20 Questions – Essie Nagler

Posted by essie on Aug 17, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 1 comment

Your Name? Essie Nagler
What brand camera do you use? iPhone 4
Your age? 24
What lighting brand do you use? The sun
Your favorite lens? I don’t have that luxury since I shoot with my iPhone. But on my actual camera I have a 50mm, so I’ll say that.
Mac of PC? Ha, is this a joke? Mac.
Your favorite lab? I prefer Mpix, but ProDPI is cool too.
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? It’s not someone, it’s everything around me! That awesome looking girl that just walked through the parking lot, the graffiti plastered on the wall, the editorials I drool over on all the fashion blogs I look at. Everything.
How long have you been shooting ? 4 or 5 years
Your favorite color? purple or gold, or silver…. with sparkles.
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My iPhone and it’s not gear, but my cat.
If you could do anything else what would it be? Be a rockstar. I don’t play any instruments, and I can’t sing. But I can DANCE! I JUST WANNA DANCE!
How would you explain your style? I’m going to go with clothing style on this one……. awesome? eclectic, boho chic, random, totally rad. I guess this could work for my photos too.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? Know your gear and what you’re doing. How would you feel if someone charged you and they had no idea what they were doing.
What do you mainly shoot? whatever I see and have enough time to open my phone and click the camera icon and press the take picture button.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? I’d like to say workout and read. But that’s just not true. Well I do read a lot of fashion blogs, I like to shop, play with my cat, also floating down the river when it’s nice out is pretty fun.
What did you have for breakfast? My rendition of huevos rancheros: 2 corn tortillas, beans, 2 fried eggs, cheese and cilantro.
Favorite drink or cocktail? Well I really like water, but a nice margarita is A OK in my book.
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? This one:    I also really dig Sally Mann
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? New York. I don’t really think it gets much better than New York.

This is my mom. She was probably around my age or younger. I found this negative and developed it.

 

I should probably explain this photo, but I won’t. It’s from a series.

20 Questions – Michelle Moore

Posted by kevin focht on Aug 5, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 1 comment

Your Name? Michelle Moore
What brand camera do you use? Canon
Your age? 27
What lighting brand do you use? ProFoto (for when I’m shooting in studio)
Your favorite lens? 50mm 1.0L
Mac of PC? Mac! Fully converted 7 years ago
Your favorite lab? ProDpi http://prodpi.com
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? I’m inspired by light. The way light hits and reflects off objects, people, nature, the sky, etc. I’m always inspired by how it falls across my subject at different points throughout the day. I get inspired when I’m shooting, when I’m out for a run, when I’m talking to a friend at a coffee shop – I’m always looking at it, and mentally noting it. It helps me when I’m working with a client, and even in my processing.
How long have you been shooting ? 11 years, 8 professionally
Your favorite color? a LOT of colors, but mostly oranges + yellows
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My iPhone. Seriously. I cannot live without it!
If you could do anything else what would it be? I would love to be a producer, whether it was for a band, or magazine. I just love to organize all the fine details, and map it all out. I think it’s one of my favorite parts of doing my fashion work, because I get to put all the pieces together!
How would you explain your style? Fresh, youthful, full of light, happy. I like to have fun on my shoots, and I think that comes across in the majority of my work. It’s fun and light-hearted. I try not to take life too seriously, so I like my images to have an energy and happiness about them.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? Be prepared to work hard. If you are ready to put hours into your work, marketing yourself, studying the business, spent countless nights editing your life away, networking, and shooting, shooting (always shooting more!) then go for it. When I first started out I was shooting every, single, day. You’ll learn so much when you come at it with 150%.
What do you mainly shoot? My main concentration is fashion (editorial, commercial lifestyle and celebrity), and high school senior portraits.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? I love movies. I am a huge movie buff! I also love being active, especially running, yoga or just going for a nice walk.
What did you have for breakfast? Iced Mocha and a Raspberry Scone
Favorite drink or cocktail? Whiskey on the rocks and a Rainier.
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? I can’t think of just one off the top of my head, but anything with a dancer. I think professional dancers are so graceful, and their beauty caught on film is one of my most favorite/inspiring type of photograph to look at.
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? I’ve shot at some really amazing locations in the Northwest, and the furthest I have gone for a paid job (so far) is LA. We shot at the Avalon down there – super gorgeous hotel and friendly staff! I’ve shot in Ireland, but just on vacation. I’d love to go to Greece or Australia next for work – just putting that out there in the universe!

Check out more of Michelle’s work here or check out her blog

20 questions – Don Chick

Posted by kevin focht on Jul 28, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 2 comments

Your Name? Don Chick
What brand camera do you use? Canon
Your age? 48, just barely!!!
What lighting brand do you use? Photogenic and Paul C. Buff
Your favorite lens? Canon 24-105 f4.0
Mac of PC? Honestly, It doesn’t matter to me. I just want them to work. With that said; however, I currently use pc’s.
Your favorite lab? Millers, love, love love!!!
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? Yousf Karsh. Absolutely love his classic imagery. His portrait books are great for studying light, composition and emotion.

Others include (but are not limited to) Alfred Stieglitz, Picasso
Contemporary Photographers: Darton Drake, Joseph & Louise Simone, Fuzzy Duenkel, Dean Collins
How long have you been shooting ? 14 years
Your favorite color? Red
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? If I am cold and dead, you can have all my gear, I won’t need it!!!!
If you could do anything else what would it be? I can’t do anything else. I could do other things to earn money; however, my passion is to create portraits of people.A client recently asked me, “Do you ever get tired of photographing people?”….. I had never been asked that by a client before so the question took me by surprise…… I thought about it and said… “No, I love to photograph people.” I could photograph people 10 hours a day, if I had that many clients…
How would you explain your style? Classic, Eclectic….
What advice would you give someone starting out today? If you can “do” anything else, do it.
There’s already enough starving photographers in the field.

Ok, so you insist on being a photographer…. I know you just want to take pretty pictures; however, listen to me for a second……

1st. You’re not as good as you think you are…. You’ve been shooting a year, you’ve had no training and just because you can tilt the camera, add an effect and over saturate doesn’t mean your “good”… It just means your an untrained, over saturate’r with an ego problem.
2nd. It takes 5 years to be able to take a portrait.
3rd. Swallow your pride and take some classes from people who do know what they’re doing.
What do you mainly shoot? Portraits
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? Early in the morning, before anyone in the family is awake, I like to sit at my desk in the bay window and watch the birds come to eat the bread crumbs I throw out for them each day. Quiet music is also playing, & I have a nice cup of coffee. At this time I like to read my Bible and pray. The birds are a reminder of how the Lord said that I needn’t’ worry and that I should trust Him. He said He provides for the birds, won’t He then provide for me?!!!
This quiet/reflective time helps me meet the challenges of the day.
What did you have for breakfast? Cottage cheese & pineapple
Favorite drink or cocktail? Cream Soda
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? Yikes, one image…. Force me to pick one…… I guess the portrait of Winston Churchill by Y. Karsh.
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? I got to photograph a wedding at Fenway park in Boston. We trooped around the whole park shooting from many different spots. It was a LOT of work, but pretty cool to be there. I got to go to home plate to photograph the B&G out on the field.
Yup, that would be the coolest place!!!

Thank you for asking,

Kindness,

Don

See more of Don’s work HERE