PhotographySilo.com » Photographer Interview Series

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: PETER GARR

Lawrence — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:14:41 +0000

“I focus strictly on wedding photography. I believe that it’s better for me to be a GREAT wedding photographer than a mediocre “everything” photographer.”

Portrait by: http://www.maggieharkov.com/

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography?

PETER GARR: I’ve been taking snapshots as far back as I can remember. Early on I would shoot using my dad’s Kodak 110 pocket camera. When I was about 12 or 13, I finally got my own camera — a Kodak Disc. I had a lot of fun with that little Disc camera. Around the same time, I started shooting with my uncle’s Nikon FE 35mm camera, which is how I learned to operate a manual 35mm SLR. I still have that camera and love bringing it out from time to time! By the age of 15 or 16, I wasn’t interested in photography as much as I was interested in playing drums and making music in punk and metal bands, but I was always the default photographer for family and social events. By the time I was 19, my new love was computers and digital technology. It wasn’t until years later, when digital cameras started to hit the market, that my interest in photography was renewed. It was when cameras became little computers that my passion really started.

I took a trip to visit my old friend, Robert Orth (http://desertphotographer.net/), in Tucson, Arizona in 2003 when my interest really sparked. I showed up in Tucson with my little Canon A40 digital compact camera only to have Rob take me on several day-long photography field trips throughout the Arizona desert. Although Rob was shooting a Canon EOS 10D, I was still impressed with the photos I took with my A40 and from then on all I wanted to do was shoot!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the digital photography pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your photography work today?

PETER GARR: The photos from my early digital days were mostly of my wife (my girlfriend at the time) and her four sisters, plus anything and everything along the way — birds, flowers, streams, and trees… especially trees. I love taking photos of trees! Sorry, but these photos aren’t online for public viewing. However, if you come to my house I’ll make sure to torture you by making you sit through a long, boring slideshow of my early “work” along with my running commentary. Hahaha!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What books did you read at the beginning of your wedding photography career that helped you prepare for today? Title of book, author and price of book please…just messing around, the title of the books should be fine thanks to google search. Do you recall any other resources that you referred to heavily to help you prepare for the wedding photography business? We want to know what the must have resources are to fully equip ourselves when and if we ever plan to take that leap of faith into wedding photography.

PETER GARR: My favorite books pertaining to photography, and the ones that have taught me the most are:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders
À Propos de Paris by Henri Cartier-Bresson
The Business of Studio Photography: How to Start and Run a Successful Photography Studio by Edward Lilley
Wedding Photography: Art, Business & Style by Steve Sint

I also spent a lot of time reading and posting on some online forums, including:
Digital Grin (http://www.dgrin.com)
Open Source Photo (http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/)

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What was your very first professional wedding photography job? Was this purely out of luck that you were at the right place at the right time? How did you get your first wedding photography job? Once you had your first job under your belt was it difficult to get another wedding photography job? What did you do to acquire more work besides providing awesome images?

PETER GARR: In 2005, my wife gave me the original Canon Digital Rebel as a Christmas gift. This was a huge leap forward for me from my A40. I was eager to do great things with that camera. The year prior, I shot, for free of course, one of my sister-in-law’s wedding with my A40 compact. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen photos from a wedding shot by an amateur hobbyist using nothing but a 2.0 MP point-and-shoot with direct flash in a low-light chapel, but it sure left A LOT to be desired!

My good friend Danny Baker of Epic Imagery (http://www.epicimagery.com) has been a wedding photographer for more than ten years. I’ve known Danny since before the camera bug bit me. Shortly after I got my Digital Rebel, I asked Danny if I could tag along with him to assist on a low-key, off-season wedding for a mutual friend of ours that he was shooting and that my wife and I were invited as guests to. Not only did he have me join him to assist, he also let me shoot as a second and he even paid me a few bucks! I’ve continued to shoot with Danny many times over the years and he’s been instrumental in my career. Many of my favorite weddings that I’ve shot have been with Danny.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: After your first photography job, What was the next photography gig you obtained and how did you go about your execution? Did you apply all that you’ve learned in all the photography books you’ve read ? Did you buy more photography books or accessed any more photography resources to help you jump to your next big step in the game of photography? What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?

PETER GARR: I spent my first year as a professional photographer strictly second shooting for other studios. After my first job second shooting for Epic Imagery, I continued second shooting for Epic, and I still do to this day. I also started calling and emailing other studios asking if they needed a second shooter and responded to classified ads on Craigslist from studios looking for second shooters. In my first year, I must have been a second shooter for over a dozen weddings between three or four different studios.

In January 2007, one year after my first job as a second shooter, I booked my first solo wedding for March 2007. In February, I booked another wedding for that summer. At the time I was doing business under the name “In The Moment Photography.” One thing I learned was that I needed to personalize my brand in order to connect better with people, so I changed the name of my business from “In The Moment Photography” to “Peter Garr Photography.” My name is actually Peter Garabetian, but since my long Armenian last name has always been a struggle for most people to pronounce, spell, and remember, I shortened it to just the first syllable, from Garabetian to Garr, and, as they say, the rest is history.

I didn’t buy any new books or other tools at that time, although I was blessed by a very generous gift given to me by a close relative. At the time I knew I needed to buy some new lenses and other gear in order to take the next step in my photography. I had already bought myself a new EOS 30D body, Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens, and I was renting a Speedlight whenever I had a second shooter job. Prior to booking my first solo wedding, I reached out and asked a relative for a small business loan in order to buy the gear I needed. To my amazement, rather than giving me the loan, he offered to buy the equipment for me – free and clear! It really is exceptional to have someone care enough and believe in me enough to be so generous. I don’t take this generosity for granted at all and I know how powerful the spirit of giving is in the lives of both the giver of and the receiver. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the faith and graciousness of others.

So what tools do I believe are a must have? Without a doubt — relationships. Without the healthy and positive relationships I have with family and other photographers, I would never have had the opportunity to work as a second shooter with all the studios I have. The experience as a second shooter is how I learned about shooting weddings. Working with different photographers and observing their varied styles of shooting, interacting with subjects, and their approach to the entire wedding. No two photographers are the same, so having exposure to different photographers while working as their second shooter has helped me immensely. Also my relationship with my relative who, instead of giving a loan, gave me the equipment I needed. As people, and as photographers, relationships are the core of who we are. We need to reach out, ask for help, offer to help, and be genuine in everything we do. I always hear David Jay echo a quote by Tim Sander which states that, “Your network is your net worth.” That’s so true. Here’s another book I recommend that helps with this subject, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnagie.

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What keeps the money rolling? Your brand and reputation in the wedding photography space is possibly a huge factor to your longevity? Am i right? Do you have any recommendations on brand building for weekend photographers trying to get into professional wedding photography?

PETER GARR: My advice for brand building is, first and foremost, personalize your brand. YOU are your brand. In a business that’s built on personal relationships with clients, I found it important to personalize my brand. That’s why I changed my brand name from “In The Moment Photography” to “Peter Garr Photography.” There can be a dozen “In The Moment Photography” brands in America, but only one “Peter Garr.” Also, be yourself and be genuine. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. People can sense a fraud and nobody likes to do business with a fraud!

Also, there’s so many photographers who can take a great photo, and most clients don’t know the difference between a great photo and an average photo. The quality and style of my photography can set me apart only so much. What I’m banking on setting me apart is me — my personality, my genuine interest in meeting new people and capturing what’s important to them — things that not just anyone sees or senses.

When I started as a wedding photographer, I was a weekend warrior like many. I had a full-time job as an I.T. Systems professional that I hated and all I wanted was to be a full-time photographer. When I took a leap of faith to leave my day job in 2008, I thought I was a full-time photographer, but my time was actually split between being a photographer and a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful baby girl. It was frustrating and challenging at times (it still is), but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I had a very slow off-season last year with no wedding bookings from the start of winter until early spring. In years past I would book some family portrait sessions or even some holiday events over the winter in order to generate some revenue during the off-season. This past winter I had nothing booked, but I still had bills to pay and mouths to feed. So what did I do? I humbled myself and took a part-time computer service job to help pay bills. With the economy the way it is, every pro photographer I know is feeling the strain. If you are also, know that you’re not alone.

Also, I see so many photographers trying to be like other photographers, attending workshop after workshop, hoping to learn some special secret to success. My advice is to save your money. There are some good workshops out there worth attending, but you don’t need to go to every workshop in town. Instead, I recommend getting out there and shooting. There’s nothing that can compete with real world experience. Meet with other local photographers, pool your money together to hire some models (or find models to volunteer) and practice. Reach out to other photographers and offer to assist or second-shoot for them. Also, there are so many free and inexpensive resources available to photographers to learn from, both on-land and online. For example, there are free SmugMug User Group meetings in almost every major city in the United States. At the Los Angeles SMUG that I lead, we have many of the top photographers in the industry come out and teach other photographers every month, and it’s totally free. All are welcome, all are loved!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is currently in your photography bag? Please be as detailed as possible for those starting out photographers that want to be just like you. Are you mainly doing digital photography? From your photography equipment arsenal, what do you bring for your photography engagement sessions? What do you bring for your wedding photography sessions?

PETER GARR:

I only shoot digital and here’s the list of my equipment.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Battery Grip
Canon EOS 30D with Battery Grip
Canon EOS 20D with Battery Grip
Canon Speedlight 580EXII
Canon Speedlight 580EX (x2)
Canon CP-E4 External Battery Packs (x2)
Canon ST-E2 Speedlight Transmitter
Canon EF 15mm 1:2.8 Fisheye Lens
Canon EF 16-35mm 1:2.8 L USM Zoom Lens
Canon EF 24-70mm 1:2.8 L USM Zoom Lens
Canon EF 50mm 1:1.4 Prime Lens
Canon 70-200mm 1:2.8 L IS USM
Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme III Compact Flash Cards
Boda v3 Lens Bag
Tamrac 698 Rolling Photo Backpack
CameraSlingers Straps
Manfrotto 055MF4 Pro MagFiber Tripod
Manfrotto 488RC2 Compact Ballhead
Manfrotto 681B Monopod
Manfrotto 3229 Monopod Quick-Release Head
Various Light Modifiers, Flash Diffusers, and Bounce Cards
Powerex 2700 mAh AA Batteries
MAHA MH-C801 Battery Charger

For engagement sessions, I always bring two camera bodies — one to use and one as a backup. I also bring two Speedlights — again, one to use and one as a backup. I usually bring all my lenses since they all fit in my Boda v3 Lens Bag. There’s no reason not to.

For weddings, I pretty much bring all my camera bodies, Speedlights, lenses, monopod, tripod, CP-E4 External Battery Packs. Basically everything I can fit into my Tamrac Rolling Backpack (it’s HUGE!).

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current photography portfolio and why? How did you approach the photographic execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

PETER GARR: Currently , this image is my favorite.

I love the simple beauty of the bride, Nicole, in the photo. Her bare neck, shoulders, and ear just moments before she adorned those features with her wedding jewelry. The sweeping curves of her face, ear, shoulders, and hair. Her freckles, closed eyes and long, fan-like eyelashes. Even the single lock of hair resting on her left shoulder. I took this photo candidly and it’s a great example of “less is more” and how you can get a great photo during the most fleeting moments.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you have a photography studio? Is having your own photography studio space essential for a professional wedding photographer? Has any of your photography engagement sessions ever take place in a studio? If not, where do you mainly photograph the engagement sessions? Could you reveal to us 3 of your favorite locations and why?

PETER GARR: No, I don’t have a physical studio. In fact, I work at a desk setup in the middle of my living room. I don’t believe it’s essential to have a brick-and-mortar studio nowadays, especially for wedding photographers like me who shoot 100% on location. However, for me, my greatest struggle in my business is that I don’t have a separate workspace in my home. Working in the living room poses many distractions for me, especially with my 3 year old daughter running around and competing for my attention.

I used to meet with my clients at coffeehouses like Starbucks or Peet’s, but I found those places to be too distracting an environment for a number of reasons. Besides the distractions, coffeehouses don’t project the type of atmosphere I want when meeting with clients. I’ve recently started meeting with clients at the lobbies of four or five star hotels. Although hotel lobbies are still not as intimate and controlled of an environment as meeting at my own studio, they are far better than coffeehouses.

