Forough Yavari
Fine Art Portrait & Fashion Photographer | AIPP Master of Photography | WPPI Double-Master of Photography
'As a photographer and visual artist, there is nothing more important than having confidence in the equipment you use. Coming from painting background my monitor is like my canvas. When we talk about image making, this canvas must accurately display what is captured and what is going to be printed. I have always worked with a calibrated monitor, but when I switched to EIZO a revolution happened in my image-making. I instantly noticed so many colour issues especially in shadow details that I have always missed on my other monitors.'
Forough Yavari is an award-winning portrait and fine Art photographer based in Brisbane, Australia. After studying in Art University, photography turned from a personal hobby into a professional challenge for her. The result of her endeavours over those years was her presence in multiple painting and photography exhibitions as well as winning several national and international awards. Her works have been exhibited in several venues and galleries internationally.
Forough was awarded Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) Master of Photography in 2018 and WPPI Master of Photography in 2019. In 2020 she achieved her Double Master of Photography from WPPI.
- 2020 AIPP Silver Lining Awards–Illustrative First Place
- 2020 AIPP Silver Lining Awards–Portrait First Place
- 2020 WPPI Annual-Illustrative Second Place
- 2020 WPPI First Half-Online Competition Portrait Individual First Place
- 2020 WPPI First Half-Online Competition Portrait Creative First Place
- 2020 WPPI First Half-Online Competition Open Creative Second Place
- 2020 NZIPP IRIS Awards International Photographer of the Year Finalist
- 2019 The Portrait Conference, 1st Place Winner
- 2019 AIPP APPA-Illustrative Category Finalist
- 2019 AIPP Queensland Portrait Photographer of The Year
- 2019 WPPI Annual Creative Division Grand Award Winner and Illustrative First Place
- 2019 The Portrait Masters-Creative Portrait Second Place
- 2018 AIPP Queensland Portrait Photographer of The Year
- 2017 AIPP Queensland Portrait Photographer of The Year
- 2017 WPPI First Half-Online Competition Portrait Contemporary Second Place
- 2016 AIPP Queensland Illustrative Photographer of The Year
- 2015 AIPP Queensland Illustrative Photographer of The Year Finalist
- 2014 WPPI Second Half-Online Competition Illustrative First Place and Second Place
Post Production and Ergonomics
- MONITOR: EIZO ColorEdge CG2730: As a photographer and visual artist there is nothing more important than having confidence in the equipment you use. Coming from painting background my monitor is like my canvas. When we talk about image-making, this canvas must accurately display what is captured and what is going to be printed. I have always worked with a calibrated monitor, but when I switched to EIZO a revolution happened in my image-making. I instantly noticed so many colour issues especially in shadow details that I have always missed on my other monitors. With advanced calibration options in EIZO monitors, I can be confident that what I see on my monitor is exactly what I get on my printed image under a controlled standard lighting. It’s very easy for me to say that EIZO is now playing a huge role in my creative process. The CG2730 has also an internal calibrator that is scheduled to run every week.
- PHOTO VIEWING: GTI PDV-3e/D: The last piece of the puzzle in producing a good image is to view the print in a controlled accurate light. Either I want to enter an image for a competition or print for a client I make sure the delivered print is as close as possible to what I see on my EIZO monitor. The GTI proofing station produces precise D50 lighting which is widely used for galleries and photo competitions and having dimming module makes it ideal for soft proofing and colour management.
- PRINTER: EPSON SureColor P9070 44”: As Rocco Ancora once said: “if it’s not printed, it’s not real”, I also believe a photograph is only finished when it is printed. After several years of using my beloved Epson Stylus Pro 3880, upgrading to This wide format printer gave me a more accurate colour and gamut range for my personal and client works. With 10 colour inks this printer is designed for premium photo and fine art printing enables consistent and predictable output in ultra-high resolution with superior half tones and high dMax and wide colour gamut.
- COMPUTER: iMac 27”4.0GHz Core i7, MacBookPro15” 2.9GHz Core i7
- SOFTWARE: CaptureOne20: Recently started to use this software and adjust my workflow to start from CaptureOne 20 with my images tethered directly from the camera, with real-time adjustments I can make lighting and colour balance of the image is set when I’ve finished the shooting; Adobe Photography Package (Lightroom, Photoshop): Lightroom for minor adjustments and Photoshop for heavy weighted jobs like composite or advanced image enhancements.
- EDITING: Wacom INTUOS Pro Medium Pen Tablet
- COLOUR MANAGEMENT FOR MONITOR/PRINTER CALIBRATION: Xrite i1 Studio: I use this to calibrate my iMac and MacBook Pro as well as creating custom printer profiles
- COLOUR MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE/PROFILE ANALYSIS: ColorThink Pro
- BACKUP (ONSITE): Synology DiskStation DS416–16TB, 3x 2TB Western Digital My Book
- BACKUP (ONLINE): CrashPlan Pro-Dropbox
Capture
- CAMERA: 2 x Nikon Z7: I used Nikon cameras from the day one having 5 different camera bodies. My Z7 cameras are my absolute favourite of all time, giving me spot-on focus and exceptional image quality. They are comfortable to use and when used with S series Nikkor they are exceptionally light and at the same time produce beautiful and sharp images.
- CAMERA: Nikon D750: A great camera in low light is my backup camera for events and family photography.
- LENS: Nikkor S 50mm F1.8 Z: I just adore this lens which is on my camera 80% of the time for my portrait shoots.
- LENS: Nikkor S 24-70 F2.8 Z: Super sharp with great details, an all-time lens specially for my fashion shoots.
- LENS: Nikkor S 14-30mm f4 Z: My lens of choice for landscape and travel.
- LENS: AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8G IF-ED: This is one seriously sharp lens with perfect bokeh and sharp from edge to edge.
- LENS: AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED: A sharp, fast and durable lens, with great auto-focus. The oldest lens in my camera bag.
- STUDIO LIGHT: BronColor Siros L 800 x 2: I have this kit for about 3 years now and never looked back. These are superb for power, accurate colour temperature and as being wireless made it much easier for me to explore different lights while shooting which results in more creativity in my work.
- STUDIO LIGHT SHAPER: BronColor OctaBox 150 / Diffuser / Grid, BronColor BeautyDish / Diffuser, BronColor Softbox 60 / Diffuser, BronColor Softbox 30x120 / Diffuser / Grid
- TETHERING: USB-C to USB-C Tether Pro Cable
- STUDIO LIGHT STANDS: Manfrotto 1004BAC, Manfrotto 085BS Heavy Duty Boom with Light Stand
- STUDIO LIGHT WALL BOOM: Manfrotto 098B Wall Boom Arm
- TRIPOD: Manfrotto 055XPROB with 488RC2 Head
- REMOTE: Hähnel CAPTUR Module-Timer
- CAMERA BAGS: Think Tank Photo Airport Security V3.0 Carry On, Think Tank Trifecta 10 DSLR Backpack
- BACKDROPS: Backdrops custom created by Conny Van Lint: Backdrop is part of my portrait and fine-art imagery and gives depth and texture to my images. Collaborating with Conny, I can discuss and share my ideas and ask her to paint a hand-painted, high-quality backdrop suitable for the project.