5 minutes with — Eirik Halvorsen

Eirik Halvorsen is a wedding photographer from Stavanger, on the southwest coast of Norway. We had his attention for 5 minutes to ask a few questions and find out more about this creative norwegian.

WUN: So, for those who don’t know you, who is Eirik Halvorsen?

Eirik: I am a Norwegian wedding photographer who live in Stavanger, on the southwest coast of Norway, and my main focus is shooting weddings.

WUN: So is weddings all you do or do you shoot other stuff too?

Eirik: Maybe three or four percent is other stuff like business portraits or other commercial work, but I only market myself as a wedding photographer. So everything regarding weddings and engagement shoots, wedding shows and maybe a little bit of family and maternity photos.

WUN: So basically, work that come in through contacts or referrals?

Eirik: Yeah exactly. So people can talk to me about all kinds of stuff but I usually say no or pass them on to other photographers.

WUN: We’ve seen some of the stuff you do for weddings and it’s really cool and creative. What is it that you’re looking for when you shoot? Do you plan ideas before you head out or how do you work?

Eirik: Regarding the journalistic side, I tried to pay attention to the places we’re in, what is going on and who is there. Where I live, well for me it’s not very spectacular and we don’t have any really awesome locations so instead of trying to find those locations I try to make any location look good. So I look for light and I look for lines and compositions that I can use and practically make anywhere look great. With portraits, I’m keeping it simple and use what I have around me at the time.

WUN: So do you have specific techniques for that or is it just a way of thinking?

Eirik: It is away of thinking. I actually got really inspired last year at Way Up North listening to Fer Juaristi. He was talking about what a “Fer-photo” is, and it really got to me so I actually went home and I defined what an “Eirik-photo” is. So I looked through hundreds of old photos and tried to decipher what makes this photo look like an “Eirik-photo”, and from that and from contacting other photographers; getting critique and hearing what they see in my photos, I defined what my photos contain and now I have that in the back of my mind every time I shoot. So basically, every photo I take now, is an “Eirik-photo”, or at least I try to. So I have some simple rules that I follow and it really helps me to develop my style, I guess.

WUN: So what did you come up with? How do you define an Eirik photo?

Eirik: Oh yeah, I have it written down. I have five words that I work with and that is that my photos should always be playful and creative and show happiness and emotions and art; those are my guidelines. From there, I have some very basic rules, like I always put the head in an empty space and try to find a frame within a frame, like doors or openings in the leaves of a tree, anything where I see a frame. Or lines that lead to a certain point; that’s a good place for me to take my photo.

WUN: So they’re easy to spot in the picture?

Eirik: Yeah, exactly. So I try to look for those things and those things help me getting stronger images and photos that “speak Eirik”. I also try to always make my couples the brightest part of the photo. So I look for lights, I look for lines, so I’m always very aware of my background at all times and usually it is a process of elimination, like I need to eliminate this lamp post or eliminate whatever is in the background and make it clearer.

WUN: Alright, thank you Eirik for taking the time to speak with us to get to know you better.

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