My favorite locations for engagement sessions are whatever locations are important to my clients. I make my engagement sessions all about my clients. I always recommend to them we hold their engagement sessions at locations that are important to them — where they first met, where they went on their first or favorite date, where they got engaged, a locations that has special meaning to them like a shared interest or hobby. Obviously, the location should have good light and be conducive to photography, but it’s not about me and what I want, it’s about my client’s and what they want. Their engagement photos should mean something to them for their entire lifetimes, not just be a place they went on some random day because it was “where the photographer suggested.” It has to hold special meaning to them!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What types of commercial gigs are you currently involved in now and how did they surface? What are your recommendations on how we photographers diversify our wedding photography offering to the marketplace?

PETER GARR: I focus strictly on wedding photography. I believe that it’s better for me to be a GREAT wedding photographer than a mediocre “everything” photographer. Expertise in one area of photography is important to me and to my clients. However, I do shoot the occasional family, newborn, or maternity portrait as well as corporate and private events, but my passion and expertise is wedding photography. I don’t advertise or market my non-wedding work, so all non-wedding work I get is from referrals or assignments from studios I partner with. My brand is as a wedding photographer. I think marketing any other type of photography dilutes my brand.

FUTURE

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are your immediate goals as a wedding photographer? Are you planning on releasing any how-to books? What are your recommendations to people thinking about starting a photography book?

PETER GARR: My immediate goals as a wedding photographer are to network more with wedding coordinators/planners and to continue to improve my photography skills, which I believe is a lifelong process. I’ve come to realize that the photography industry is saturated with too many workshops and books, which mostly rehash the same things. I have no authority to write a book when there are photographers with many more years of experience and insight than me. The industry is full of photographers who want to be the next authority or workshop superstar. I know that growing my business by having excellent relationships with my clients and with other wedding vendors who are happy to refer me and to provide positive testimonials are the keys to my success. I’d like to shoot more destination weddings and hope to shoot my first international destination wedding someday soon. At the end of the day, I’m a wedding photographer, and shooting the weddings of happy, loving couples is what pays my bills and is what I love to do.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional wedding photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future?

PETER GARR: I don’t know what the future holds, but at this time I’m not looking to run a workshop. However, I organize and lead the Los Angeles SmugMug Users Group (SMUG). SMUGs are monthly meetings that feature speaker presentations by prominent photographers, mini workshops, shootouts, and fun social activities. SMUGs are free and open to all professional and advanced amateur photographers, whether or not they have SmugMug accounts. All are welcome, all are loved!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: I am sure you’ve read many articles discussing how in the future videography and photography will be one? What are your thoughts on that and how will you evolve to the new morphed medium?

PETER GARR: I recently bought a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and love how it shoots video. Shooting video is a whole new and slightly different world for me. I agree that wedding clients can now have the best of both world with photo/video Fusion. Some of the Fusion work I’ve seen by photographers like Robert Evans is amazing! I hope to have a Fusion sample completed soon.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Ok so thinking about the future and how it is very important in any endeavor especially the professional wedding photography business. What do you suggest wedding photographers do in the future to solidify their presence in the photography industry? What will you do to ensure that you remain on top, not taking into account your photography niche?

PETER GARR: Learn everything you can about business, including sales, marketing, accounting, and communication. Go to a library, enroll in community college classes, join Toastmasters International, read business blogs. Always keep learning about business and human nature!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Thank you again for your time and giving back. What would you like to leave for us photographers to think about when moving forward with wedding photography for the future? If you have any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

PETER GARR: Learn your craft and respect your clients. This is essential to any successful business. Network with other photographers and wedding vendors. If you can, avoid loans and credit cards. Don’t throw your money at every workshop that comes around. Instead, get together with other photographers and learn from each other for free. Share your knowledge and take the lead. Be humble and make your business about serving your clients and your community with the very best you have to offer. Everything else will fall into place.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Manuello Paganelli

Lawrence — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:59:32 +0000

“MY best training came from my newspaper working experience at the Chattanooga Times. It helps me to work fast and to do the job right under pressure.”

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook? What sparked your interest in photography? Do you recommend all the weekend photographers out there to initially stick with the subjects they know and build from there? Do you have any suggestions on how to build that progression? How did you progress to where you are today in photography?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

I didn’t have any interest in photography until my last year in college. I bought a Canon A1 camera just to get my mind away from my insecurity of continuing medical school. Then one day at a magazine store I discovered Darkroom Magazine, and read an article on Ansel Adams and was very fascinated by his work & life story. His passion was photography but he was trained as a classical piano player and that is what his folks were hoping for. So I felt I was in a cross road just like him. OF course at that time I didn’t know much about photography or thought that would be my calling. That said when I finished the whole story I dialed information got his phone number and called him. We then develop a mentoring friendship, which lasted until he passed away.

For sure anybody interested in photography should take photos of what comes naturally to them. IT doesn’t matter if is shooting your pet your kids, landscapes or clouds. Just stick to that and from there you can branch out. IT takes a while to learn and grow. The main thing is to be patient and to shoot plenty. And keep on shooting and after that shoot some more. MY career has been great to me and I had been very fortunate. One of the main things is never to take anything per granted. Many clients had given me an open door and by doing great work and by been responsible and real to my subjects that opened many other doors.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: Yes I still do and most of those images were street photography. I had always been passionate by the work of W.Eugene Smith and Robert Frank and as someone who wasn’t born in the USA the work of Frank spoke very close to my heart.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What books did you read at the beginning of your photography career that helped you prepare for today? Title of book, author and price of book please…just messing around, the title of the books should be fine thanks to google search. Do you recall any other resources that you referred to heavily to help you prepare for the photography business? We want to know what the must have resources are to fully equip ourselves when and if we ever plan to take that leap of faith.

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: I gotta tell you that I had never taken any photo classes. The only book I bought was one on strobe lighting. I thought it was a great book when I got it and 3 weeks later my photos were more creative and looking much better than the images on that book. Then I tossed the book in the trash can.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What was your very first professional photography job? Was this purely out of luck that you were at the right place at the right time? Was there a hidden plan to penetrate the market from within? Would you recommend it to new photographers trying to break into the market and that are having difficulty breaking in? Once you had your first job under your belt was it difficult to get another gig? What did you do to acquire more work besides providing awesome images? Have you ever considered being agency represented? If you are agency represented how did you attract a photography agent?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: MY first photo job I got was working at the Chattanooga Times. I had zero experience and somehow I was able to meet the Managing Editor of the paper. He gave me a chance during the summer of 1983. I was only going to be there for 3 months or so. Once summer was over he called me to his office and the room was packed with the director of photography, city Editor, Sports Editors and others. I was ready to hear “Son you had done great and we want to thank you and wish you well in your career.” Instead what they said was, “How would you like to work for us full time.”

Two years later I moved to Washington DC where I was hired to work for Agence France Presse. They were the new kid in town and I was there for only six months. AFP was the worse place I ever worked. They were nasty to photographers and very condescending. After that I said, “will never work for anybody again.” and began my solo freelance career. I started shooting for USA Today, The Washington Post, NY Times, and LA Times & Reuters. Did that for almost a year then I learned to used strobes and started showing my work in NYC and a week later after I got back to DC Forbes magazine called me with my very first job and that was a HUGE push for my career. I remember Forbes asking me, “how much you charge for an assistant” and I didn’t even know what an assistant was. After that first gig other magazines commenced to call me.

I thought about representation from a photo agent. Once I got a call and this agent wanted to rep my work. At this time I had constructed quite a client list that kept me very busy: Times, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, People, Business Week, Forbes to name a few. Yet this rep wanted me to split not only new clients that she would find me but also any income I would make from my already established clientele. I told her thanks but not thanks. For the most part I get my own gigs and I had been blessed so I don’t have to give any 20% or whatever the going rate is with an agent. Also for the most part I am very good at negotiating my own deals so it can be a win/win deal. I hate leaving money on the negotiating table. The other day I lost a bid for a one-day commercial shoot. It would have netted me 25 K but according to the adv agency the client decided to go with a different photo style. I just hope that whomever they went with was charging properly for the licensing usages they wanted plus his creative fees.

The new photographers need to trust in themselves. Faith, talent and consistency are the only values that will carry them to the next level then ad a dose of luck.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: After your first job, What was the next photography gig you obtained and how did you go about your execution? Did you apply all that you’ve learned in all the books you’ve read ? Did you buy more books or accessed any more resources to help you jump to your next big step in the game of photography? What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: MY best training came from my newspaper working experience at the Chattanooga Times. It helps me to work fast and to do the job right under pressure. And honestly I can’t remember who my second client was. After the first one the rest came pretty fast. YOU know you always will remember your first girlfriend but can you name the second and third one. The tools comes from inside of me that inner feeling that hits my eyes when the light is perfect or the moment feels right. Too many photographers relied too much on the technical aspect or Photoshop tricks and they are missing so much.

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What keeps the money rolling? Your brand is possibly a huge factor to your longevity? Am I right? Do you have any recommendations on brand building for weekend photographers and/or Photographers in general.

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: Besides my vision and executing my jobs in a way that a client will be proud is what keeps me going and paying my bills and mortgage. Either shooting for some top magazines or a few adv gigs here and there. Some folks also collect some of my fine arts images. Younger photographers should come into a photo shoot with an open mind and thinking that is going to be their last one. So they better hit a homerun. The moment you see it that way is when your shooting gets much better and each time you learn from the last one. The best way to learn is by making mistakes. As long as those mistakes are not crucial then you can be on your way up.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is currently in your photography bag? Please be as detailed as possible for those starting out photographers that want to be just like you. From your photography equipment arsenal, what do you bring most of the time for your commercial shoots?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: If I am traveling overseas a canon 5d, Canon 5D Mark ll, two hassy cameras, a couple leicas, a Diana and a Holga, an array of lenses from 20-35mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm lens, a couple Canon speedlights 580EX. At the start of my career I did plenty of sports and used to have a couple fast 300mm F2.8 lens and a 600mm f4 lens. Those lenses were very pricey and heavy. Also a pouch with over Twenty 8 GB flashcards. IF am shooting black & white film then I carry my T-max 100 & 400 ASA. I also don’t leave home without my ipod. ON local shoots my bag is lighter.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current portfolio and why? How did you approach the execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: Honestly they are so many. I do love my black & white documentary work from Cuba and my black cowboy series. My Black Cowboy series was shown last year at the Annenberg Photo Space in Los Angeles. But some images on my website that I am very proud of is of my friend and singer Ke$ha. I met her and her family a few years ago before she became famous with her song Tick Tack. I went to college in Tennessee and her family is from there so we hit it off very well. That was our connection when we met.

When it comes to my editorial photo shoots usually the client will give me the free range. Is a pretty open thing with them usually telling me “Just go there and do your thing.”From time to time the client will have a photo concept especially for covers or if this is an advertising photo shoot. But for the most part they give me plenty of creative freedom.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Is having your own studio space essential for any commercial photographer. Do you have a photography studio of your own? If so, what do you look for in a photography studio?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

Never had a studio. I really don’t think is essential especially with all the overhead involved. Usually rent it when the shoot calls for it. Just rented one yesterday while shooting one of the talent in Dancing with the Stars TV show. Sometime the shoot is even done at my home. They usually come alone or with their entourage. Then once their agent/publicist/assistant sees that all is cool they chill out in the backyard with some refreshing drink while I am working inside with my crew. Chris Issak had a ball at my place and so did singer Fantasia. Regardless where you do the shot make sure is comfortable, with plenty of safe parking, have wifi available, the temperature is right, and you got the right music and the food to served. And have a great crew to help you to the finishing line.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What types of commercial gigs are you currently involved in now and how did they surface? What are your recommendations on how we photographers diversify their product offering from Commercial and stock in today’s marketplace?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

Just finished working a cool photo cover with colorful TV chef Guy Fieri. Who was a ball of fire and energy just like his larger than life personality that you see on TV. Can’t show those images yet but they came out beautifully. For that shoot we had a makeup person, food stylist and 3 assistants. For the location we rented this amazing place in Sonoma wine country. Afterwards he sent me a cool email inviting me and my kids to a show that he is having at Disney. He wants to meet my girls so we are his VIP guest which is pretty cool.

