We Are Photographers

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Tyler Babin - Adobe Creative Residency Jul 21, 2019

Show notes

Tyler Babin is a photographer, videographer & creative director based out of New York City. He’s currently a 2019-2020 Adobe Creative Resident where he’s paid by Adobe to, simply put, create. No clients, just creating. We recorded this episode in person during CreativeLive’s biggest conference of the year - Photoshop Week - where Tyler’s story came full circle. You’ll find out what led him to landing a spot as an Adobe Creative Resident and the ongoing evolution of Behind the Feed, his year-long documentary project pulling the curtain behind the reality of digital influencer culture. We learn why he quit his dream job working for VanyerMedia, where over 3 years earlier on his last day as an intern he’d talked his way into becoming a personal videographer for Gary Vanyerchuk in a 45-min taxi ride. We discuss how this journey all started when Tyler was 18 years old and flew across the country to be a student in Matthew Jordan Smith’s workshop at CreativeLive.

This is We Are Photographers with Tyler Babin and this is his story.

Follow Tyler Babin on tylerbabin.com, IG @babin, YouTube, TW @tyler_babin

Simon Jackson - Grizzly Bears and Nature Labs Jul 14, 2019

Show notes

Simon Jackson is a storyteller, photographer, filmmaker, speaker, author, and advocate for wildlife and nature. Both a movie and a children’s book have been made based on Simon’s story. At 13 he had a passion for bears and belief that he could change the world. For two decades Simon built the six million-strong Spirit Bear Youth Coalition to help save Canada’s rare Kermode or spirit bear and helped create the largest land protection measure in North American history. Together with his wife Jill Cooper, Simon continues to promote nature literacy among young people through the non-profit Ghost Bear Institute and their latest initiative Nature Labs.

I recorded this episode sitting at a picnic table with Simon in the stunning Mt. Robson Provincial Park in Canada. Simon and Jill lived there in a tent for months as they patiently and meticulously created multimedia content for Nature Labs - a virtual high school textbook for science, art, social studies and English curriculum using nature as a lens. We talk about how Simon became passionate about bears at age seven and why he believes you can’t teach without telling a story. Simon takes us behind the scenes of documenting Mt. Robson’s dominant grizzly bear named Chocolate, who is Nature Labs’ main character and in fact a metaphor for what we have and what we stand to lose.

This is We Are Photographers with Simon Jackson and this is his story.

Amy Sacka - National Geographic Explorer Jul 07, 2019

Show notes

Amy Sacka is a documentary photographer based in Detroit, Michigan, who is passionate about celebrating the beauty of people and culture, particularly in Detroit and the Midwest. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, TOPIC, LensCulture, the Guardian and many more. She’s a National Geographic Explorer and a Top 50 Critical Mass photographer. Amy's photography has been exhibited internationally, including at Photoville in Brooklyn, Cortona on the Move in Italy, Brighton Biennial UK, and Arles France just to name a few.

If you’ve ever dreamed of being published by National Geographic, this episode is for you. Amy talks about how a quest to know her father eventually led to two grants. She describes why she drove 10,000 miles around Michigan to meet and photograph ice anglers. We talk about her move back to Detroit to discover what place, home and belonging mean to her, and the surprising reaction to her ‘Roommates After 40’ project. I’m enamored with her month-long 250-mile NYC slow walk, where she photographed along every block from 1st Street to 110th Street on Manhattan’s east side.

This is We Are Photographers with Amy Sacka and this is her story.

Amanda Lucidon - Former Official White House Photographer Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

Amanda Lucidon is an award-winning documentarian, filmmaker, public speaker and New York Times best-selling author. She served as an Official White House photographer responsible for documenting First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017 and is one of only a few female White House photographers in history. Amanda is the author of Chasing Light: Through the Lens of a White House Photographer and Reach Higher: An Inspring Photo Celebration of First Lady Michelle Obama.

In this episode, Amanda describes what it actually means to be responsible for documenting the daily life of the Obamas for history, both inside the White House and around the world, and how she remains ready to photograph anything at any moment. She reveals how growing up as one of ten children allowed her imagination and creativity to blossom, and the beauty of imperfection. Amanda takes us behind the scenes on some of her most recognizable images and tells us what she learned from Mrs. Obama. She talks about the power of personal projects, bringing arts into underserved communities as a Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist and her latest work bringing arts and mindfulness to a Memphis juvenile detention center.

This is We Are Photographers with Amanda Lucidon, and this is her story.

Jasmine Star - Making the Impossible Possible Jun 23, 2019

Show notes

Jasmine Star is a photographer and business strategist who empowers entrepreneurs to build a brand, market it on social media, and create a life they love. After quitting law school, she picked up a camera, built an internationally recognized business, and teaches others how to do the same. In this episode we talk about Jasmine’s mission to help people believe they can turn impossibilities into possibilities. She explains why she left being a wedding photographer after 12 years and the path to building new businesses including Social Curator. Jasmine describes her imaginative childhood: growing up home-schooled as a first-generation Latina, science experiments in the park, her mom dumpster diving for textbooks, and turning into an avid reader after not learning to read until age 11. Hear how her mom surviving cancer led to Jasmine becoming resolute to live life on her own terms, and how she turned her mental soundtrack of self-loathing into one of self-love. This is We Are Photographers with Jasmine Star and this is her story.

