Rokas Pranskevičius, Software Engineer and Photographer

For a long time, my main motivation with photography was the end result. But as time passes, I’ve realised that the whole photoshoot process is the thing I truly love. There are moments when you just feel it’s the right time to take a picture, and you know right away that it is going to be good. These moments are the best! It’s just amazing how fortunate we are to be able to capture our warmest moments by a simple camera or even a phone. I’m truly thankful for that!

My name is Rokas Pranskevicius, I am 26-years-old, and I was born and raised in Vilnius, Lithuania. I am an IT Software Engineer currently working in Robotics area.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology created to automate repetitive business tasks. I was not quite sure where I was applying beforehand, but after finding out what RPA is all about, it hooked me right away. For me, RPA was an interesting and unheard side of the Information Technology area; I decided it was a great career opportunity. I have always been a creative person interested in doing things differently, and the whole automation process by itself is quite creative – there are multiple ways of automating a solution, and figuring out the best one takes a little thought and planning. So, my current occupation is a mix of IT and arts, and I truly love that.

Outside of my job, I love photography. I first became interested in photography when my family bought an Olympus FE-230 digital camera in 2007. I was 13 years old by that time, and it was the moment I actually realized it is possible to instantly view and delete pictures. We, as a family, visited Turkey that year, and I was just taking pictures of pretty much everything until the xD card (yes, xD – not SD card) was completely full and we had to remove some of the pictures.

Currently, I own a Panasonic GH5 which I bought for videography in 2017. It is my first high (mid?)-end camera. Even though I bought it for filming, it still suits photography quite well. I own a few Panasonic lenses, but I have a Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 with Metabones adapter in my Wishlist. I think this Sigma lens is quite versatile and would make my life easier.

I also own my parents’ old Kiev-4 and Zenit ET film cameras. They are both completely manual, but there is a light meter on both of them, so the whole taking pictures process is quite fun. I think some of the best pictures I have taken were with these two cameras. They are so unique, and the end result is so beautiful to me.

I have a lot of inspirations when it comes to my photography. I greatly enjoy some Lithuanian photographers: @novikopraphy is a great photographer (and a friend of mine); @skulskyte also has some extraordinary talent. Alex Webb was shown to me by one of my friends. Alex has done some great and different work. I believe that a photographer’s versatility and ability to perform under different conditions are very important.

I also find so many incredibly great artists on Instagram; it actually blows my mind. I currently follow @aboutlight, @mary_wolf, @joeyldotcom, @melourra, @kpunkka, @dschft, and so many more.

I mostly enjoy nature and portrait photography. I’m not too much into fashion myself, but there is some incredible fashion-related work out there that I enjoy. I think there are different levels of interest in things – some art is interesting to experience once, but there will always be forms of art that will move you, inspire, and maybe even encourage you to try to achieve great things.

I also love editing my photos; it’s just part of the process. And the best part – it makes the pictures look way better! I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. I think these two applications are essential in my way of working. My current camera setup isn’t too great for pictures, especially portraits, so Lightroom always comes in hand. And the best part? It wasn’t even hard to learn some magic tricks to make my pictures look better.

I have taken a lot of memorable photographs. For me, I think there is no favourite photo without it being a special moment. I would single out a few of my shots:

I had a “Stand By Me” trip with a couple of my friends in July of 2018. I brought my Zenit ET camera with me, and I couldn’t be happier as the whole trip was a special moment for me. I’m just glad I had a chance to capture these memories with an old film camera, which made it even more unique.
I brought my old film cameras to German Melt and Lithuanian Funikulierius Festivals in 2018. I was blessed to see the end result; I am truly fortunate to have these great memories to look at.
A couple of close-to-heart memories from a trip to Copenhagen or some great Lithuanian Baltic Sea shots.
ANYTHING related to my friends. ANYTHING.

I have a common photography and videography future goal. Although I have a decent job as an IT Software Engineer, I would like to dedicate my life to photography and videography. I believe there is a lot more for me left in the IT area to learn and experience, but I feel that my heart lies in photography and videography. That’s been a goal of mine for quite a while now, and it continues to be. I’m willing to achieve this lifetime goal sooner rather than later!

I do see some similarities between software engineering and photography. Whether you want it or not, your creative mindset transforms into your occupation. In general, photography and IT probably do not have so much in common. However, precision and patience are always required for photoshoots, and post-production work will always serve the purpose in any work you do. It’s hard not to encourage people to participate in some kind of art-related practice, as it always helps to improve multiple skills and different areas of your mindset.

I actually think my technological career has been a benefit to my photography experiences. It might sound strange, but working in my IT area (Robotics), we find ourselves interacting with new and different people on a daily basis. Working as an RPA Developer definitely helped me to grow as a person, shape my confidence, and (most importantly) pointed me in the right direction to find a way to interact with people of different kinds. I believe it’s super beneficial to understand how different each of us actually is; it certainly helps during photo or video shoots.

My message to anyone thinking about photography is plain and simple – take as many photos as you can. It sounds boring, yes. And yes, you’ve got to live in the moment and just enjoy it, I agree – it’s the most important thing. However, isn’t it one of the most interesting and satisfying feelings to open up some old photo album (or an old folder, if you may) and just look through some old pictures? It’s always great to remember all these special (or even random) moments. Who could argue with that?

There is always more than tech, and I think it’s very important to share the passions of technologists – let’s spend less time on our phones and computers, and get creative in our daily life. Let’s take photos and videos of each other; let’s get surrounded by nature and things will start to change in our lives. As time goes by, we are losing human and natural relationships. I believe that being in nature not only contributes to our well-being, but boosts our artistic creativity. Technologists or farmers – it does not matter. We, as human beings, are connected through our creative passions.