Also the way to diversify is by shooting other style of photos different than what you are used to. We need changes or are like eating scramble eggs with butter-toasted bread each morning. Too many new shooters want to do the same style of the glossy or gritty look while doing lifestyle or celebrities. There is a lot more than just that. Not need to get jammed into one or two things.

FUTURE

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are your immediate goals as a photographer and artist? Are you planning on releasing any how-to books? What are your recommendations to people thinking about starting a photography book?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

I get asked that question all the time. I had never been a person of how-to-books. Maybe since I am self-taught all came from the inside. From a strong deep gut feeling. SO in all fairness I am not the right person to give book advices. I do know that now is much easier to have self-publishing books. I do would love to do a book just on my black & white images. But I had been saying that for a few years now. Maybe this will be the year.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future? I know TIME is not your friend, but there are ways to get around that maybe offering internship opportunities to intern with you for a small fee during one of your paid shoots. Or maybe provide an opportunity to be a spectator for one of your weekend shoots?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI: I had been doing workshop for a long time now. I don’t do it often but whenever possible I do it. I had done some overseas in Europe, Argentina, at the Brooks Institute, The Pasadena Art Center, and the Julia Dean workshops. In fact I am doing a cool workshop April 24^th at the Julia Dean:

http://www.ssreg.com/juliadean/classes/classes.asp?courseid=13093&catid=1811

and a few days before, April 21, I will be the guest speaker in Los Angeles for ASMP:

http://asmpla100421.eventbrite.com/

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: I am sure you’ve read many articles discussing how in the future videography and photography will be one? What are your thoughts on that and how will you evolve to the new morphed medium?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

That is here to stay and is part of our future. I had been learning a bit about videos. As many of your readers know the Canon 5D Mark ll has set some benchmark for video making. Is one brilliant camera for making high def videos.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Ok so thinking about the future and how it is very important in any endeavor especially the photography business. What do you suggest photographers do in the future to solidify their presence in the industry? What will you do to ensure that you remain on top, not taking into account your photography niche?

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

I always tell new photographers to always keep their © and make sure that while doing business make it a win/win deal. Never jump at the first offer given to you. Usually they call you with the lowest prices. There is not need to give the art buyer an answer right away. Just jot down the information and say, “ok I got all the details of the shoot including your name and phone number/email now let me get back to you in a day or two.” That is the time for you to do the research and learn more about the client.

Photographers need to learn a few things about the business of photography and the cost of running a business. Is not all about taking beautiful photos but also about making sure that what you create is respected and that you are compensated right for it. Ironically a client can value our work but doesn’t mean they feel the same about us.

That is when we had to show them that we know our business and that we are serious people. And that MUST come from us first other wise nobody is going to take us seriously at all. Also there is nothing wrong about asking questions or sharing information. SO if a client calls a newbie and he/she is clueless about how much to charge or how to go about doing a contract then reach out to a well established or more experience photographer and ask them.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Thank you again for your time and giving back. What would you like to leave for us photographers to think about when moving forward with photography for the future? If you have any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

MANUELLO PAGANELLI:

I would tell them follow your dream and what your heart tells you. Ignore all the negative vibe that may come from your own family, friends and even other photographers who may want to shot you down before you can even fly. IN life is about trying and experimenting. There is nothing to loose by trying and so much to gain. At this juncture you may feel that photography is your calling and you give it your best ride and along the way you discover that you are better suited to be a filmmaker or a writer. Still the very first path that you took lead you to this soul revelation. When you eventually arrive to your destiny and you are given that long waited chance then do it with the same passion and love that got you there and do it well for you may only get one shot at it.

I can’t finish this interview without repeating again, ALWAYS, keep your ©. All those images are money in the bank. I recently licensed a couple images to a client for 20K to be use for two years for the web, in house collateral and a magazine ad. So protect your work and its value at all cost. At the end clients will respect you even more.

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: SESHU

Lawrence — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:03:33 +0000

“Let me be frank and say that “the top” is an illusion. There is no “top”. One could and should keep on elevating their game. That’s what inspires me most. I want my next wedding or portrait session to be better than the one I completed yesterday.”

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography?

SESHU: Yes, I worked at my high school’s yearbook as one of its photographers. My first camera was a Pentax ME Super (which I still have). I shot film – mostly black & white – and had it processed and printed for me. I didn’t quite get into that other aspect of photography, which is finishing a print, until I was introduced to it by a friend in Japan. I had been studying at Waseda University as an exchange student when Robert Guarnieri who was also there and in a “camera club” invited me to shoot on the streets of Tokyo. The camera club had darkroom privileges and so I remember getting my hands wet in darkroom chemicals for the first time there. I was hooked, as I think a lot of people are when they see their first image come up magically in the tray. Ultimately, it was more the process of finding and making images that excited me about photography. As a somewhat shy child, photography was my license to inject myself into a scene. I don’t think I ever used the camera to hide behind it. It was and still remains a tool for me to connect with people and their ideas.

SESHU: Oh, yes, I still have boxes of negatives carefully stored away. I just need a reliable scanner to get them all digitized. My early subjects as I mentioned to you were people on the street – doing their thing. Street photography was so exciting to me. These days it’s very hard to do that without getting stopped and questioned. When I was pursuing a graduate degree at Indiana University in journalism, I worked for the student paper there and shot a lot of concerts. Being in a small town like Bloomington, meant having a little better access to these musicians who would come through. I wanted to see what they were like backstage, so I usually went in and hung out with them. Sometimes they wouldn’t mind and sometimes they would. I learned back then that if you didn’t ask, you didn’t get. It was a valuable life-lesson in some regards.

SESHU: I can’t say that I sought out any particular book to learn about wedding photography. As a documentary wedding photographer much of my approach is based on the kind of work I produced for newspapers and international magazines as a freelance photographer. I did very little directing then of my subjects and I do very little of it now. I feel I have remained true to what really moves me about photographing people as they are. Establishing rapport, gaining access and then immersing myself into a scene is my unique approach to weddings as it was photographing people like Keb’ Mo’ or Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. I don’t think a book can teach you diplomacy. One thing I will say that is required of documentary wedding photographers such as myself is this constant state of being curious and patient – of your subjects, your environment, the abilities of your gear … whatever. Staying curious, to motivate you to photograph people’s unguarded and perhaps honest emotions, is key. And obviously patience is required because you can’t command the right elements to align themselves in the frame. You wait for it, then when you see it evolve, you trip the shutter.

SESHU: A friend of mine who is a journalist was getting married and he approached me to photograph his wedding. I can’t even recall if I charged him for it. He and I had been friends for some time and I suppose he had liked my work. I hadn’t thought of building a bridge between editorial photography and wedding photography and now I wished I had. The second gig came my way out of sheer desperation on my part. I was working at a community darkroom in Seattle and I saw a note on the board for a wedding photographer. The couple, getting married for the second time, were not really interested in anything ornate. My style and I suppose at that time my price was attractive to them. I charged them $300. And yes, I rocked those images too. Why not?

SESHU: As an editorial photographer, I was dependent on newspapers. I attended as many journalism conventions as I could afford. Being seen and heard is so key to one’s marketing. It has all shifted online these days, but it is still very useful to connect with your peers face-to-face. So, the next set of gigs came through an editor I had met at the Neiman Conference on Narrative Journalism. I photographed for a magazine called India Today. The work was challenging and didn’t pay much at all. I figured back then that I had to make the jump to something that would sustain me. But I didn’t want to take up a genre of photography that wouldn’t move me. The fact that a wedding lends itself so well to being narrated as a story worked out in my favor. I am able to use the editorial aesthetic in a very different way for my wedding clients.

PRESENT

SESHU: As someone said, branding doesn’t mean you go out and get a logo designed. That’s a logo, not a brand. Branding to me is about how you are perceived by people around you. Creating a brand takes time and you have to believe it is a process. Expect to have up’s and down’s. Learn from both of them. I feel building a personal brand has become a lot easier with a slew of online tools like Twitter Facebook and LinkedIn . I think the first thing I would say to people wanting to create a brand is – decide on how you are going to be valuable to someone else. Find your niche. Learn about it yourself, then teach others how to solve their problems. Give without the expectation of getting anything back in return.

SESHU: I’ll repeat a mantra my friend David duChemin says all the time – “Gear is Good. Vision is Better.” Every few months, the camera manufacturers release new products into the world. It’s nearly impossible to keep up. If you are running a business, buying new gear as and when they come out is going to bankrupt you. So, I suggest you carefully evaluate your needs before you go shopping.

I am all digital now. If a client wanted me to shoot film, I can. I still have a Nikon F100 stored away. I now use a Nikon D300. I have had it now for nearly three years and it has served me really well. I bought the camera I needed, not the one I wanted. Finding myself photographing in darker venues these days, I am leaning towards a full sensor camera like the Nikon D700 or its upgrade, whatever that will be. For lenses, I use the Nikon 17-35mm a lot. I also like the look and feel of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D and the 85mm f/1.4. Another must-have lens is the Nikon 7-200mm f/2.8 VRII. For strobes, I have upgraded to the Nikon SB-900 units. I bring these to an engagement session or a wedding.

SESHU: The image of Tushima being carried by her brothers, right before she is married is one of my favorite. There is such grace and beauty in it. There is also a little drama. If you notice, one of the bride’s cousins on the upper left has turned around and is looking at her. That kind of drama cannot be orchestrated. Or, it can be, but it will feel hollow and dishonest. I saw the entourage making its way out to the altar. I remember back-peddling and shooting at the same time. I saw a chair in the foyer and grabbed it and launched myself on top of it to get the perspective I did. This is perhaps the most poignant image from the series. As a former photo editor at ESPN, I understand how images must work on the page or on the screen. Selecting them, editing them and making them sing is what I love doing.

SESHU: I work out of my “home-studio.” I have to put that in quotes because I share that space with my two kids and their toys! I prefer to photograph in an environment where my clients are going to be most comfortable – most likely their own home or a spot on the map that means a great deal to them. It can be Houston, Texas or Canton, Connecticut. It matters little to me where I go. It’s more important that my clients feel secure, open and relaxed.

SESHU: I haven’t pursued purely commercial assignments. If there is an agency out there looking to work with a photographer who can produce images with an editorial edge to them, I am it! Weddings are a seasonal business. In the off-season, November through March, this past year, I started working on my portraits website. While I knew full well that I could create portraits, I didn’t have a whole lot to show. So, I went on Twitter and found a few folks who I had known through TweetCrawls here in Connecticut, who would be willing to be photographed. The response has been great. I initially gave away 20 1/2 hour headshot sessions, all done in my “home-studio.” When people are able to see what you can produce, they are more likely to pay for it. It’s as simple as that. Starting in January, I decided I would charge $149 for a 1/2 hour session. My clients would receive one high-resolution file in exchange, with the remaining images available to them online for ordering through a gallery. They would have full rights to reuse that image in whatever way they wanted (except for purely commercial purposes). To see some examples, go here – Connecticut Headshots.

FUTURE

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are your immediate goals as a wedding photographer?

SESHU: I would love to photograph more destination weddings, especially in India. Having grown up there, I understand the culture. On a recent trip, I met with the editors of a magazine called Better Photography in Mumbai. They are currently wrapping up their first national contest to chose a wedding photographer of the year. Not being an Indian-citizen, I knew I couldn’t submit any of my work. So, they’ve asked me to be one of the judges! I also met with the folks who run a popular wedding resource online called WeddingSutra . So, it was a very successful trip.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional wedding photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future?

SESHU: I would love to offer workshops on photographing multicultural weddings. I know what to expect of workshops and how to approach them. Each is of course unique, but there are things that are common amongst them, too. Having attended a lot of workshops, I know how valuable or useless they can be. Structuring one isn’t easy but I do want to teach and you’ll know when the first workshop comes together.

