20 Questions – Chuck Arlund

Posted by kevin focht on Jun 20, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 0 comments

Your Name? Chuck Arlund
What brand camera do you use? Pentax, Canon
Your age? 41
What lighting brand do you use? Alien Bee, Canon Speedlight, Lowell
Your favorite lens? 50mm 35, 75mm medium
Mac of PC? Mac
Your favorite lab? Millers
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? Ellen Von Unwerth, Her style moves me. It is whimsical and dark and funny and sexy all at the same time. She pushes limits. The first time I saw her work back int the early/mid 90′s I loves the fact that she left her images dirty. It just made me feel like fracking everything up could be cool. Still to this day I just admire her work.
How long have you been shooting ? 24 years
Your favorite color? Indigo
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My 1960 Pink Gibson Les Paul.
Oh. Camera equipment, I’m being serious with this one. My iPhone with hipstomatic.
If you could do anything else what would it be? Global Rock Star. Give me a guitar, a stage and 20k screaming fans… That is cool
How would you explain your style? I would call it clean yet dark. Sexy and a bit demented.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? Take a class and learn basic exposure to the point you don’t have to think about it and you can recreate any look you might have happened upon.
Best thing I ever did was a zone system class using only 4×5 cameras
What do you mainly shoot? Girls
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? Playing guitar while playing with my family. I think my 3 year old girl might be the next Joan Jett
What did you have for breakfast? Protein shake
Favorite drink or cocktail? Red Bull Margarita & coffee after midnight
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? Hard to say depending on the genre. I’ll take fashion since that is my love. A shot I always remember is a Herb Ritts shot of model with her hair wrapped around her face where you can see her features. It is called “mask” I forget the models, Cindy or Linda I believe.
But so many more images that this question is just impossible to answer
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? Hard to say. Honestly for work it might be Kansas City. Because I know it like the back of my hand.
I’ve been to some cool places but there really is nothing like your own backyard.

20 Questions – Kaui Nichols

Posted by kevin focht on Jun 14, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 0 comments

Your Name? Kaui Nichols
What brand camera do you use? canon
Your age? 29
What lighting brand do you use? photogenic
Your favorite lens? 50 1.2
Mac of PC? both
Your favorite lab? whcc but millers is my second lab
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? my grandma. i look back on all the things she has done in her life. where she started and what she had built for herself, her daughters, and us as a family. she works hard and knows how to do things you wouldn’t expect her to be able to do. she constantly will tell me that i can do anything and i will be someone.
How long have you been shooting ? 5 years
Your favorite color? blue – that teal aqua blue on a crystal clear day
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? i don’t love anything but my surfboard that much lol maybe my cell phone lol.
If you could do anything else what would it be? i’d be a preschool teacher!
How would you explain your style? carefree, funloving,
What advice would you give someone starting out today? it’s a wonderful business to be in, however it takes constant work, constant growth, and a lot of faith in yourself. it’s not about a pretty photo, it’s about a savvy business plan, a tight run studio, and overall a wonderful inviting friendly attitude … the pretty photos come later. it’s hard work, but well worth it.
What do you mainly shoot? children
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? surf and yoga … i’m assuming you mean when i’m not shooting, selling, editing, retouching, delivering, or cleaning lol!
What did you have for breakfast? water
Favorite drink or cocktail? mango smoothies
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? i had to go into a few art galleries in college. we were walking around and happened into a black and white photo gallery on the wall was a nude photo of this woman and it looked like she was floating on air. i was hooked
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? costa rica cause i got to spend a month surfing too

20 Questions – Lindsey Adler

Posted by kevin focht on Jun 9, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 0 comments

