HENRY TOLSON, POPULARLY KNOWN ON INSTAGRAM AS @HENRYAGAIN,
EMBRACES AN UNWRITTEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY WITHIN HIS PHOTOGRAPHY. WITH BEAUTIFUL LENS FLARES, TO HIS EVER EMOTIONAL PORTRAITURES, HENRY PORTRAYS A LIFETIME STORY ONE WILL NEVER FORGET. 
MAD SOUNDS: To start off, what equipment do you use? Would you recommend it to other fellow photographers?
HENRY TOLSON: I use a Canon Rebel T3i with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. I recommend my equipment most definitely. Especially for beginner photographers who are looking for their first DSLR, the T3i is the perfect choice since it's easy to navigate and takes AMAZING pictures consistently. As far as lenses, the 50mm f/1.4 is an amazing lens for portrait photographers, and yields amazing images and colors.
MS: What different messages/feelings do you hope to portray with your photos?
HT:I love to tell stories with my pictures, even if it's something as simple as a picture of a girl laughing. When I take pictures, my main goal is to show who the person I'm photographing is; I always want models to be comfortable in front of the camera and pose as they want. I love to portray happiness and joy in my images, and give people a sense of warmth through the sunsets I capture and the models I photograph. There's a thousand feelings and stories in an image, in the angle, the posing, the lighting, the expression, and I hope I can share a single one through my pictures.
MS: Do you have any particular locations in which you prefer shooting?
HT: There's so many places I adore for photos - but that's mainly because you can give me a field and a sunset and I'm set. Of all the fields and places I've gotten the chance to take pictures, there's this giant field in my town that is completely covered in small purple flowers about knee-height. I've only gotten to take pictures there once, but it remains my favorite place, it holds some sort of magical quality.
MS: Do you prefer indoor or outdoor shoots?
HT: How could you make me choose between the two?! Indoor shoots are great because I love playing with window light and posing and shadows, which you can't do as easily in outdoor shoots, as it's harder to manipulate the sun. On the other hand, outdoor shoots are full of amazing colors and locations that are breathtaking to capture. All-in-all, I think both indoor and outdoor shoots are equally fun to do and fun to experiment with.
MS: Who are some of your favorite photographers?
HT: There are so many amazing photographers I have found - it's so hard to choose just a few. I love Madeline Masarik, Christian Benetel, Cristina Hoch, Sarah Stewart, Ryan James Caruthers, Alex Stoddard, Savannah Martiniere, and many, many more!
MS: Where do you find inspiration for your photos?
HT: I know that this is a super vague answer - but everywhere! Instagram and Flickr are definitely major sources of inspiration for me, as I'm constantly immersed in other photographers' amazing images. Besides those, Tumblr is also a perfect way to find inspiration. Music is also a major inspiration for me, and I usually listen to music when I'm out shooting. Sometimes I hear a lyric or a tune and get a vivid image in my head that I have to create.
MS: What particular models do you enjoy utilizing in your photos?
HT: For what reasons? I honestly love shooting anyone and everyone - photographing someone for the first time is always the best feeling because you're capturing who they are in your lens. There's always something new to learn from a new subject, always something to show and discover within a new model. I will take pictures anyone, honestly.
MS: What has been your favorite shoot that you have done thus far?
HT: What a tough question, mainly because I love all my shoots, not even because of the photos but because of the memories. If I had to choose a favorite shoot, I'd have to say it was my first one with my best friend Cassidy (@supercass on Instagram!) We went to this shopping center expecting to just take a few good pictures and maybe find some trees, and ended up finding the biggest, most gorgeous field where the sun set perfectly. It was an amazing find and we had the best times running around and taking pictures.
MS: What is your dream equipment?
HT: I would say my dream equipment is a Canon 6D with a 50mm f/1.2.
MS: Although the equipment doesn't make the photographer, which do you find to be more important, a good lens or a good camera?
HT: I definitely think that a good lens is more important than a good camera. I've been using my Canon Rebel T3i for over two years now, and I started out with using my kit lens, the 18-55mm. The image quality was not good and I could never quite get any pictures I liked or imagined. I upgraded to the 50mm and the difference was instant and unbelievably better - images are sharper, colors are better, image quality is a thousand times clearer. The difference isn't in the camera body, but in the lens!
MS: Describe some of your editing processes. What are your favorite programs to utilize and how do you edit your photos?
HT: My editing process isn't nearly as extravagant as a lot of people would think - I'm a big believer that, though editing is important, the photograph itself should not have to be unimaginably changed and obscured to make the final image. I love working with natural light and using the sun and nature to drive a picture over editing. I edit with Photoshop CS6 and what I do edit is colors (saturation / vibrancy / color balance / selective coloring) as well as manipulating the image with Curves and the Brightness / Contrast option.
MS: Which style of photography is your favorite? For what reasons?
HT: This may sound super lame or not the answer you want at all - but I seriously just love simplistic portrait photography. Ever since I found Instagram and started photography, I've always been obsessed with capturing who people are, whether with snapshots of laughter or of sunlight, all flowing together in an image that's both natural and complex. I love photography that tells stories but doesn't need an explanation or a caption - photography that you can feel, that isn't worn down by editing and manipulation, but fresh and clean and clear with color, vibrancy, emotion, and simplicity.
MS: Do you hope to incorporate photography into your future?
HT: Even though I love photography and it's a huge passion of mine, I don't see myself taking it up as a full-time job when I get older. I know I'll always take pictures - maybe as a side job or just for myself - but there are other passions that have more importance to me, that I aspire to grow in each day.
MS: If you could create your dream photoshoot, of what would it consist?
HT: There are so many different places and people and ideas I could come up with, but to put them all in one photoshoot is crazy! I think finding myself in the middle of the most giant field covered in tall green grass and wildflowers, surrounded by the mountains, with a model and my camera as golden hour began would be the perfect shoot. All natural location, endless beauty in nature and in my subject, endless time to capture the sun; that would all make for a dream photoshoot!
MS: In your opinion, what makes a good photograph?
HT: Emotion is a big fundamental in photography, for me at least. I feel like a photo that tells a story or makes people feel something does something that words or music can't - it uses colors and expression and the small, minute parts of humanity to move a person. Without emotion, what is a photograph to someone? And with emotion, the kind of camera or editing software used is meaningless in the long run!
MS: Do you have any last advice for aspiring photographers?
HT: Never stop taking pictures. If you love photography, it taking pictures makes you happy and calms you and you can't stop doing it, don't stop doing it. Don't compare your work to others because you will always end up dissatisfied. Focus on your photography, telling your stories, being the best you can be. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things, be versatile, and don't take pictures for your followers/viewers of your art, take pictures for you!
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