SESHU: I am not really sure. I think visually. Every single time I’ve picked up a video camera I have enjoyed it, but I’ve always wished I had photographed the same subject with a still camera. I suspect, though, to keep abreast of technology and trends, there will be a day when I will jump out of this shell and shoot video. It’s the editing that’s a real challenge. Few know how to do it well. I have been tempted to sign up for Final Cut Pro classes just to check it out. It’s on my radar, but I am not seeking it out actively at the moment.

SESHU: Let me be frank and say that “the top” is an illusion. There is no “top”. One could and should keep on elevating their game. That’s what inspires me most. I want my next wedding or portrait session to be better than the one I completed yesterday.

What I will do and have done for the last 10 years is to continue to learn from my peers, share with my peers and perhaps teach those who are just starting out. I suggest photographers identify what kind of photography they like pursuing. It took me a while to get to weddings. But the trip has been worth it. One could fall in love instantly or the love could grow over time. I also recommend they start networking and doing so for the right reasons. There is tremendous strength in numbers. It’s a cliché, no doubt, but it is true. The synergies you will find by working together is going to propel you and “your competition” upwards. I believe this wholeheartedly, if we are all on the same page about helping each other out.

SESHU: Photography is a gift exchange. They give, we take. We give, they take. Remember, it’s not always about money. Think of ways of giving/sharing your skill with someone or a community, without expecting anything in return. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how things come back to you in different ways.

Here are some links that might be of interest to your readers:

Tiffinbox – http://www.tiffinbox.org
OpenShade – http://www.openshade.org

WEEKEND PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Ed Hidden

Lawrence — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:28:49 +0000

“At that point, I was still shooting my hobbies but I would try some artsy stuff that I had read about in that book occasionally. Then I found iStockphoto.com and my interest took off.”

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest for photography? Do you recommend all the weekend photographers out there to initially stick with the subjects they know and build from there? Do you have any suggestions on how to build that progression? How did you progress to where you are today?

ED HIDDEN:
I went to vo-tech for graphic design and then after high school went to a design school. While I was there a classmate got me into photography and how seeing things through a lens could improve your graphics composition. So I begged for an SLR that christmas (Canon Rebel S, longtime fanboy I guess. Lol). I had one book on 35mm photography and I think I read it over and over for like 5 years or more.

I started off shooting the sports I was into. I raced motorcycles at the time so I would take the camera to the track or I’d setup the bikes or cars I had and took pictures of those. It was never anything “artistic” but I always enjoyed shooting.

When I worked at an ad agency, I would volunteer to shoot some in-house design projects that we had no budget to hire a photographer for. That’s probably what really got me into shooting more of what I do today. I tried doing high-key isolation with a single daylight bulb and learned the hard way about color temp mixing. In 1997, I paid WAY too much for an Olympus 1mp Point and Shoot, but I calculated that I could shoot 25 rolls of film and it would pay for itself.

At that point, I was still shooting my hobbies but I would try some artsy stuff that I had read about in that book occasionally. Then I found iStockphoto.com and my interest took off. At that time, the community seemed like it was people like myself, Graphic Designers who took decent pictures and would help each other out and exchange images for a low overhead. The competition fueled everyone to be better and shoot better images. That’s what was the focus for me to get better.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

ED HIDDEN:
I have some, but the are mostly just snapshots. Nothing much worth sharing.
[note: If I can find something good I’ll include it here.]

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What books did you read when you first got into photography? Title of book, author and price of book please…just messing around, the title of the books should be fine thanks to google search. Do you recall any other resources that you referred to heavily to help you grow as an amateur photographer?

ED HIDDEN:
That first book that I read over and over was Micheal Langford’s 35mm Handbook. When I got into istock and was studying lighting I relied pretty heavily on Christopher Grey’s Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers. The other was a website, dg28.com. Over the years, I’ve learned from various photographers we interview on our podcast, LightSource at StudioLighting.net. After getting a really good handle on the fundamentals it was really just a matter of getting some good lighting equipment and making a lot of bad photos to get to the better stuff.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Have you made some money from your photography as an amateur? What was your first photo sale? How long was it after that first sale you sold your next photo? If you haven’t sold a photo, do you have any plans to do so?

ED HIDDEN:
Well, I currently make a pretty good supplemental income from istockphoto.com and I shoot a couple weddings a year. Weddings are nothing I solicit but I end up doing them by referral.

When I started selling images on istock, I figured I’d see if I could earn some money to get some download credits for the websites I was working on. After I saw I could make some money, I decided to let the balance grow. Now it’s pretty decent money. It’s not my “day job” so I’m happy with how I’m doing.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?
ED HIDDEN:
A good SLR and the best lens you can afford to put on the front of it will take you a long way. The quality of the current crop of cameras is amazing. If you want to do studio style photography a single monolight is hard to beat. A single strobe will teach you a lot about exposure and light position. Strobist kits are nice and portable, but really focusing on manual mode and flash exposure teaches you a lot.

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your present motivation to continue with your photography?

ED HIDDEN:
That’s in interesting question because I’ve kind of lost motivation for the last year. I have a pile of images sitting on my PC that I’ve done nothing with and I had no desire to do any new projects until I got my “pipeline clear”.

I’ve listened to a lot of our photographers on the podcast talking about shooting what you love. And I’m doing that again. I’ve started shooting some cycling images and sports that I take part in. It’s kind of back to where I started years ago. I think I got feeling like I was shooting only to “make a buck” and got creatively drained.

Now that I’ve been doing shoots I want to do, I’m starting to see images in my head again that I want to take. A creative director I worked with was guiding me through directing a radio commercial one time. He said, “read the script in your head… hear how it’s going to sound. When the talent reads it, just try to match it.” Sounds simple but that’s kind of how I approach photo too now. I see stuff in my mind and sketch it in my moleskin book and then try to match it.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are you doing now to set yourself apart from other photographers? What is your niche?

ED HIDDEN:
I’ve always considered myself a humorist. I think some of my best work were some photo illustrations I did where I either poked fun at myself or try to inject a little bit of fun into the images.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you have a studio? If so, why? What are the benefits of having a studio as a weekend photographer?

ED HIDDEN:
I used to. It was a small room in a local warehouse. It wasn’t pretty but it was a place to work. I decided to not renew my lease this year for various reasons. It was great to have a space where I could just leave and lock the door and not have to worry about breaking all my softboxes down or put backgrounds away. I could just roll them up and leave.

Previous to that, I was shooting people in the basement or on location. That limited me to shooting in good weather or my light setup because of not having height. The other nice thing about that was not having to worry about models or strangers coming by the house to do a shoot. I could keep the family separate from whoever I might be working with. Luckily, there isn’t anyone I’ve worked with that I wouldn’t mind coming to the house, but you just never know. For the time being, I’ll do location for a while or there are a few places not far that I’ll schedule a studio for a day and just stack shoots back to back.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What photography resources do you consistently refer to date ? Can you name at least 5 websites you refer to religiously for your photography?

ED HIDDEN:
HYPERLINK “http://www.studiolight.net” www.studiolight.net
HYPERLINK “http://www.strobist.com” www.strobist.com
HYPERLINK “http://www.dpreview.com” www.dpreview.com (for the occasion I’ll read up on gear)
HYPERLINK “http://www.thefstopmag.com” http://www.thefstopmag.com
HYPERLINK “http://www.zarias.com” www.zarias.com
HYPERLINK “http://www.chasejarvis.com” www.chasejarvis.com

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you have any photography projects? If so, what is it and why? If not, why not?

ED HIDDEN:
I have a couple I’ve recently started to plan for…

FUTURE

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are your immediate goals as a photographer and artist? Are you planning on releasing any how-to books? What are your recommendations to people thinking about starting a photography book as a weekend photographer/ part time photographer?

ED HIDDEN:
My immediate plans are to produce more. My portfolio could certainly use some refreshing. I’ve toyed with a book, but my wife has authored a few and I know the work involved behind it. Granted they aren’t photography books, but it’s a lot of work and I wouldn’t tackle it unless I had something unique or new to add to what’s available.

My friend Tyler Stalman (stalman.ca) has a couple books he’s put together through blurb and they look really cool. Something like that might grab my interest, but it’s not on the table at this time.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Would you ever consider doing a workshop and share your knowledge on the weekends? If not, how do you plan to contribute to the photography community?

ED HIDDEN:
We tried it once, they are a lot or work. We are talking about doing some photowalks or something informal like that. Our podcast is our major contribution to the community. People seem to get a lot out of those.

ED HIDDEN:
It’s hard to ignore that and there will certainly be some merging of the two, but there will still be a call for either one. And to be good at either one, you’ll have to know the medium. When I worked at the ad agency and was exploring photography, my official title was “Multimedia Art Director”. I had a pretty good video editing system for the day and I did all of our TV commercials on it. I’ve done video production at every job I’ve had since then, so I have an interest in it.

I don’t currently have an SLR that shoots video but I have been playing with a small FlipVideo HD Ultra for grabshot stuff and playing around. It has a kind of “lomo” or “iPhone photography” feel to it. I’ll probably do some playing “behind the scenes” and stuff like that.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Where do you plan to take your photography passion? Are you planning on going pro one day? If so, which area of photography are you planning on getting into professionally? If you don’t plan to go professional one day, what are you aspiring to as an amateur photographer?

ED HIDDEN:
I’m happy to just shoot more often, earn some more income, and have a good time doing it. That’s the big key for me. As my day job seems like it is getting more into coding, photography has become my creative artistic outlet. So having fun is the big key to enjoying what I do!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Thank you again for your time and giving back to the photography community. What would you like to leave for us photographers to think about when moving forward with photography for the future? If you have any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

ED HIDDEN:
Just make it fun and like so many photographers before me have said, shoot what motivates you. Shoot what you enjoy. Not only will you enjoy it, but it’s the key to getting those types of jobs.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Colin Anderson

Lawrence — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:58:26 +0000

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography? Do you recommend all the weekend photographers out there to initially stick with the subjects they know and build from there? Do you have any suggestions on how to build that progression? How did you progress to where you are today in photography?

COLIN ANDERSON:No, the school l went to wasn’t much of a yearbook type of place.

Photography appealed to me from an early age like most things to do with the arts.Probably more to the point it was (the arts) the only thing l was good at.

A bit clich√© but just do what you love and are passionate about the most.Be obsessed about it.Obsession is good.Obsession breeds perfection,(or as close as one can come to it)

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

COLIN ANDERSON:Yeah l still have some stuff laying around from when I studied art and design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.Always liked shooting females, surprise, surprise. But nothing is online…and thats probably a good thing.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What books did you read at the beginning of your photography career that helped you prepare for today? Title of book, author and price of book please…just messing around, the title of the books should be fine thanks to google search. Do you recall any other resources that you referred to heavily to help you prepare for the photography business? We want to know what the must have resources are to fully equip ourselves when and if we ever plan to take that leap of faith.

COLIN ANDERSON:Read everything l could get my hands on and could afford to buy.Nothing really was online back then so l had to get books from specialty stores, and they were so expensive.I used to spend hours and hours in these stores trying to stay out of view of the clerks who would get pissed off if you weren’t buying.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What was your very first professional photography job? Was this purely out of luck that you were at the right place at the right time? Was there a hidden plan to penetrate the market from within? Would you recommend it to new photographers trying to break into the market and that are having difficulty breaking in? Once you had your first job under your belt was it difficult to get another gig? What did you do to acquire more work besides providing awesome images? Have you ever considered being agency represented? If you are agency represented how did you attract a photography agent?

COLIN ANDERSON:I think my first paid job was photographing the inside of a small Italian Delicatessen. My then girlfriend(and now wife) knew the owners so yeah it just fell into my lap.

The hardest thing about being a photographer is getting clients, it’s a nightmare. Actually everything about clients is a nightmare. Many are “artistically challenged” and a pain in the ass. But if your lucky enough to get a good one, then they can lift you to new creative heights you would never reach on your own.

My wife has and does handle all aspects to do with getting,keeping and making clients happy. She’s a fantastic diplomat and a great buffer. We really don’t actively seek out clients anymore, a lot is word of mouth. We run a pretty lean operation without a heavy overhead so it’s not like we’re under the gun to finance a huge operation with a ton of staff.

