Approach
Umbral Visuals is the work of Liav Haviv, a self-taught landscape and travel photographer with two years behind the camera. The practice found its shape during an extended trip through Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan in early 2025 — the point where photography stopped being incidental and became the work. Everything since has been built on that same instinct: wait for the light, work the frame slowly, add nothing for effect.
Two years into a self-taught photography practice and highly motivated to keep building it — open to work of any kind, with a particular interest in stills and product photography.
Experience
Before 2025
First Gigs
Self-employed
A handful of early jobs while learning the craft from the ground up — self-taught, camera in hand, working out exposure, composition, and a post-processing workflow through practice rather than formal training.
Early 2025
The Turning Point — Vietnam, Thailand & Japan
Umbral Visuals · Southeast & East Asia
A months-long trip through Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan became the real beginning. Shooting daily in unfamiliar light and landscape is where the patience and attention to atmosphere that define the current work actually formed — most of the Umbral Visuals portfolio originates from this trip.
2025 — Present
Freelance Photographer
Umbral Visuals
Building an early client base under the Umbral Visuals name, shooting landscape and travel work while developing toward stills and product photography.
Technical Proficiency
- Camera systems
- Canon R8
- Lenses
- Canon RF 50mm f/1.8, Canon RF 16mm f/2.8, Canon RF 100-400mm
- Lighting
- Godox V860III speedlight, MagMod modifier system
- Editing software
- Adobe Lightroom (professional color correction & grading), Adobe Photoshop (developing)
- Color workflow
- Raw files graded and corrected in Lightroom to build each series' cinematic, atmospheric look — the primary editing workflow behind every image on this site.