We’re excited to share with you our next interview in the Behind the Lens series, where we get to know the photographers behind the camera. This week, meet one of our talented Creative Team members, Tatyana Mishchenko. Tatyana lives in Switzerland and loves fashion, landscape, and travel photography. Read on to see her gorgeous photography!

What inspired you to pick up your first camera? How long ago was that?

It seems that I’ve always been interested in photography, since my early childhood while observing my father developing film in our bathroom. I started to have a greater interest much later when I became fond of Japanese culture. When I got my first DLSR camera for my birthday around 6 years ago it was right before my trip to Japan. It was a great inspiration and joy to convey my vision of Japan through photography.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and you as a photographer. What was it that made you want to become a photographer?

At first I wanted to capture everyday moments, the way I see them. At one point I was very tempted to follow a Project 365, meaning I would take a photo each day during the year. I renamed it The Moment of the Day, and made it a little bit more difficult for me. I wanted to capture the nicest moment of the day. And I must admit it was sometimes very challenging, especially during cold winter days when it seemed that there was nothing happening worth taking a photo of. But this is when I learned to look for those precious moments in my everyday life. So I managed not to skip a day during that year from June 2011 till June 2012.

Now, it’s a little bit painful to come back to those photos, especially the first images of the project. But at the same time I can see my personal growth as I was forced to try different styles and techniques. I think this project gave me immense experience and inspired me to go further and take photography much more seriously.

Photography later became an indispensable part of my life, especially during the painful moments of it, when I wanted to find a way to express myself creatively. I became interested in Photoshop compositing as I wanted to create worlds that don’t exist. I still don’t show these pictures as they turn out to be very personal but I guess a moment will come when I will reveal my experiments to a greater audience.

Tell us a little about the subjects you love to photograph and your style as a photographer.

I was always interested in many subjects, starting with food photography, portraits… but lost interest in most of the genres and now my biggest interest lies in landscape photography and fashion. Currently these two genres resonate with me most of all, they help me to express my vision of beauty.

Aside from photography, what is a favorite hobby or pastime of yours?

A big part of my life consists of my day job in financial industry. Apart from that I devote a lot of time to sport and my personal and spiritual growth.

What do you do to learn and grow as a photographer?

I’m always following a lot of creatives for inspiration. Recently I have realized though that the best place of inspiration is myself, my inner world and my vision. I’m just trying constantly to learn and make myself better, and for me, as a natural extravert it’s an additional challenge of looking into myself. Yes, I’m learning to be an introvert. Some other spheres of life that might seem far from photography, like traveling, reading, meditation, visual arts also inspire me a lot.

Definitely a small number of photographers is still in my list of inspiration, I absolutely admire works of Miss Aniela, Tim Walker for fashion and conceptual genres, Trey Ratcliff for unconventionally artistic landscapes and travels.

Out of all the locations you’ve photographed, is there one that stands out as being your favorite?

One of my preferred locations for shooting landscapes is definitely Switzerland where I live. For the best works though you need to hike quite a lot in unusual times and places to reach the spots with incredible views of the Alps and lakes. But fortunately I love both: to hike and to shoot. Combining these two passions is most rewarding and pleasing.

Is there a photo/photo shoot that stands out as being your favorite?

The most memorable fashion photo shoot is probably the one we had in the St Bartholomew church in London. It was quite challenging for me personally because of the light conditions and cold temperature we had there. One of the most favorite shots turned to be the one of the beautiful Chloe who was fearless enough to climb the high window-sill of the church! I wanted to capture the dim light of the window and the details of her grotesque styling.

Tell us about your gear.

My preferred camera for the past 2 years is Canon 5D II Mark. Though I’m kind of hesitant to upgrade to the newest Mark III version, exploring different options.

My preferred lenses are 50mm f/1.4 for portraits and sometimes also landscapes and travels! Another one is the 24-70mm f/2.8 that is really the most universe lens that I take with me most of the times.

Thank you so much, Tatyana, for giving us a little peek behind the lens of your camera! Be sure to visit Tatyana’s blog and Facebook page for more awesome photography and let her know we sent you!