When we were chasing clients we would just cold call, day after day. We would just open the phone book under advertising and design agencies and work from A-Z.After we had hit all of the agencies we would then start all over again and call just everyday businesses that we thought may need photography. We even did weddings, and let me just say, thats a tough gig. It was a really hard time in the beginning,actually makes me shudder. We also started shooting stock at this time which eventually went on to become a big part of our life. In 2004 we became one of the co founders of www.blendimages.com

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: After your first job, What was the next photography gig you obtained and how did you go about your execution? Did you apply all that you’ve learned in all the books you’ve read ? Did you buy more books or accessed any more resources to help you jump to your next big step in the game of photography? What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?

COLIN ANDERSON:Think the second job was a small Christmas pamphlet of Santa holding a handful of money. The set up was one that l had learnt from a book, fairly basic stuff just a bank light and fill card.

My big step was buying my first set of flash heads which l set up in my dads garage and just started experimenting day after day and learning first hand how to light.

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What keeps the money rolling? Your brand is possibly a huge factor to your longevity? Am i right? Do you have any recommendations on brand building for weekend photographers and/or Photographers in general.

COLIN ANDERSON: Commissioned and stock.
Brand Building…not sure if l’m comfortable with that term.I think a photographer starting out should try and define a style and vision with their images and then work on the rest.too many people starting out spend more time on their blogs than their work, it’s a backwards way to do it. It’s like having great packaging with a crappy product inside.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is currently in your photography bag? Please be as detailed as possible for those starting out photographers that want to be just like you. From your photography equipment arsenal, what do you bring most of the time for your commercial shoots?

COLIN ANDERSON:I’ve collected a lot of gear over the years. What l use the most is a Mamiya 645 with a Leaf digital back. Also started shooting with a Canon 5D MK11 the last few months. I use Broncolor gear for lighting, l have a pretty good collection of bank lights, strip lights, beauty dishes, umbrellas, light pannels, grids etc, etc..theres a lot. I’m more of a lighting geek than a camera one.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current portfolio and why? How did you approach the execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

COLIN ANDERSON: The ship wrecked series is my favourite from the last few months(supplied with article). I like the feel of it,how it works as a series, the model, the clothes, props, location, lighting. Everything just came together how l envisioned it.

Every image has it’s own process. What usually happens whether it be just for myself or a client is we work from a layout, often a rough composite or just a hand drawn one. Then once we know what has to be done, props are gathered, models are picked etc. 90% of the times the shot will be a composite one, so models are shot on white seamless in the studio and we then drop them into a background image, or into a layout with type. This is just roughly done to make sure that everything is working together. After shooting the files are prepared for finished art, doing exact clipping paths, colour grading, quality control etc. I do all this myself, this is never sent out.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Is having your own studio space essential for any commercial photographer. Do you have a photography studio of your own? If so, what do you look for in a photography studio?

COLIN ANDERSON:No, rent as you need it. Studios are extremely expensive to run, spend your money elsewhere unless you can really justify it.

I work strange hours, usually starting at 3:00 am, so l have always found it convenient (when l could finally afford it) to have a studio at my house. We’ve just moved to a new larger place that has a great space with large windows that surround the shooting area for natural light but can also be quickly blacked out with concealed blinds for flash. We have a room for models to get changed and do make up, and a storage room just for props and extra gear.The kitchen is just off of it too which is great.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What types of commercial gigs are you currently involved in now and how did they surface? What are your recommendations on how we photographers diversify their product offering from Commercial and stock in today’s marketplace?

COLIN ANDERSON:We have a lot on at the moment, client work has really picked up this year which l never expected in this economy.
Right at the moment we are gearing up for a large fashion shoot with a new client which will be an ongoing project throughout next year. Fashion is something we are moving heavily into.

My main recommendation is do what your best at and perfect it.There’s a ton of competition out there, so you better be good. Know what your doing, a job can easily run into thousands of dollars an hour, so prepare for any disasters that can crop up because everyone will be looking at you to fix it.

FUTURE

COLIN ANDERSON: My goals have been the same, keep improving, keep learning, keep being inspired. I haven’t really thought about writting a book, l have a bad enough time writting an email.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future? I know TIME is not your friend, but there are ways to get around that maybe offering internship opportunities to intern with you for a small fee during one of your paid shoots. Or maybe provide an opportunity to be a spectator for one of your weekend shoots?

COLIN ANDERSON:I’m not really the workshop type of guy, l’ll leave that to the experts like my friend Jack Hollingsworth;)

COLIN ANDERSON: I think it’s very exciting, we’re still working our way through it and how best to approach it.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Ok so thinking about the future and how it is very important in any endeavor especially the photography business. What do you suggest photographers do in the future to solidify their presence in the industry? What will you do to ensure that you remain on top, not taking into account your photography niche?

COLIN ANDERSON: There’s so much imagery out there now, more so than any time in history.As photographers our challenge is to stop the viewers eye by creating something new and exciting that stands out from the clutter. Always strive for this stopping power, you’ll only have a milli second to do it.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Thank you again for your time and giving back. What would you like to leave for us photographers to think about when moving forward with photography for the future? If you have any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

COLIN ANDERSON: Be obsessed, stay obsessed. Rembember…obsession is good.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Mark Robert Halper

Lawrence — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:08:23 +0000

PAST

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I actually didn’t get involved in still photography until College. In high school I was interested in being a film maker, and later realized that still photography was my true calling.

My career has been a gradual progression and growth. I essentially started in 1989 shooting very small jobs and slowly built my talents and business over the following two decades.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I have those negatives, and even a few prints, but the work isn’t online anywhere that I’m aware of. I mostly shot people I knew when I was learning, and was ironically more likely to ask strangers I found interesting to pose than I am now. I think I had an inflated idea of my own talents at the time, which probably ended up serving me well early in my career. In comparing my older images to my current work when I was looking at it recently, I was struck by just how much of my current vision you can find the seeds of in my earliest imagery.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
There was one book called The Perfect Portfolio, but it has become appropriately dated over the past twenty years and wouldn’t be one I would suggest somebody read today. My two current recommendations are The War of Art and The E-Myth Revisited.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
Hidden plan? No, I was just trying to find what work I could. My first important job was for a new magazine photographing a group that performed on stage for a Christian magazine – I think they were called The Power Team, and they did parlor tricks like lying on a bed of nails. I was lucky in that the magazine liked my work and continued to hire me for two years until they moved to another state. That one client got me going, and I owe it to a girl I knew who was assisting an illustrator working for the magazine, and happened to hear that they needed a photographer and gave them my name.

Agencies take a lot of money, and I’ve known very few photographers who had great experiences putting that kind of responsibility in somebody else’s hands. The rep as savior is a popular myth, but in reality I’ve never personally seen a rep make a career. Rather, very established photographers who shoot with great frequency on large projects are usually the only ones who benefit from working with reps, and they would do well representing themselves as well.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: After your first job, What was the next photography gig you obtained and how did you go about your execution? Did you apply all that you’ve learned in all the books you’ve read ? Did you buy more books or accessed any more resources to help you jump to your next big step in the game of photography? What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I can’t possibly recall how the other jobs fell in, and have probably forgotten most of them. I’m sure that what I learned in books, but far more importantly and predominantly in workshops and classes, helped me to build a career. I think the most important thing any emerging photographer can do is to do as much photography that challenges them as possible, and often that is continually re-approaching similar assignments and finding ways to do them with greater creativity and technical prowess. I also am an equally big believer in workshops – it is the best way I know to get push and feedback from outside of yourself, and to be exposed to new ideas. When you take workshops and don’t shoot much on your own, you loose most of what you learn in the workshops, and when you only shoot on your own you lack the feedback to really improve.

PRESENT

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
The money is rolling in? I didn’t know that – in the current economy I’m defining success as staying in the black. If you can maintain your business and lifestyle in 2009 and still come out of it with a bank balance that isn’t less than it was at the beginning of the year, you’re way ahead of most people. We’ve done that for 2009, and added some money to savings as well, so I consider myself very fortunate.

I do think that branding is becoming ever more important for photographers, and we’re also one of the hardest kinds of businesses to brand. I think that your design needs to look like your work (not of the moment, but over the long term), and that your design needs to be consistent from your website to your business cards, and even extend to the way you dress and present yourself. I always suggest a professional designer for your logo (at the very least) for the same reasons you would tell a layperson why a professional photographer is important. Your logo ought to be created not just as a good looking typeface, but as a reflection of your work, ought to work well when printed as a solid in straight black and white, ought to integrate well into varying designs, and ought to created with an eye towards still being visually relevant in twenty years. If you look at what the big boys do, you’ll find that in most cases the design is very simple – and that’s how it ought to be. Go around your home and take a look at the logos on the national brand items that you know, and you’ll be surprised just how subtle they are, and how close they are to just plain type. In our business, Canon, Nikon, Epson, and Apple all come right to mind as great examples. I recently revised my logo from 20 years ago, and all we did was remove the elements that seemed to make it better when it was designed in 1990 (since they were cool design elements at the time), and kept the rest of the same (balancing it as necessary).

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
My camera bag has my Hasselblad H3D-39, an H1, an H2, an Ixpress 96C digital back, and six Hasselblad lenses (28, 35, 80, 100, 150 and a 50-110). I have various cords and batteries to power and connect my equipment, as well as an assortment of flash cards and other storage devices to hold my images (always including an extra firewire powered drive so every image is in at least two places for backup when I leave a shoot). I also have a 17” MacBook, pocket wizards, a brush to clean my sensors, a pack of silica gel to absorb humidity, two extension tubes, a digital gray card, and chargers for my batteries. I assume that any piece of equipment can fail, and have sufficient equipment to keep shooting if that happens.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current portfolio and why? How did you approach the execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I really don’t have a favorite image, but I recently begun working on a new personal project shooting winemakers in the Santa Barbara area (studiomark.com/wine2009). What I really am enjoying is creating images for me, sans art director or client. I bring one camera, and use the same 100mm lens for all of the images. I shoot with natural light primarily, and often add a single simple light source to my subject (all of which so far are available at Home Depot, rather than Calumet). You’ll have to forgive me, but I don’t discuss how I create the dreamy look in my images.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Is having your own studio space essential for any commercial photographer. Do you have a photography studio of your own? If so, what do you look for in a photography studio?

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
For a studio photographer, I do think it is essential in most cases, but I intentionally purchased a home with an unusually large garage that I converted into a studio. The most important things are to have room to work, and to create an environment that is comfortable and inviting for your clients and your subjects.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
The commercial world has been irreparably damaged by cheap stock photography. Every photographer who complains that there isn’t enough work for them, or that it pays too little, and has sold their imagery for less than professional rates, sold it royalty free, as micro-stock, or in a similar way, has only to look in the mirror to find the person to blame for their predicament. Much of my current effort is being directed at my new consumer based portrait business, Halper Fine Art.

FUTURE

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
How-to books can often cause as much damage as they do good. So many of the best images were done so simply that putting a diagram of somebody next to a window, or with a single light on the side, ends up feeling lacking in a book, so you end up with books that give you the crazy idea that lots of lights equals a better photograph, when the converse is more likely the case. On top of all of that, with the really good photographers, the technique was used in service of executing their vision for a particular image, and not for your image. It’s great to understand how something was done, and even to try and replicate it to learn, but far too many people stop there and just use other people’s setups and techniques. Painters learn in part by copying famous paintings, but that work would never end up in their own portfolios.

My idea of how-to is to use a method that puts the photographer in the position of making your own deliberate choices, based on what he or she finds beautiful, interesting and/or compelling about their subject, and do it in service of the client of the reason that the photo is being created. I do that in my workshop, but don’t plan on putting it in a book. I also don’t think that reading about it would work very well, I think that most photographers need more guidance during the process, and that is especially true when somebody is more experienced, which feels counter-intuitive, but is absolutely true.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I’ve actually been offering workshops for many years, and over the past five or so years have been consistently running my “The Professional Portrait” class two to four times a year. (This is the one that used to be called “Photographing People for Publication”.) It’s three very intense days with me, and in that time I will make you a better photographer. I am also doing a workshop called “Saving Your Photographic Career” in November, and have on ongoing workshops that meets via web conferencing two Monday evenings per month. Info is at www.TheExceptionalPortrait.com

Regrettably, taking people I don’t know on shoots has too much potential to backfire. I learned that the hard way when I brought along a crazy person who ended up threatening to damage my client relationship because he didn’t like me. In truth, I didn’t like him either; and he was fighting an uphill battle with me from the moment he arrived, which was about an hour later than his call time. Ironically, he spent what seemed to the better part of the day on the phone with his mother – a trait that should send anybody running in the opposite direction if encountered in a grown adult male.

