of my work when all kinds of obstacles and difficulties come my way and I somehow manage to use them for the benefit of a shot and its artistry.

Every shoot I always leave wondering if I can do better, however I think you know deep down when you’ve got ‘that’ shot.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers to keep motivated and pushing yourself forward?

My advice would be to switch from work-related projects to creative ones more often. Personally for me, it helps maintain a certain balance between creativity and craft. Also, I think it's very important to have small pauses from photography and to be able to look at the world with just your eyes without grabbing the camera.

Great advice. I very rarely, if ever take my camera with me when I do away on holiday. these days I felt that I was always chasing an image, a landscape, a building when on holiday and if it didn’t meet my expectations I would feel deflated which was not a good way spend my time and feel when on holiday.

I now just take it in and if everything comes together when I’m there, the light and composition I’ll take a few snaps on my phone. I’m a bit opportunistic in that way now.

I think we should talk a bit about copyright.....How do you go about educating your clients about licensing and is there anything we can be doing better to inform our clients better?

Fortunately, people in Norway have no problem understanding and respecting copyright. I hardly ever have to deal with violation of my rights as an author. At the same time, I can't say that I spend a lot of time checking copyright compliance. I'm used to trusting people and I try to kind of sidestep any conflicts. I should probably pay more attention to it, but I find it a little boring, which is probably why I'm somewhat sidelining the topic.

I’ve been having more and more issues with third party usage without licensing agreements which I’ve had to step in on. I am choosing my battles carefully but I do feel that it is all our responsibility to point these things out to clients and help educate them. It doesn’t have to come across as a conflict as I wouldn’t say boo to a goose, but I am speaking up much more now. I’m taking the softly softly approach. Once they get it and understand it I have found that more licensing agreements have come my way.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylised look?

Travels, collecting photo books and, of course, looking at other photographers' work help me get inspiration, as well as shape and change my style. However, I consider cinema to be my most powerful source of ideas and inspiration. The works of such masters as Ridley Scott, Stanley Kubrick and Christopher Nolan can be revisited endlessly, right?

Nice…I completely get it.

Do you have a favourite thing you like to shoot and why?

I always get particular pleasure from shooting early in the morning in some interesting places where I have never been before. It's some magic of a blank canvas and a clear mind.

I love that too. Being the first one to see the sunrise and witnessing something spectacular is something rather special. It is these moments I’m missing the most about travelling at the moment. The moments of awe & wonder at nature’s entertainment.

What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

The highlights of my career for me are my photo travels. And that holds true both for travelling for work and for travelling with my family where I make my creative shoots. By the way, I run a small YouTube channel where I post my small travel films. They are quite short and don't come out very often. So feel free to subscribe :)

I love them. I definitely recommend them to anyone interested in drone videos or just the incredible landscapes Dmitry works in.

Do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

Of course I do, for example Mike Kelley, Ezra Stoller, Joey L, Steve McCurry, Konsta Punkka.

Some familiar names and some not so.

Lastly, what have you learnt and taken away from the past years events?

This crisis, in my opinion, has given us an opportunity to rethink many of our values and how we feel about them.

It is very sad that this happened and many people got hurt, but I want to believe that it will be good for us, because people will remember how fragile our world really is for a long time. I hope...

For me personally, this was a great opportunity to spend more time with my family, not to rush anywhere, to do what I hadn’t gotten my hands on for years. And of course, to have time to really miss new travels.

A big thanks to Dmitry for sharing his portfolio with us, for his takeover and taking the time out to share some of his thoughts about our craft.

To see more or Dmitry’s work click on the following links - Website - Instagram - YouTube