Back to the Basics

In a recent post, I talked about the significance of saluting your mentors.  In many ways, this is my ode to Steve Carty.

Every once in a while, I get the itch to start incorporating strobes/lighting when shooting outdoors during an engagement session or a wedding.  After all, I have the means (knowledge, equipment and man power) to pull it off.  It would definitely give the photos an even more stylized look that you’d associate with editorial magazine shoots.  But as tempted as I get, I always end up talking myself out of it and for this I am thankful.  I’m thankful for the ideologies that I learned long ago which has now become the foundation of how I work now.
Simple, simple, simple.
This is the fundamental approach that the two photographers who’ve had the greatest impact on my career have both separately drilled into my head before I was even a photographer and to this day even.  Simple is king.  It doesn’t make you a slave to technology or trends, or having an assistant there holding a light.  It allows you the freedom to shoot almost anything anywhere and in almost any condition.  In photography, simplicity lends itself to timelessness.

I remember being 19 and nervously dialing Steve Carty‘s number.  I had emailed him on a whim not thinking he’d even respond to me.  He replied and asked me to give him a shout so within 5 minutes of receiving his response I gave him a ring.  He asked me point blank, “So, what’s your story?” Story? Erm, I got no story.  I just like to take photos, people seem to think I have a bit of talent and I’m considering pursuing it as a career? Can I follow you around and see what it’s like to be a professional photographer? Steve gets these kinds of requests all the time so for whatever reason, he invited me down to the studio for an in-person meeting to see if we vibed.  Yay! I bravely managed to make my way to his downtown studio (I’m from the ‘burbs so it was a big accomplishment for me at 19) and waited around for him for almost 6 hours.  I’ll never know if it was an intentional test or not.  Though there were ample opportunities for me to leave, I sat there and waited for him to return.  We hopped onto the subway as he passionately shared about his vision, work ethic and life as a photographer.  I missed my stop and ended up going in the opposite direction because I was eager to learn.  I was hungry.  Steve was attentive enough to notice this (photographers notice everything apparently) and invited me to a shoot.  This one shoot changed my life forever.  I became conscious of light and became aware of the difference between someone who takes photos, and a photographer. 

The video below aired a while back but many of the things Steve talks about were the exact same things he shared with me when I first met him and I still apply today.  Hope you too can learn a bit from it!

Idea and execution.
Compelling element.
You have to look at photography in order see what’s current and contemporary but at the same time, if you look too much at photography you become influenced by what other people are doing and you become Style of the Month guy.
There’s only one sun – one light.
If you stop getting that excitement when you get an edit or when you shoot, you need to hang up your camera.

c.