Charging people to just be on a shoot seems wrong to me.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I bought a new 5D II when all of this began as well. Photographers think their world is opening up to video since the 5D does that, and videographers think they can now grab stills from a Red, but in the end this is just another example of a shrinking market that will have one creative required to do the job of two, and something that will further drive down rates since it will subtract from the number of people the client will need to hire. From a client’s perspective, this is phenomenal, but from ours this is really just a reaction to a shrinking market that will only serve to make it even smaller.

Video (and we are talking about video, although with less depth of field than we are used to), only will really exist on the web for the applications we’re discussing. Reverie is a great little piece that shows off what the camera can do, and how good Vincent is as putting together a quick production, but in the end it’s a video, and it isn’t the kind of video that clients often need.

Great advertising photography has always been great photography – just look at the work of Penn, Avedon, or even Annie’s better stuff twenty years after it was done to see how our perspective on it changes. On the other hand, what we create for the web with our 5Ds isn’t likely to last a moment past when out client changes the content.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
I do the best possible work that I can, and always strive to get better at it. I look for new markets, and find ones that will match well with me and creatively satisfy me. I think this is an industry where it is uniquely hard to solidify much of anything – there is always somebody coming up who wants to be where you are, which is the way of things.

MARK ROBERT HALPER:
The world, it is a-changing. If you have any other option, do something else professionally. If not, then it is more important than ever to create a business that is based on earning a real income that will support you and allow you to grow. Stay away from shooting what can be easily found in stock, what can be replaced with stock even if the imagery from stock will be different (a client that wanted environmental portraits very happy with people talking over a conference table when the cost is only $6 for that stock image), or work easily created in China before the products ship here (such as most website/catalog work).

It is and will continue to be more difficult than ever, to build a successful, long term, photography business, but it is still possible.

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Erich Chen

Lawrence — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:46:41 +0000

“Going beyond the expectations. Also, actively shooting, and making sure that you get the work done on time and done well. ”

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography?

ERICH CHEN: I wasn’t involved in yearbook, however I was involved in the journalism. But in journalism I wasn’t a photographer I was a really crappy art editor, which meant I drew bad illustrations to go with articles. I didn’t really touch photography formally until my second year in college. In high school I just had a point and shoot film camera and took photos of me and my friends doing ridiculous things. Think Borat plus Jackass. If that wasn’t bad enough I stored that camera in a fanny pack that I wore almost everyday. I was a crazy kid in high school.

ERICH CHEN: Yes of course, for both my film and digital photos. My subjects were everything and everyone. Just like everyone with a new camera, I headed instinctively head straight to flowers and rocks to photography. I remember being proud of those shots because I was in awe of the bokeh provided by this dslr phenomenon. The photos are not online, I never put them up, but I can tell you now I’ve improved a lot since then.

ERICH CHEN: For Wedding photography, it was just one book that held me over for a long time. The title is called “Digital Wedding Photography – Capturing Beautiful Memories” by Glen Johnson. It goes over a little bit of everything including: equipment, business models, styles of photography, what to do during the different parts of the wedding, and work flow etc etc. It was easy to read and had a lot of photos (which are important to me.) Online forums were a big help too, I use fredmiranda.com, but there are other ones like dwf that I hear over and over again.

ERICH CHEN: I think I was just at the right place and right time. As a photographer I’m not sure how much I really believe in luck. But basically, my friend gives me a call and tells me her cousins wedding was that weekend and if I wanted to shoot it. Of course I said yes. I was ecstatic, and really excited. I was only maybe 21 at that time, and I have only been to one, maybe two weddings. Then I started to think about how I didn’t really know how to shoot one, let alone I didn’t really know what they were like. I started to panic a little bit, then a lot. I figured if I brought every piece of equipment I brought I would be alright.
I don’t remember it being difficult to get another wedding. There was always that friend who had a low budget wedding and would pretty much let anyone shoot their wedding and naturally I stepped in and took the initiative. I took very little pay, but I didn’t care it was fun, new, and I was in college so any money was good money.
I acquired more weddings by making sure every client I met with was treated very, very well. In the beginning I didn’t meet very many clients, so every single one was extremely important to me (and they still are.)

ERICH CHEN: I don’t remember what next gig I had after my first wedding. It’s been a while, and I had a good number of gigs and some of them were pretty good. I had the opportunities to shoot celebrities and big concerts, and those I got through knowing the right people.
I’m a book lover. I love buying books even though I don’t read all of them. Books helped me a substantial amount, but I feel I learned faster by actually shooting and asking questions to those who were better than me. Really, the only ‘tools’ I recommend are your camera, your lens, and your passion to want to go out and shoot.

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What keeps the money rolling? Your brand and reputation in the wedding photography space is possibly a huge factor to your longevity? Am I right? Do you have any recommendations on brand building for weekend photographers trying to get into professional wedding photography?

ERICH CHEN: Going beyond the expectations. Also, actively shooting, and making sure that you get the work done on time and done well. In this industry I believe the brand is you. It’s your personality and your work. It’s cliché, but be true to yourself and others. I believe if you’re funny, then you should be funny. If you’re creative, then be creative. Bring out your strengths, and your confidence. It lets people know they’re in good hands.

ERICH CHEN:
Canon 5D II (still being shipped to me)
Canon 5D  Canon 40D Canon 24-70 f2.8 Canon 70-200 f2.8 Canon 17-40 f4 Canon 50mm f2.5 macro
Canon 50mm 1.4 (favorite all around lens) Canon 85mm 1.8 (favorite portrait lens)

Canon 580 EX
Canon 430 EX  Video Light Omni Bounce

All digital baby.

For engagement sessions I like to carry light. I actually hate being boggled down by heavy equipment. It’s usually a 5d, a 24-70 2.8L and a 85mm 1.8. For wedding photography it’s usually all of the above.

ERICH CHEN: My entire photography portfolio is actually really vast, so I’m going to make this easy on myself and just pick one out of my wedding photography. My favorite shot would probably be a recent one of a bride and groom walking down a hill with really dramatic overcast. A lot of people think overcast isn’t good, but I think it’s fantastic. Anytime I see any kind of clouds in Los Angeles I get excited because most of the time it’s just smog. So this photo is really simple actually, but it’s so beautiful to me.

ERICH CHEN: The world is my studio. I love shooting in natural light, in rain, in the dark, and whatever nature wants to throw at me. I think it’s a lot more interesting, challenging, and rewarding then shooting in an indoor studio all the time. None of my engagement shoots have taken place in a studio, yet. I recently had the request for one. All my engagement sessions have been outdoor, and it’s been great. I think people are more comfortable out in the open whether it be a beach, downtown, or in nature.

ERICH CHEN: I shoot a few events, concerts and fashion. One of my more current and exciting projects is a shoot with papayaclothing.com which is a company that is both nationwide and worldwide. In fact, there’s a papaya store in my local mall, and it’s kind of cool just walking in and seeing my work in the store.
Find what you’re good at and expand on that to diversify your offerings to the marketplace. Then find out what kind of brides and grooms like and then target them.

FUTURE

ERICH CHEN: My immediate goals are to book 50 percent amount of weddings I booked last year, I think it’s a challenging yet realistic goal even though I raised my prices. I don’t think I’ll be releasing any how-to books, at least not in the near future. Quite frankly, I don’t know if I have the patience to write something like that. If I write anything it will probably be short tutorials.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional wedding photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future?

ERICH CHEN: I’ve actually taught three workshops already, and I’ve taught two years of middle school photography. I definitely will be offering more workshops in the future, they’re a lot of fun for me and for the people who attend them. And even I learn a thing or two at my own workshops, because there’s always something that I can learn.

ERICH CHEN: I actually haven’t read that many articles about that, but my dad will tell me about it. He tells me I should learn videography, but I am uncertain about it, mainly because I haven’t tried it and my 5d II hasn’t shipped in yet. If I’m comfortable shooting shooting photo and video at the same time, I could probably see myself doing some fusion. When I look at a scene with a bride and groom, I actually think of the scene as if it were a movie. Recently I saw this business card of a videographer that says “If a photo is worth a thousand words, how much do you think 30 frames a second is worth?’

ERICH CHEN: You don’t have to be the best photographer, you just have to be better than your last shoot.

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Candice Cunningham

Lawrence — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:11:17 +0000

“I was not in photography in high school, I actually was in video production class. I was really ahead on credits so I was able to take video production 4 hours of my day. Now if I could just remember that for the fusion video editing. LOL!”

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography?

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: Photography was an outlet for me. I was diagnosed with severe dyslexia in the third grade, the doctor described it as “Pure Word Blindness.” Photography was a visual journal and record of my life.

I was not in photography in high school, I actually was in video production class. I was really ahead on credits so I was able to take video production 4 hours of my day. Now if I could just remember that for the fusion video editing. LOL!

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: In the early days I rocked it out the way most untrained and unguided photo enthusiasts do. In my early years I took photos of my friends, family, horses, and dogs. My early days were all about my car so, I would drive to the streets of Beverly Hills and set my car up for mini photo shoots. LOL It was not until the birth of my first daughter Madison, that I really got the ball rolling. I remember looking through the pages of Anne Geddes Images, and thinking WOW what lens does she have. LOL! It was Anne who made me research the technical side of photography. “Who would have known a world without P mode”. I got pretty good at taking photos of my children and began submitting them to online Stock houses and to date my children’s works is still being bought and published.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: We want to know what the must have resources are to fully equip ourselves when and if we ever plan to take that leap of faith into wedding photography.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: Ummm. Well the most important thing I can give you for advise is not camera related! Be honest with yourself and your potential clients and friends. There is nothing wrong with being where you are at. Actually I think there is a huge market for weekend warriors and “Uncle Bob” type market place. Think of the benefits to being in such a position. You get on the job training, the expectations are very low. In most cases your clients know they are not hiring the elite brand name photographer. So your ability to really learn and play and for goodness sakes make mistakes, it comes with a much lower risk. Everyone of you that are new to this market and are spending your nights on Google researching how to reach high end clients, with only a couple of weddings under your belt. You need to stop! Take it down a notch. Take full advantage of your inexperience. And yes it is an advantage if you leverage it properly. I remember in the early day, I was like a child with my camera, my freedom of creative allowed me to take greater risks. I had time to play. Like a child I didn’t know any different. I had a stable income that paid the bills and weddings simply paid for gear. So if you are a weekend warrior. Take the time to learn your craft before you go all in. Don’t get caught up in what the competition is charging. We fall prey to this blog stalking world. “how are they getting these prices when there work sucks, mine is so much better” Yea, know you do it …… WE ALL DO!.

That raises me to my second point. If you think your work is so much better why are they booked every weekend of the year and you cant get a wedding on CL?

You have to separate your business from your photography. I know its nutz. Really! If you are like most of us were when we were starting out it was all about the art. OK if you want to sell art, be a fine art photographer. But if you are wanting to be a wedding photographer. It is so much more than the images, your clients want an experienced photographer, they want personally. Learn your camera, take your manual out of the box read it. After that learn how to run a business. Take a small business class, take a marketing class. You cant bitch about the uncle bobs that are “want-a-bee” when you are being a wannabe web designer, wannabe logo designer, wannabe marketing person, wannabe account (totally guilty on that one till last year). Use some of your wedding money and invest in your business not just your glass. It will save your ….. moving on =)

Photographymentor.com You will find no better community of people willing to help you in your business and photography. When I first started going to PM, I didn’t really belong to any community and the more I got involved with this community, the more I became business focused, I had a supportive core group to keep me inspired. Before I found this site I felt alone locked in my office in the late night hours editing away. I quickly began using the live chat and found their photographers in the same boat as me up late editing. So we began editing together 100’s or even 1000’s of miles away. Suddenly I didn’t feel alone and I was learning and laughing at the same time. After some time I began as a moderator and now a partner in the site. It is something I truly believe in and I think it is the best community out there.

