Photographer Profiles

David X. Tejada’s assignment was a lighting demo for a how-to video and end-use images. The location was a private home where he was asked to create the effect of artificial sunlight. The weather cooperated by providing rain.

Kamchatka, Eastern Russia: I am standing at the crater rim of the active Tolbachik volcano, taking pictures. Suddenly the volcano spits out a red-glowing lava bomb that is heading precisely in my direction. Luckily enough it doesn’t hit me but lands just by my side. Although afraid at first, I delightedly grab my camera: this is a rare opportunity to take close-up shots from still very hot and glowing cinder bombs.

In this column we look at some of the business aspects of fine art photography: getting established, finding clients, looking for gallery representation, marketing techniques, and finding your style and direction. Special thanks to this month’s contributing photographers: Sean Bagshaw (Outdoor Exposure Photography, LLC), David Bowman, John Granata (John Granata Fine Art), Robin Hill, and Cheyenne L Rouse.

Shooting something like rocket launches takes a whole lot of planning and talent no doubt, and this wasn’t Brady Kenniston’s first experience in the trade.

I spoke with Pepper Yandell only days before he left for Dubai on an automotive assignment. In fact, while he does shoot domestically, many of his jobs take him overseas, to the United Arab Emirates, Europe, Asia, and South America. And sometimes the work even extends to aviation. But the project doesn’t end in camera.

I was pretty sure I wanted to talk with Eric Ward when I saw his iPhone pictures at various sites around the Web. I was absolutely sure when I read, at one of those sites, his best photography secret: “Perspective. I’m 6’4” and I see the world differently than my 3 year-old. Change your perspective while shooting a scene and you’ll find a whole new scene to shoot.”

For Jess Findlay, outdoor photography was a natural. Growing up in British Columbia (BC), Canada, surrounded by lush landscapes, enthralling wilderness, and birds of every feather, nature called to him every time he stepped outside, spurred on by family activities that included hiking, mountain biking, and birdwatching. As a young child, he would buy disposable cameras for family outings, and that only whet his appetite for the photographic arts. Before he knew it, he was thoroughly immersed. Nature and photography were on converging paths, meeting at a crossroads that would mark his future forever.