Your Name? Lindsay Adler
What brand camera do you use? Canon
Your age? 25
What lighting brand do you use? Broncolor, Profoto, Dynalite
Your favorite lens? 85mm 1.4
Mac of PC? Mac
Your favorite lab? Miller’s Professional Imaging
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? Creatively my biggest inspirations have been the masters of fashion photography like Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, and Albert Watson. The quality of their light and images are timeless and would make stunning photographers no matter what era they were taken in.
How long have you been shooting ? 10+ years
Your favorite color? Maroon
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My 85mm 1.4 lens. Can’t live without it.
If you could do anything else what would it be? I have absolutely NO idea what else I would do with myself if I weren’t a photographer. I am interested in politics, travel, public relations, flipping commercial space, etc… in other words I have a lot of other random interests but I really don’t devout any serious time or thought to any of them. I do really enjoy writing and I have written two books for photographers… so perhaps I would be an author of sorts.
How would you explain your style? I would say my style is simple, graphic and bold. I like having clean backgrounds, and have my subjects in graphic and interesting poses. If shooting in color, the color really pops from the page and is essential to the image. When shooting in black and white, I shoot high contrast so that the tonalities are stark and dramatic.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? Find a successful photographer you admire, and find a way to work for them or shadow them. In the beginning it is a wonderful to find a photographer who has a style that you admire or that inspires you. When you are serious about becoming a professional, you should try you best to get an inside look at how a very successful photographer runs his/her business. How do they interact with clients? How do they structure packages or get initial contact with clients?

You don’t need to necessarily go to school for photography, but you must always continue to educate yourself.
What do you mainly shoot? I mainly shoot fashion photography for a variety of clients and magazines. In any given week I might shoot a fashion editorial for a magazine, shoot a look-book for a clothing designer, and then another shoot for a more commercial client. Thankfully I spend most of my shooting time on more creative projects.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? When I’m not shooting, I love to research images online to plan new shoots! I love to figure out the concept and help put together my creative team to help me create stunning art! No really, I am that obsessed with photography. In my free time I am thinking about what I am going to shoot next!

What did you have for breakfast? Half a Bagel, buttered, with orange juice.
Favorite drink or cocktail? Malibu and Pineapple
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? I’ve always been inspired by iconic images. These images become part of the collective understanding of a time and place. They cannot be separate from a particular era or experience in history. For example, the Eddie Adams photograph of the man being execute in the street during the Vietnam War, is an iconic image along with the photograph of the girl covered in napalm running nude through the streets. Both of the images come to define the horrors of that war as experienced by the Vietnamese.
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? I’ve traveled my interesting places for work… London, Las Vegas, San Francisco, etc. I absolutely loved Banff National Park in Canada. I didn’t shoot fashion photography there, but photographed lots of landscapes and challenged myself to create images for my other types of creative photography classes.

20 Questions – Charleton Churchill

Posted by kevin focht on Jun 2, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 0 comments

Your Name? Charleton Churchill
What brand camera do you use? currently Canon
Your age? 36
What lighting brand do you use? Alienbees
Your favorite lens? 35L and 70-200L. 85L is amazing.
Mac of PC? Mac
Your favorite lab? No favorites, but I use Millers for most.
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? I have many inspirations around me, with books, art, music, symphony, magazines, other artists. Kevin Focht mentored me and inspired me.
How long have you been shooting ? Since 2008 Professionally, hobbyist prior.
Your favorite color? I think right now it’s blue and brown
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My man purse: My iphone4g
If you could do anything else what would it be? Climb Mt. Everest.
How would you explain your style? I prefer to be more dramatic and romantic in my images, a fashionable feel.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? Read every good book on photography, learn from others, watch videos, study, take classes, give your all, and PRACTICE like hell. Don’t expect to be great unless you’re willing to work hard.
What do you mainly shoot? Mainly weddings, but I want to explore other areas.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? Spending time with my three girls and my wife! (and hiking).
What did you have for breakfast? egg and spinach wrap.
Favorite drink or cocktail? PEPSI
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? Anything Taylor James.
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? New York so far, but I have a feeling I’m going to like working in Europe more.