SMUGs Once a month I attend a local SMUG meeting. Great way to stay involved, meet new people face to face, learn new things. I love them!! www.smugmug.com/smugs

Books: With out a shadow of a doubt Fast Track photographer was the best book I have ever read. Dane Sanders book changed my life. I honestly would not be were I am at today with out Dane. Danes book was the missing link. I dont even think you should be legally allowed to ask another photographer for help with your business until you read this book!

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: I am truly a believer that you go out and get what you want out of life. I decided I wanted to be a wedding photographer after “uncle bob’ing” it at a friends wedding.

After that day I was hooked. I emailed and contacted every single wedding photographer I could find, begging to work for free 3 months went by and not a single taker. I decided that I would do it myself. I took out a CL ad may of 2002. That say this. “great children’s Photographer with no wedding experience would be honored to photograph your wedding”. I met a really nice couple online and explained to them I have ZERO experience in wedding photography and we agreed on 35.00 to cover gas and the cost to mail them a CD. I showed up to the wedding with a D100, a flash, a 70-200 2.8 and a one gig micro drive card. Only to show up to a bar lit room at the Santa Barbara Court house, with no flash allowed and no monopod. Truth be told I blew it. I got 3 good images. BUT because I was 100% honest with my clients. There was no backlash. I made it up to them by photographing them outside in the gardens. As of today I have received 13 wedding bookings from these “clients”. Honesty goes a long way. There is nothing wrong with being where you are at. Just make sure you know where your going!

I bought a monopod and my next crigstlist wedding was for 100.00 I shot 4 weddings that year all for under 500.00. I truly believe my drive and my honest approach is why I am not burned out and still shooting weddings today. I worked my way up from 35.00 to a price point to where I am today. So I say build yourself honestly, to many photographers “Want It” to happen yesterday and try to skip alot of steps in between. Relax there are people getting married every year… I promise!

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What did you do to acquire more work besides providing awesome images?

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: I treated my clients like royals even though most of them were on a “budget”. I truly appreciated being at each and every single one of their weddings. I treated my clients as if there were my only clients. Even though my first batches of brides had little money for photography. I treated them better than any other vendor they hired. Which lead to referral after referral!

PRESENT

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: What keeps the wedding photography money rolling in? Me. I think I am pretty good at what I do, but I do think there are a lot of other photographers that are better than me in a lot of different areas, my clients book me for me. I think my personality and my super sexy wedding style attracts my clients. But I am the one that gets them to sign. My level of customer service is super high. When I first meet with a client on the phone, I get general notes as to their wedding day, time location, colors ETC. Then before our meeting I gather information. I look up the time of sunset. I custom make them a welcome package in their wedding colors with their names on the folders along with their date. My clients know I pay attention to them. I request them as a Friend on Facebook. I built a brand not just a photography business.

Have a professional looking site and blog, update your blog on a regular basics. Have professional business cards made. Use the power of having two streams of income to make sure you have enough gear to make it though a wedding. It doesn’t have to be “flagship” bodies and lens. But make sure you can shoot in a low light church with no flash. Have back up gear and insurance. Take the time to learn the business side of running a business and paying taxes. Use your day job as advantage to learn before jumping off the deep end.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM:

In my bag

100% digital

1DsMarkII

5D Mark II

70-200mm IS L

20MM 1.8

85 1.8mm

28-70mm 2.8 L My fave

Just ordered my 15mm Fish

50mm 1:1 macro

2 580’s

2 550’s

4 Pocket wizards

power pack

230gigs in cards

mic for the 5DMII

Mono/tripod

Glide Cam pro 2000 for the 5D

and of course THE CAMERA SLINGER =)

I keep a “oh Crap!” bag in the car, if for some reason my bag gets stolen during a wedding I have an XTI a 50mm 1.8 70-200mm and a 550 flash I keep in the car as a third back up.

For the E-session I keep it lite

I ALWAYS just roll with my Camera Slinger.

Mark II and the 70-200 on one side and the 5DMII with the 28-70 on the other side extra set of batteries in my pocket, and my card holders attaches to my Camera Slingers. So I am pretty feel to move around during the e-sessions.

One wedding day I have an assistant Susan (she is amazing!) I keep pretty much the same set up and Susan is right there if I need to change out a lens.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: I have two favorite images. The first is the first photo that comes up on my site. It is of the tear rolling down her face. I think that image is so powerful. I can “feel” that photo. Every time I see it I can remember the wedding like it was yesterday. I am going to have a hard time giving you the construction of the image. The composition has become second nature at this point. But I do remember manually focusing that image. I try to follow the rules of composition as much as possible.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: I do not have a studio. I love to take my couples out to the city or to the beach or the best a place that means the most to them. My favorite places to shoot is El Madador beach in Malibu Ca, Montaceito downtown, and West Hollywood.

FUTURE

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: I think one day I will do a book, because this has all been one wild crazy ride. With Camera Slinger’s overwhelming success and the insane backstory behind it. I think one day I have an amazing story that will inspire people. But for now I am busy enough with my weddings, cameraslingers, Photography Mentor, The Photo Fusion Tour, SMUG’s and a couple of other side project not to mention my children. But maybe some day =)

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: A lot of professional wedding photographers are starting to run workshops. Will you start offering workshops in the future?

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: Yes I am. After Romancing the Storm, I will be running a storm chasing shoot in Tornado Alley! Each May.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: “Fusion” is here and it is not going away. I think this is the same argument that once was with film and digital. I think we have to embrace new technology. I think this is an amazing new technology to embrace. Should we as photographers try to replace videographers? NO. But add video to showcase the photos absolutely! The problem I am having and I am sure TONS of others who rushed out in November to pick up their Mark IIs is the editing and understanding of Video itself. I am the coordinator for the Photo Fusion Tour. www.photofusiontour.com The tour is being lead by the superstar Team and my good friends Curt Apanovich and Robert Evans sponsored by Smug Mug. We are going to 9 cities around the country, holding a intensive fusion workshop of editing the footage and the process of creating a Fusion Video. No matter how you feel about it, for it or against it, it is here and it is not going away and I firmly believe that you will either embrace it or fight it. I think the ones who learn it now will have a BIG advantage as more and more of the general public becomes exposed to the concept.

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: Keep yourself involved in a community, let that community feed your natural competitiveness to push yourself! Think outside the box, try new things, get a dress and a friend and go out one afternoon and just go play!. I think of how I would photograph a wedding any and everywhere. I know how I would ROCK! a wedding at Costco.

That is how Romancing the Storm project came about! Go to www.romancingthestorm.com to see images and details from the crazy shoot!

CANDICE CUNNINGHAM: Get involved with a supportive community

Pick just one of your photography projects that you have been thinking about doing for goodness knows for only how long and make it happen.

Read one branding or marketing book, even if you get it from the public library or “borrow” it.

Take a good hard look at your website and logo, does it reflect you.

Take the time this week to help just one other photographer, even if you don’t think you’re good enough to help anyone.

Practice one act of random kindness. I practice random acts of kindness just about everyday.

Set your dreams high and if you don’t think you can reach them, build a ladder.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Melissa Rodwell

Lawrence — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:48:33 +0000

PAST

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In your early years of high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest in photography? Do you recommend all the weekend photographers out there to initially stick with the subjects they know and build from there? Do you have any suggestions on how to build that progression? How did you progress to where you are today in photography?

MELISSA RODWELL: I worked book in my senior year of high school. I was visiting Paris when I was 17 and happened to walk into a gallery where Helmut Newton’s pictures were hanging and knew immediately that I wanted to become a photographer. Yes, shoot what and who you know and expand from there. Try to work with people who could work as models or have that look and then try to get into working with the professional model agencies.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

MELISSA RODWELL: Most of my early work is not available online. And yes, I still do have some of my early work.

MELISSA RODWELL: My father bought me the Time/LIFE series of books in the early days on photography. They were grey and black. I also read books on the history of fashion and The Vogue Book of Fashion Photography was like a bible to me.

MELISSA RODWELL: In my last year of college, I shot for a jeans company called Paris Blues. I had a friend who worked for the LA Weekly and they had an advertiser that needed new photos for an ad to run in the Weekly so she suggested me and I shot the job. No it didn’t become easier after my first gig. I had to learn how to cold call and schlep my book and travel and continue to pursue work from day one. It’s just gotten less intimidating now. And now I get work or leads for work through word of mouth. When you’re new, that’s impossible. I don’t have a rep per se. I have a producer who handles everything for me. My producer found me from a source book I advertise in, At-Edge.

MELISSA RODWELL: I went to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and graduated in January of 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in photography. So I applied what I learned in college mostly to the jobs I starting getting after school. The tools you need a big huge desire to make it and a bit of a thick skin and the willingness to travel and do what it takes to make it happen for you. Of course, you have to be able to shoot. So learn the craft backwards and forwards and build a good strong portfolio that can compete in the market.

PRESENT

MELISSA RODWELL: Syndication keeps things rolling. Usage fees, things like that. Advertising work and catalogue work. Campaigns bring in money. Brand building is an identity of who you are and your style. Figure that out and build an “image” around it. I’m sort of a rock and roll kid and so black and cool fonts work for me as oppose to daisies and pastels.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current portfolio and why? How did you approach the execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

MELISSA RODWELL: I don’t really have a favorite single image. I’m leaning towards this shot I did of a young male model named Peter who I shot at the beach one day. There’s something classic and filmic about him and the shot. I cropped it in an unusual way and I like the results.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Is having your own studio space essential for any commercial photographer. Do you have a photography studio of your own? If so, what do you look for in a photography studio?

MELISSA RODWELL: I don’t have a studio. I don’t want the overhead. I look for enough shooting space when I rent them. I’ve have studios in the past. I’d rather spend my money on travel.

MELISSA RODWELL: Work surfaces overnight from all sorts of places. Even facebook, believe it or not. I get work from my site, or a magazine spread that someone will see, or a stylist. Right now I am heading to NYC in October to show my book and I’m going to be testing in the next few weeks for it.

FUTURE

MELISSA RODWELL: We are having a store built for my blog, www.fashionphotographyblog.com I want to sell prints and books and continue to do seminars. I have one planned for November 7th and 8th.

MELISSA RODWELL: I’m excited to explore that and have begun to.

MELISSA RODWELL: Remain true to my self and true to my art!

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW: Dana Hursey

Lawrence — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:44:25 +0000

PAST

DANA HURSEY: Funny you should ask, that is really how I got started. My stepdad was an editorial photographer for auto magazines and was ALWAYS taking photos at any opportunity. At the age of 12, I was offered the opportunity to do my junior high schools first yearbook ever. May stepdad gave me one of his old cameras and it was all downhill from there. What really locked it in for me was when I was a Junior in high school one of my teachers told me about a place where I could go and get a degree in photography and would not have to do any “regular” college courses. I was not big on “school” so I had to check this out. I visited the College in question (Art Center College of Design – Pasadena CA) and when I walked into the student gallery and saw the work that was being done, and realized people were actually doing this as a profession, I was instantly hooked. Later when I found out the teacher (who had told me “no general ed. required”) was, … well let’s say “speaking inaccurately” it was too late. I didn’t care what I had to do.. I was going to Art Center.

I would recommend that people stick with what they love, more importantly. And push yourself on every shoot to do something new / different / uncomfortable, but still something you are passionate about.

I would say that most reasons I am where I am at today start with “P”… Persistence, Perserverence, Passion…
They type of work I do has changed a lot over the years, because for many years I did what I thought people wanted to see rather than what I wanted. It took a lot of years for me to learn that doesn’t work.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?

DANA HURSEY: Sure I have them… I tend to not show old work as it does not pertain to who I am today. Certainly it has SHAPED who I am but it really only speaks to the past. I went straight from high school to a commercial art college and consequently my work has almost always been clean & commercial. It is really kind of who I am and I like it! Subject is not a big factor for me, it is more about the creative process. I love to collaborate, but more than that I love control!

