NeXt LeVeL PhoTogRaPhy: KACHI ONUGHA

Kachi learnt photography from a professional during the recent ASUU 3 months strike.

Now his photography skills are getting better day by day…it’s hard to believe he learnt all these within 90days!

Exclusive Interview between NZDworld & Photographer/Graphics designer KACHI Onugha featuring his pictures of top models and journey into Photography.

Let’s begin!

1. NZD: Your role models in photography?

KACHI: Kelechi Amadi Obi, Ty Bello, Ahamibeleme.

2. NZD: Your future goal as a photographer?

KACHI: In the future I hope to have the privilege to photograph some of my mentors in business like Tony Elumelu, Aliko Dangote, Strive Masiyiwa. I also hope to take aerial pictures of many parts of the world.

3. NZD: Which country would you like to shoot in?

KACHI: I don’t want to limit myself to a place I’ll visit many places on the Earth and no matter the reason for being there, business, pleasure, education, my camera will be there with me.

4. NZD: What inspires your photoshoot sessions?

KACHI: It’s God. He gives me creative ideas through the things I see around me. Sometimes I just take a picture of something that would otherwise be regarded as dirt and it’ll turn out nice after tweaking it a little.

5. NZD: Problems faced as a photographer?

KACHI: There’s the human problem which involves the people I am shooting. Managing people is very difficult some of my clients are not as disciplined as I would like them to be but there’s nothing I can do about it so I have to try to control them, cajole them to work with me I try as much as I can to make them feel comfortable even if it is an inconvenience to me.

There’s also the problem of lighting. I mostly shoot with ambient light (soon I’ll start shooting in low light like late evenings and night time na small small) so getting the light just right is sometimes a problem. For example when it’s sunny it produces hard images to soften I have to do a lot of editing this increases post-production time especially if I have a lot of pictures to be edited. Also sometimes the day/time I have planned a photoshoot might be the day the cats and dogs decide to dance so far I’ve not met a client who is inclined to shooting in the rain.

6. NZD: Best moment as a photographer?

KACHI: It’s an ongoing experience every photoshoot has it’s great moment(s).

7. NZD: Camera you would like to shoot with?

KACHI: Canon 5d mark IV, Canon EOS R, I’m also a videographer actually learnt it first so I’d like to shoot a video with a RED, any Ronin action camera and also a Phantom drone applicable in both videography and photography and even surveying our profession; under aerial surveying.

8. NZD: How it all started (photography)?

KACHI: Before I started professionally I used to take pictures with my phone and edit them with phone apps. After sometime I decided I wanted to go pro. The opportunity came during the ASUU strike. It’s a story of favour really my boss who is a unit member in my church called me one Sunday and asked me if I’ll be willing to follow him to work after service I said “yes”. After that he started calling me during the weekends to cover weddings with him.

When he opened his studio, he invited me to come and start learning photography for real this time cos before when we go to cover events I mostly handled videos the few times I took pictures he handled the camera settings basically I just “point and shoot”. But when he opened the studio he started teaching me and others the basics features of a DSLR.

Then ASUU called off the strike I hadn’t learnt a lot to give me the courage to go pro so I started reading books on photography, visited photography websites, watched YouTube videos. To be honest the things I’ve learnt so far are the foundation on which I stand right now.

9. NZD: Why do you like photography?

KACHI: I’m a creative person. I draw but lately I’ve been suffering a block. Now photography is an art it’s another way for me to express my creative self so that it will never die.

10. NZD: How many weeks/months it took you to learn the basics?

KACHI: I’m still learning so I can’t give a specific date but I learnt the basics in a month took me longer to learn the basics of Photoshop (I honestly don’t think anyone can finish learning Photoshop that software is presents limitless possibilities which can be overwhelming at time).

11. NZD: Advice for those planning to start photography?

KACHI: If you’re lazy don’t go into photography. If you can’t manage people don’t go into photography or learn how to manage people first then go into photography otherwise you’ll end up fighting your clients and maybe just maybe destroying your equipments. I imagine it’ll be difficult repairing or getting a new camera.

If you plan on going into photography, be creative don’t stick to one thing, be creative have a diary for writing down concepts and also be wary of repeating a concept if you do it over and over again you’ll become trapped and you just might lose your audience. Oh and when you start out take your mind off profits in the short run focus on the long run focus on building a loyal clientele and utilize social media.

It’s a wrap!
Thanks for your time