Over the last few months, I realised how much work was behind the production itself, rather than real photography. One-day photo shoots can be preceded by tens of hours of study and information search. Certainly not all photographers, but I spend most of my time studying.

For the story to make sense, no matter if I take a historical photo or something timeless, like wine. But for the story to work, everything around it must make sense. Environment, accessories, mood and mainly subject. The WWII soldier will not work for you in the middle of a functionalist settlement, as will the business man at the castle.

For each story, therefore, I think about the details so that it leads the viewer to the best and easiest understanding. Even small details can ruin the feeling of the photo.

And how to start? I often think about a project that initially seems complicated. Let's take an example of a project from Scotland. I wanted to capture history while showing an iconic Scottish culture. Where do I start? First I define it, tell myself what I want to take pictures of and how it should work. I decompose the problems of the assignment into small factors, which I deal with separately. There were problem in many things. I never naively see it as problems, I take it as tasks. I want it historic, I have to borrow or buy clothes. I want it authentic, I have to get the tools and go to the place where my whole story in the original comes from. I want it even more authentic, I need to make arrangements with local distillers to let us take pictures inside.

The moment I divide it into these little tasks, I can devote myself to them. First I have to get clothes. And what is it supposed to be? You can learn this from historical photographs. All I need is internet. But I don't rent clothes on the internet. This is served by Fundus at Barrandov Studios in Prague.