You can see more of Charleton’s work Here

20 Questions – Yervant

Posted by kevin focht on Jun 1, 2011 in 20 Questions, News and Notes | 0 comments

Your Name? Yervant
What brand camera do you use? canon
Your age? 53
What lighting brand do you use? Metz
Your favorite lens? Canon EF24-105/4 EF50/1.2 EF142.8L
Mac of PC? Mac
Your favorite lab? Nulab
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? I draw inspiration usually from motion picture film makers, eg Pédro Almoldovar.
I love their eye for angles, light and composition to tell the viewer many stories in one shot. I try to do just that in my stills, tell many stories.
How long have you been shooting ? 29 years
Your favorite color? Black
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My I-Pad !
If you could do anything else what would it be? I would have like to have been a plastic surgeon and make women beautiful. But making women beautiful is what I do through my lens, so I would still want to do photography.
How would you explain your style? Fashion meets wedding to deliver a dream and make it a reality.
What advice would you give someone starting out today? LEARN and learn and learn, never ever stop learning, you can never assume you are at the top because of a couple of awards, one never reaches the top, there is no such place. Just keep learning, experimenting and always doing what you are scared of most.. that is the biggest buzz.
What do you mainly shoot? Beautiful women!! I love women!
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting? Music, I collect music from all over the world, all genres and I love listening to music all the time, actually music inspires me the most, I find I shoot to the words of songs, I shoot to the rhythm of music in my head. music is my life.
What did you have for breakfast? Nutrigrain
Favorite drink or cocktail? Fanta, I don’t like alcohol.
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? This is a classic, an image shot by my father who was a photographer too, but the way he had retouched and finished the image was way ahead of it’s time. sublime, elegant and yet very sensuous portrait of an beautiful woman. I created a similar image in 1993 when I started dabbling in Photoshop and my image scored high at our AIPP awards that year.
Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? aaaah my Venice. I live there for 5 years and studied, and each year I go back to offer workshops in October. Venice never stops inspiring me, it is a canvas for any creative soul.

20 Questions – Walter Van Dusen

Posted by kevin focht on May 30, 2011 in 20 Questions | 0 comments

Your Name: Walter van Dusen
What brand camera do you use? Nikon
Your age ? 46
What lighting brand do you use ? Nikon and Profoto
Your favorite lens ? Nikon 85 mm 1.4 G
Mac of PC ? Mac
Your favorite lab ? ProDpi
Who was/is your biggest inspiration and why? Michael Cody (http://www.michaelcody.com/) Mike inspires me to photograph real moments and to push myself further into capturing photographs that matter.
How long have you been shooting? Professionally since 1997
Your favorite color ? blue
What piece of gear would they have to pry from your cold dead hands? My Mac Pro with Eizo ColorEdge CG301W along with my Nikon D3s with 85 mm 1.4 G lens.
If you could do anything else what would it be? I’m doing it now, a wedding photographer.
How would you explain your style? In the moment. I combine everything at a wedding. Every wedding is different so my style reflects what I’m “allowed” to do.
What advice would you give someone starting out today. Don’t short change yourself without getting some sort of photography education; photography school, mentor, seminars, workshops, hands on classes. I did all of the above. Just because you own a camera does not mean your are a professional photographer.
What do you mainly shoot ? Weddings
What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t shooting ? Spending time with my daughter, wife, going to the movies, book stores, out to eat, traveling, going to photography related events, playing tennis (after my arm heals from tennis elbow surgery), riding my road bike and relaxing.
What did you have for breakfast? oatmeal
Favorite drink or cocktail? Local beer when i travel
Most inspiring image you have ever seen? Henri Cartier-Bresson “Jumping over water”
1932 FRANCE. Paris. Place de l’Europe. Gare Saint Lazare. 1932.

Henri is know for “the decisive moment”

Coolest place you have ever traveled to for work? I’m always excited to photograph weddings in NYC

Walter is also host and founder of Mystic Seminars