We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Kouba and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, why did you pursue a creative career?
My Dad was a film photography hobbyist and musician. His taste showed me many different musical artists and it ultimately got me into music production which I did throughout high school. During a 3-month student exchange in Mexico, I bought my first camera to capture the beauty of nature and the culture I was immersed in. This was the stepping stone that ultimately lead to my current career as a video editor and DP.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It definitely wasn’t easy, but I am fortunate enough to have had many opportunities that have led me to where I am today. I started as a landscape photographer. For about 3 years I traveled throughout the US and Europe. But over the last few years I’ve been feeling a bit unmotivated. Maybe its because of the social media aspect to it, or how everyone and their mom is doing landscape photography now, whatever it was, it was starting to lose the magic for me.

I’ve always loved cinema and filmmaking and it was at this point that I really started to fully immerse myself in it and pursue it as a career. I started as a video editor (which I still am) and eventually found that my passion was with creating imagery. Cinematography itself became my passion, and since I came from photography, there were multiple similarities. However, there is still quite the learning curve and I am nowhere near as good as I’d like to be, but it is something that motivates me and inspires me. The history, culture, and energy that cinematography brings to life is something that I hadn’t felt in my photography for a while.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A few people come to mind off of the top of my head. I’d say Tom Borges and Michael Bliss. Both have helped me during a transition in my career and have led me to where I am today.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/driftingphoto/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/daniel_kouba

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/danielkouba

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