DANA HURSEY: My inspirations were Irving Penn, Yousuf Karsh, and George Hurrell. My Irving Penn Book seems to be out of print. The Karsh book is the Sixty Year Retrospective. I also remember having the TimeLife Photography Collection when I was a kid. What prepared me for the photography “business”? I came from a family that had it’s own business. In addition to running the business for a couple of years, I took accounting classes and studio managed for two photographers for two years. THAT is what prepped me for the “business”! Really…. Photography is about 10% of what I do.. if I am lucky, business is the other 90%. That is the reality.

DANA HURSEY: I guess if I had to say what my first job was after opening my own “studio” it would have been a single B/W portrait of a client of a friend of mine, who was a designer. The Job that I always feel was my first really big job was 129 jobs and 6 years later doing an ad campaign for Cigna Healthcare. But my first paying gig would have been a wedding when I was maybe 17. I’ll never do another wedding in my life. I have great admiration for wedding photographers… It is just not in my reality! I would only recommend this profession to those who are absolutely passionate about it. I would not want to discourage anyone from this profession, but it is VERY competitive and a financial and emotional roller coaster. I cannot imagine doing anything else. I am currently repped… I have gone through long periods of both being repped and not being repped, and there are pluses and minuses to both sides. It is actually harder to get a rep than it is to get a job. But ultimately one should not worry about looking for a rep until one is too busy to market themselves. Getting work is all about keeping your name out there in any fashion you can. Advertise. Online, direct mail, source books, cold calls. Sell, sell, sell!!!

DANA HURSEY: I am NOT a reader of books. Let’s just get that out there right now. Most of what I’ve learned has either been from learning it at Art Center or learning it experientially. Art Center is not the end all and beall of Photo Education Programs. There are a lot of other valid and viable players in that game. I occasionally teach at Art Center and love sharing information. But there are a ton of different paths to this career and no one should get caught up in trying to figure out which one is the “right” one. The “right” one is the one that you take. If you want to be a good photographer; 1.) learn all you can about lighting and composition, because that is what a photographer is, a recorder of light and composition. If you want to have a successful photo business, see step 1 AND then 2.) learn all you can about BUSINESS. If you want to have a successful photo business and be competitive, see steps 1 & 2, and get yourself tech savvy… We are all digital now and you need to be knowledgeable in this arena so as to speak intelligently to your clients and also know how most effectively and efficiently to accomplish any given shot. One of my favorite resources in this arena..? … http://www.lynda.com

PRESENT

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What keeps the money rolling? Your brand is possibly a huge factor to your longevity? Am iright? Do you have any recommendations on brand building for weekend photographers and/or Photographers in general.

DANA HURSEY: LOL… Sorry I shouldn’t laugh, should I?.. This of ALL years has been a harsh and ridiculous year. Not just for our industry, but wow.. ourindustry! Everyone has really taken a hit. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. And anyone who says they haven’t is simply trying to paint a pretty picture and hoping no one challenges them. With that said I think we are starting to see a rebound. But on to Branding. Branding is vitally important. It is about consistency. Consistency in your photography, in how you shoot, in your communications (both in style and appearance). www.phototherapists.com specialize in working with photographers on precisely this (and no, I don’t get any commissions for saying so)

DANA HURSEY: Really?..okay…
In alphabetical order….

PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT
13″ Monitor Tray with Steadi-Cam Pin for mounting on Magliner
25LB SAND BAGS -6 @ $35.00
50′ Extension Cords x6
Avenger Super Clamp, Stand Adapter, and Grip Head
Avenger 40″ C Stands w/ Grip Head, Ext Arm X 4
BLACK FELT FLAGS & CUTTERS
Bogen Pro Digital Geared Head 405
Bogen Pro Digital Geared Head 405
Calument 42″ Lightdisk Kit
Canon EC-D Focusing Screen
Canon EF 100mm 2.8 Macro USM Lens
Canon EF 16mm-35mm AF Lens
Canon EF 28mm-300mm IS USM AF Lens
Canon EF 35mm-350mm AF Lens
Canon EF85mm 1.2L AF USM Lens
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III Digital Camera w/extra battery
Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera w/ extra battery
Canon Extension Tube EF25
Canon MP-E 65mm 2.8 1-5x Macro Lens
Canon Speedlite 580EX
Canon TS-E 90mm 2.8 Tilt Shift Lens
Chimera SUPER PRO SOFT BOX (Lg)
CHIMERA SUPER PRO SOFT BOX (sm)
COMET GRID SPOT SET (3 GRIDS)
Foba Gamma Camera Stand w/Accessory Tray & Laptop Tray & Adapter
Gel-Stor Roll-Up
Gitzo Performance Rapid GT3540 XLS Tripod w/ GS3510S Center Post
Hasselblad 120mm HC 4.0 Macro Lens
Hasselblad 28mm HCD 4.0 Lens
Hasselblad 50-110mm HC 3.5-4.5 Zoom Lens
Hasselblad 80mm HC 2.8 Lens
Hasselblad Battery Grip x2
Hasselblad H13mm Extension Tube
HasselbladH3D-39II 39MP Camera Body
Hasselblad Pro Lens Shade V/H 6095 w/ 77mm & 95mm Mount Rings
HasslebladH3D II 39MP Digital Back
Jobo Photo GPS
Lensbaby 2.0 Lens with Canon Mount
Lexar High Speed Card Reader
LIGHT STANDS x 4
Lightware Strobe Head Case T4444 X2
Lightware 50 Flip Lid Case C5042
Lightware 50 Flip Lid Case C6050
LIGHTWARE CARGO 32 CASE
LIGHTWARE CASE #1420 (Qty = 3)
Lightware MF1015 Camera Bag / Case x2
Lightware Tool Kit Wallet A8700
Lowepro Pro Roller 2 Camera Bag
Magliner Gemini JR Hand Truck w/top shelf
Manfrotto 685B Monopod
Motorola Talkabout two way radios x 4
PHOTEK UMBRELLAS x4
PHOTOFLEX REFLECTOR 52″
Pocket Wizard Radio Slaves (2 Tranmitters / 2 Receivers)
Profoto 5M Head Extension Cable
Profoto Acute / D4 Ring Light 330513
Profoto Acute2 / D4 Strobe Head w/Reflector and Cover x 6
Profoto D4 2400R Strobe Pack x2
Profoto SpeedRing QR
Profoto StickLight
Profoto WideSoft Reflector for RingFlash
RawWorkFlow WhiBal Pocket & Studio Full Kit Bundle
Sandisk Extreme IV 2 GB CompactFlash Card x6
Sekonic Flash Meter L-358 with RT Module
Speedotron Set of 4 7″ Grids
Tamrac 332 Tripod Padded Bag
Tamrac 603 Zoom Traveler Camera Bag
Tamrac Big Wheels Backpack Camera Case (697)
Tenba RS-M24 Wheeled Air Case
TIFFEN 77mm POLARIZING FILTER
Visible Dust Full Size Pro 1.0x Bundle
Wescott 3515 Speed Ring
Wescott 4830 16×22 Soft Box
Plus a bunch of expendables, i.e. gaffer tape, batteries, gel filters, modeling clay, tools, wire, A clamps, canned air, scissors & blades, etc….

On the computer Side.. briefly
MacPro w / 30” & 24” monitors and 8 TB of external storage
Portable 2 bay “Shoot Drive” (2 TB)
15” Mac Book Pro
24” iMac (x2)

What do I bring most to shoots? Literally.. see ALL of the above w/ exception of 1 iMac and MacPro Setup.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your favorite image in your current portfolio and why? How did you approach the execution? Give us a glimpse on how you construct an image from scratch.

DANA HURSEY: My favorite image changes on a regular basis. So today.. It would probably be the image of topiaries that I did for UnitedHealthcare. I like it because it is clean, simple, graphic and a bit ambiguous. This particular shot we did on the crest of a grassy hill in Malibu. The day was a bit gloomy and consequently we had to drop a “pretty” sky into it, in post-production. I am a bit old school in that I believe in getting as much as possible “in camera” and not relying on post-production to “piece together” the shot. Don’t get me wrong, we utilize the digital medium extensively, we just find the imagery is better when we do the bulk of the work in front of the lens.

A lot of what we do these days starts as a sketch. Even for personal work. It makes it easier to relay to everyone involved what the vision for the shot is. From there we let everyone do their job. Set and prop stylists, wardrobe stylists, even assistants, we hire the best people and give them the space to do what they do. Certainly we communicate constantly to make sure we are heading down the same path. When you get a good crew together all of the pieces generally fall into place. There is always a hiccup or two, but a gain with a good crew, we just address the issue and fix it.

LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Is having your own studio space essential for any commercial photographer. Do you have a photography studio of your own? If so, what do you look for in a photography studio?

DANA HURSEY: It depends on what type of work you do. The majority of photographers, at least in the bigger cities, don’t maintain a physical studio. These days it is standard to rent a studio as needed. For us, a large part of our work is on location so it makes no sense to have the overhead of a studio that you are not using all the time. When we rent we look for clean open studios with plenty of room for clients and talent, a good sound system that we can plug an iPod into, WiFi, and if it is close to or has it’s own equipment rental facility and catering, all the better!

DANA HURSEY: Currently we are working on a Botox Campaign, a fun web site project and we have a couple conceptual projects waiting in the wings. These all came from different sources; Botox is a return client, the web site project found us online (imagine!) and the conceptual stuff came through our Chicago Rep.
Stock has also taken a real dump this year. It will be interesting to see if / how it recovers. It used to be a very viable source for regular income. I have seen my stock income drop about 80% and many of my colleagues are experiencing the same. Consequently I am not investing a ton of time into stock. These days we are really trying to focus our energies on assignment work. It’s my first love and so I tend to not pursue other things that will dilute my focus. We used to do a fair amount of film and video production / post-production as well but have really scaled back on that as it tends to be a distraction.

FUTURE

DANA HURSEY: My immediate goals are to continue to grow the business, develop new clients, reach into new geographical markets, and raise my profile. I am also looking to get more work through the door so as to fund my personal work, which tends to be a bit costly. Being that I am not a reader, it stands to reason that I am not a writer. Hence, no how to books for me. I am more of the workshop / teaching type. As I said earlier, I occasionally teach at Art Center and that fulfills my itch to share.

DANA HURSEY: Workshops are always a potential for me. I partner with Rhoni Epstein occasionally. I have had many folks want to spectate and am not opposed to it in the right situation. I have a list of growing e-mail addresses for that. But weekends? Really? I think I have done a weekend shoot maybe twice in my 20 years…

DANA HURSEY: I am going to go out on a limb here and say I don’t think this is going to be the “revolution” that so many are making it out to be. There IS a lot of discussion about it, but I truly think the application is limited. I have seen the systems that are available and while they may tout being able to do both in one fell swoop; I have yet to see one that does not have some major flaws. Some of the flaws I am told by those “in-the-know”are unfixable due to pure physics. Having done film and video for a lot of years, video opens up a whole new bag of, well, .. everything that one must be on top of, from hardware to software to so many technical issues that are inherent to video, that while I think there are some very valid applications, I don’t think it is going to become the “force” in the industry that some manufacturers might hope. But that’s just me. AND that’s me having a background in it such that if it becomes necessary I can easily fall back into it…

DANA HURSEY: The answer is easily said but not easily done. You need to stay current. Technically, stylistically, visually. Your imagery needs to stay relevant. I think part of that is not being in a bubble, which I think so many of us can easily fall into. Working with good people helps. It keeps you on your toes. For me it is all about getting the client what they want, hopefully adding something of value to the mix, doing it in an extremely efficient manner, on budget, with a bit of fun thrown in.

DANA HURSEY: We all need to have a sense of responsibility to our industry. We need to ensure that what we do retains its sense of value. We need to produce quality work. We need to not giveit away. The world is becoming ever more visual, which means what we do should be more valuable not less. Those who would work for little or no compensation or undercut to get the job do damage to us all, including themselves. If you are going to be a professional photographer, do it with integrity. Oh… and have fun!