Interview with nature photographer Claire Droppert

Claire Droppert is a Dutch nature and stillness photographer. Ever since she was young, Claire has had a passion for imagery. She loves capturing silence and seeks out unique, almost surreal landscapes. Stillness, minimalism and simplicity run like a common thread through her work. In recent years Claire has travelled to many countries for her work, and she has taken part in photo exhibitions in world cities such as New York, Paris and Rotterdam. She has also shot commissions for clients including Adobe, Canon and BMW.

Claire is happy to tell us more about her work as a nature photographer and how she captures stillness. And of course she shares tips so you can photograph silence yourself.

“My aim is to make people pause for more than one second at a moment or a photo. If I manage that with my images, the photo is a success for me.”

Photographer: Jurriaan Huting

Always working with images

As a child, Claire was given an old camera by a relative. “I found it fascinating to freeze a moment so I could look back at it later.” She was captivated by lightning and loved capturing a landscape during a thunderstorm. “I was about 13, and back then all my pocket money went on buying and developing rolls of film,” Claire recalls with a laugh. She says that as a child she wanted to become a camerawoman. “I thought it would be interesting to experience TV recordings up close.” Even so, she took a different path and studied graphic design. “It gave me an outlet for my affinity with images and my creativity.” After graduating she worked as a designer at various agencies, and over time Claire realised she could create the images she was supplied with herself. After saving up for a while she bought a hybrid camera, and alongside her work as a designer Claire started taking photos. “I was basically working with images all the time. Photography, coming up with concepts, designing, editing and layout.”

When social media came along, Claire created an Instagram account. That is where she started sharing her images, and she now has more than 300,000 followers from all over the world. “On my Instagram page you can see stillness as the common thread in my work.” Claire admits she is quite a busy person herself. She lives and works in Rotterdam and her life can be pretty hectic. “And yet calm and stillness are the common thread in my work. It’s funny how it developed that way.”

Photos that radiate calm

Claire explains that she lived in Hoek van Holland before moving to Rotterdam. “On my way to work in Rotterdam I would take snapshots with my iPhone of whatever I came across. They were actually quite calm images. I then shared those photos on Instagram.” Claire received responses from all over the world saying her photos radiated calm. “So there’s that common thread again. My aim is to make people pause for more than one second at a moment or a photo. If I manage that with my images, the photo is a success for me.”

These days Claire lives in Rotterdam, but she still loves to seek out tranquillity. She travels a lot, but she also enjoys photographing in the Netherlands. “I love photographing artistic places and unique, almost surreal landscapes.” You can find places like that almost anywhere, as long as you look carefully. “Once, walking through the countryside in Denmark, I came across a large pool of water in a yellow field. Beautiful. And another time, also in Denmark, I came across an avenue lined with weathered blossom trees. The trees looked almost like candyfloss. It looked surreal.”

Surreal images

Claire deliberately looks for surreal places like these when she is out and about. “When I’m out, I usually have my camera with me. You never know what you’ll come across.” Claire also works on commission. For Adobe, for example, she photographed a rearing horse. “This is one of my favourite photos. I had an image in mind of a white, elegant, rearing horse on the beach, and after some organising, I actually pulled it off.”

Besides commissions for clients such as Adobe, Canon and BMW, Claire has also created several photo series as personal work, such as ‘Gravity - Sand Creatures series’. These series are still evolving and actually came about by chance. “I was on the beach with my daughter when she kicked the sand. The sand flew through the air in the sunlight, and I saw all kinds of shapes in it.”

Claire found it fascinating, and later she went back to the beach armed with her camera, a tripod and a spade. It took a while, but eventually she got the result she was after. “In the sand thrown into the air you can actually see creatures floating through the sky, just like you sometimes see in clouds.” That is how Claire came up with the idea for her Sand Creatures series. “I think these are the series I’m most proud of.”

A focus on stillness

“I would describe my style as simple, minimalist and hopefully also original, with a focus on stillness.” She explains that she is not a cliché nature photographer who wants to capture everything exactly as it is. “Editing photos is where the real fun is for me. I go as far as necessary in post-processing.” Claire admits she sometimes Photoshops elements out of a photo. “Are there bins or other distracting elements in the shot? Then I remove them. Don’t I like the colours in the photo? Then I adjust them. I enjoy experimenting with this, but of course it isn’t necessary for every photo.” She explains that she mostly adjusts the light, contrast and colour of her photos. “Sometimes I also like to push the boundaries and turn an edit into a real artwork. That’s probably the designer in me.” She adds that sometimes she changes as little as possible, as with the Sand Creatures series. “I didn’t Photoshop the photos in that series. I decide what each image needs.”

Claire has taken a great many photos over the years, but there are also some she would love to redo. “When I look back at photos I took with my old camera, I think ‘gosh, how sloppy and blurry’. I went on wonderful trips with that camera, but the image quality isn’t as good as what I could produce now.”

Claire once travelled to Switzerland for a photo series, but her lens wasn’t quite calibrated properly for her new camera. “I wanted to capture the sunset from the mountains, but many of my shots were just slightly out of focus. When I got home, that was a real disappointment.” A good lesson for the future. It won’t happen again any time soon that Claire’s gear isn’t set up properly.

Extreme landscapes

Claire’s main goal for the future is to keep creating beautiful images. “That may sound a bit dull, because what photographer doesn’t want that, but I don’t mind. I want to keep making and dreaming up beautiful things. I love discovering what’s possible.” She explains that her work as a designer and photographer is a creative outlet for her. It doesn’t matter to her whether she shoots in the Netherlands or abroad. “If I had to name one country I’d still love to visit, it would be Greenland. It’s so beautiful there. I love the abstract, bizarre landscape you find there.” She would also love to shoot in a desert or on a salt flat someday. “I find extreme landscapes truly stunning.”

Tips

Feeling inspired and want to try nature or stillness photography yourself? Then be sure to read these tips from Claire.

1. Take your time.
   “When you’re photographing, it’s important to take your time. Not just because it helps you get the best shot, but because taking your time lets you enjoy where you are more. It’s a shame to come away with just a photo of a beautiful place without having truly taken in the moment.”

2. Look behind you.
   “I really want to stress this tip. Look behind you. I was given this tip myself by a former teacher, who said: when you’re somewhere taking photos, look behind you. You might see something that makes you think ‘wow’. Something you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed. So be aware of your surroundings. For all you know, there’s a wild boar standing behind you.”

3. Think about composition.
   “If you want to capture stillness, light, space and composition are key. I’d say practise a lot and trust your instinct. Photographers often want to capture as much as possible in a single photo, but that makes an image busy and restless. I always say ‘less is more’. The less you see, the better you can emphasise the stillness.”

4. Let your senses do the work.
   “When you walk through a landscape, you can let your senses do the work. What catches your attention? What draws you in? It could be anything: a moment, the light, a sound, or of course the silence itself. So it’s important to look and listen carefully to what’s around you.”

5. Treat nature with care.
   “When you head out to capture nature, it’s important to treat it with care. Don’t leave any litter behind, don’t go where you’re not allowed, and don’t feed the animals. Treat nature with respect.”

The work of Claire Droppert

Website: www.claireonline.nl

Instagram: @claireonline

Gear

For her photos, Claire uses the following gear: the Canon EOS R with a 16mm, a 100-400mm and a 24-105mm lens. She also uses polarising and ND filters from PolarPro, and Claire always has a lightweight Leofoto tripod in her bag.

Claire’s photos

Curious to see more of Claire’s work? Take a look at a selection from her portfolio below.