What's your view on publishing work in magazines?
"I only publish my pictures in magazines as part of the promotion for my personal projects. It may sound strange, but every author has their own ways. I admire photographers who do amazing things with big magazines but, for my personal brand, I'd rather distance myself from the image of a magazine photographer. The genre certainly has its own romance, but it seems to me that this industry is now being eroded by amateur photography and is losing its audience and influence."
Do you ever use flash?
"I rarely shoot with artificial light, however one of my winning shots for Wildlife Photographer of the Year was an illuminated porcupine photographed with a narrow beam of light, because there was absolutely no chance to capture the shot any other way. For those situations I have the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT."
What are the biggest issues when photographing landscapes at night and what's the best setup to use?
"The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II IS USM has a bright aperture that's useful for shooting night landscapes with stars, and the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM is a very sharp and light prime lens, which is ideal. A big problem with shooting a starry sky or the Northern Lights is low light. Another problem is that you can't greatly increase the shutter speed because the light from the stars is constantly moving in the sky, and even with a wide angle, after 10 seconds the stars begin to blur. If you shoot at an aperture ratio of f/1.4–1.8, it will give you an image twice as bright as one taken on a classic zoom lens with an f-number of 2.8. In turn, this means that you will have half as much noise, a clearer picture and the opportunity to print the image in a larger format."
What lenses do you traditionally go for when capturing landscapes?
"I like the wide angle of the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens [now succeeded by the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM]. It allows me to shoot almost any standard landscape, and the top end often gets me close enough to snatch out the details. I sometimes use the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM for landscapes, as well as animals, because it has very convenient focal lengths, so you can make the necessary framing without switching lenses."
Instagram: @medvedevphoto
Website: vladimirmedvedev.com