Chris Weston - Hand, Eye, Heart Wildlife Photography Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

Chris Weston became a professional wildlife photographer in 2001, changing his career to follow instead his passion for what he describes as “the extraordinary behavior of animals”. He's written over 20 books on photography and his credits include the BBC, Daily Telegraph, Outdoor Photography, Practical Photography and Digital Photography magazines. He is an ambassador for Fujifilm and is a renowned speaker and teacher, leading multiple safaris, workshops and seminars around the world.

In this episode we talk about his hand-eye-heart approach to photography inspired by Japanese philosophies of mindfulness. Chris describes what it feels like to photograph tigers and other mammals in the water with them. He explains why his favorite lens for photographing wildlife is 50mm (not long telephotos like you’d expect), which means he patiently waits with an energy of calmness for the animals to come to him. We discuss our mutual fascination with quantum physics and what book has been both of our favorites since we were young.

This is We Are Photographers with Chris Weston and this is his story.

RC Concepcion - Teaching Reinvention through Photoshop Jun 09, 2019

Show notes

Rafael "RC" Concepcion is an award winning photographer, podcast host, educator, storyteller and the author of 8 best-selling books on Photoshop, Lightroom, HDR, and how to get your images on the web. RC is now known as Professor Concepcion at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. He is a highly sought after public speaker, lecturing at seminars and workshops around the world, including right here on CreativeLive.

In this episode we talk about what it takes to continually reinvent yourself and life’s epiphanies that often arise when unexpected. RC takes us on a journey from growing up in the South Bronx to the lavish life working in tech during the .com boom to the lows of working out of a U-Haul 10x10 storage unit and back up to being a Photoshop guru whose face and voice are known all over the world. RC’s passion for teaching is not just about the tools of Photoshop and Lightroom, but at heart about how to get what’s inside of you out through creativity. We discuss being a Latino industry leader and coming full circle to doing projects with the Bronx Documentary Center.

This is We Are Photographers with RC Concepcion and this is his story.

Lisa Carney - Retouching and Compositing Life Jun 02, 2019

Show notes

Lisa Carney is a high end retoucher and photoshop artist who has spent over two decades working with the most dynamic players in the print, motion picture, and television industries including Disney, Netflix, Sony, Universal, ABC, ESPN and more. Besides being a regular presenter at the Adobe MAX conference, her teaching roster runs the gamut from beginners to professional retouchers, and includes universities, design & movie studios, private students and of course, CreativeLive. In this episode Lisa explores the balance of creativity for work as a commercial retoucher and photography for self-expression. She describes how moving to France at the peak of her career led to some of her hardest life lessons. Lisa talks about how her dad dying at age 18 impacted the direction of her life, how being a mother has influenced her art and why allowing yourself to show up and feel uncomfortable is a secret to success.

This is We Are Photographers with Lisa Carney and this is her story.

Pye Jirsa - On the Other Side of Fear May 26, 2019

Show notes

Pye Jirsa is the founder and partner of SLR Lounge and Lin & Jirsa Photography, a premier boutique photography and videography studio in Southern California. The Lin & Jirsa team photographs over 300 weddings each year, with nearly 1,000 yearly client commissions. Pye is the creator behind the workshops and resources inside the SLR Lounge library which has nearly a million monthly readers. He’s also a prolific instructor on CreativeLive with classes on everything from lighting mastery to business systems to engagement & wedding photography.

In this episode Pye explores how he had to lose everything to gain happiness. He shares personal stories of loss and love, fear and growth. He describes what being raised by a single immigrant father who moved him from Iran to Utah taught him about fear as a child. Pye stopped creating art for a decade after his high school art teacher told him to quit because he wasn’t good enough. We talk about mental health and finding the source of stability. He shares his daily routine that helps him stay present and why discomfort became his compass.

This is We Are Photographers with Pye Jirsa, and this is his story.

Mark Wallace - Solo Motorcycle Journey Around the World May 20, 2019

Show notes

Mark Wallace is a photographer, educator, and solo world traveler. In 2014, Mark left the U.S. to embark on a worldwide adventure. In 2016 he decided to give up planes, trains, and automobiles and is now exploring the world on his motorcycle. Mark has created hundreds of photography tutorials sponsored by Snapfactory and Adorama. His most popular series are Digital Photography One on One and Exploring Photography, in addition to his best-selling lighting classes on CreativeLive.

In this episode we talk about what he’s learned about human connection from five years of nonstop travel to all seven continents and how his approach to storytelling and photography have changed along the way. We discuss why he intentionally sets out to have conversations with people he doesn’t agree with and the silver lining of his motorcycle being stolen. He describes how he recovered from the downward spiral of hallucinations and depression from side effects of anti-malarial medication and the gift of being told he only had three weeks to live. You’ll be surprised by his advice to the hundreds of people who tell him it’s a goal to travel around the world on a motorcycle.

This is We Are Photographers with Mark Wallace and this is his story.

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