Join Mia McCormick for a fun and inspirational conversation with photographer and author Rick Sammon. Rick's positive attitude and love of photography has led him all over the world pursuing the life he's always wanted to live. If you can set your goals, create a plan, and never give up, you may just find you are doing the same.
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Hello everyone. I'm Mia and today we're sitting down with a man affectionately know as the godfather of photography, Rick Salmon. Now he's a Canon explorer of light, in Wescot top pro, and a Wexler Elite photographer. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. I'm really looking forward. All the way down from New York and it's freezing today.It's cold here but I always feel so warm when I come to the Kelby group. Exactly, we try to make it warm and vibrant here. Let's start with your beginnings in photography. I know it wasn't your first love. Right?Well music. I've always loved music but when I was a kid, my father and mother developed pictures in the basement. My fathers the director of the show, remember Person to Person with Edwood R Murrow? my father was the director of that show. So he would go to Marilyn Monroe's house and take the stills, bring the pictures back, develop them in the basement develop these pictures in the basement.So he knew when he went back to work where they would put the cameras and the lights and everything. And this is way before digital. This is in the 50s. So I got into photography early but I also love music. And I still play music today like Scott Kelby. And there's a lot of parallels, I think, between music and photography.One of which I think they both keep me young. You know Trey [xx] calls me the godfather of photography. And that's kind of stuck. But at my age 62, I think I'm one of the oldest Kelby instructors but I think the photography and the music really keeps you young. Wow! What kind of subjects did you find yourself drawn to in the beginning?Well, I always loved people, I think I give for Canon almost more seminars and workshops than maybe half the Canon [xx] because I love people what I love about photography is the people, getting that interaction going with people. And really is it always their face, their front?It's the face it's their face, I was in this village in Africa in Kenya, this Maasai village and I'm walking around and I see this woman there with this face, I have to get a picture of her so actually here is the picture right here. So what I want to do is I want to isolate the subject from all this distracting stuff going around, so what I did is I put one of the workshop students in front of this hut here, so we have the nice black background. I did my test right so when I asked a little girl to come in through the guide, I always work with the guide so it just has to become like snapshot, it has to become point and shoot photography when you're photographing, the last thing you want to do is waste the subject's time. So I roll my setting setup, asked the little girl to come in through guide, got the shot and if you look at this picture and this is what I like about this picture, in addition to the color and the dress and everything is the eyes are looking right at the camera and when it comes to people photography, I feel if the eyes aren't well lit, if the eyes aren't in focus, I feel as though you've missed the shot.However if Francis Ford Coppola was here he would say, well Rick that's a pretty good idea but in the God father I use top lighting so the viewers of the film couldn't see into the subject size in many cases to create a sense of mystery. So it's really all subjective. It's about the mood, every picture you take is really about the mood.I know you travel a lot, you find yourself drawn to [xx] people in the lands are dry. Yes. That's why I love going to Thailand, Cambodia, Louse, The monks. For me, after doing these for a while it's not so much the techmical thing is letting these strangers in strange lands, I'm in their lives for a couple of seconds and getting them to accept me, like me or accept me for just a couple of minutes.That's the challenge of photography and I think photographers need challenges and I think the more challenges you have the more you challenge yourself the better you'll get at photography so it is a challenge. I've gone to these places but look at the reward. No challenge, no reward. Let's talk about some of your challenges earlier on, you started shooting underwater photography right, for 20 years that's all I did, and talk about being in the right place at the right time, and there's a lot of being in the right places at the right time stories but the thing is for all photographers listen to this, you have to have your radar out there all the time.You have to be looking for opportunities. I used to be the editor of this magazine called Studio Photography. One day I wake up, I have a back pain and I really don't want to go on this trip to Texas to interview this, it's a Photo lab, right? How boring could that be. This is in the late 70s, the photo lab, I had to talk about silver recovery and how they process pictures.I really didn't want to do the trip. However the boss says, Simon you have to go on the trip, so I go on the trip, I write the story about the lab, the guy, the owner of the lab loves the story, turns out he is the head, he's a president of this marine conversation organisation, called Seaden[sp?] International.He said, 'I'd like you to be the editor of the newsletter. ' I said, 'what do I have to do? ', says you have to learn how to scuba dive, you have to learn how to take underwater pictures and we want you to produce the newsletter. I said sure. So for 20 years, in my spare time, because I used to work at the same time at this advertising agency.Heading them North PR account. Which I had no experience for also. I travel all around the world, photographing under water and that's how I actually got into photographing the people. I go to Indonesia, I go to school in Indonesia. So having your radar out there, there's so many opportunities out there, you just have to have your radar, you have your list you must be willing to take the chance like scuba dive under water, sure I'll do it, take a chance.So you started out with music in Batley and then you were an editor of a newsletter. When did you feel like your images started to define you as a photographer?Right, well I got married in 1975, then I got, I was hired as as an editor of this magazine Studio Photography. After coming out of Batley College of music, the Publisher just liked me. And I think today, you've to have experience to get a job, back then you din't have to have experience. So, when I was there, then this advertising agency, they got to know about me, and they asked me to head them North PR account, for 10 years Everyday I went I though I'd get fired, so this was 1980-1990 but we are in 1985 I knew I wanted to get out.I knew I wanted to play, I wanted to be a travel photographer. So I read this book Real Magic, by Dr. Wayne Dyer and it sounds really far out, but he says if you start living the life you want to live, that can become your life, so I would go on vacation from the advertising agency where I to wear a three pieces back then, a tie and a shinny shoes, right?I would go out on vacation one week, whatever I play travel photography, go to Africa, next year I'd go two play travel photographer, next year, three weeks I'd go and play travel photographer somewhere else, then the next year I went out four weeks I played travel photographer, I came back got fired, but I had a plan because I took too much vacation, but I had a plan to break out on my own, and I think in life you have to have a plan, if you don't set a goal, I'm really big on setting goals, I tell my son, shoot for the stars, if you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, and then throw in something, right?Right
So you have to have a goal. I left there in 1990 and read 36 books, I forget and I have a lot of apps and you just have to take chances that's it. A lot of people are afraid to take chances. Yeah you say get your work out there, right? And it's that part of taking chances, a lot of people kind of keep it especially in the beginning close to their test.Right, you definitely have to get your work out there. I tell photographers your work does you zero good sitting on your hard drive and of course your back up hard drive or in the cloud now right, you have to get your work out there. A lot of people, I'm not going to put a high risk picture on the web, someone is going to steal it or see on site.You can't enter the site without a penalty and if you steal a picture $250 fine. If I go on a set like that I'm thinking about what kind of person is this, but you have to get your work out there. I"d like to give you an example, there was going to be an exhibit at a local Unitarian church in Cloudland Hudson, New York where I live.I'm working on all those international projects going to Africa, going to Indonesia and say well if I make a couple of prints I'm going to have to make archival prints which take some time to do, I'm going to have to sign them, I going to have to make an archival mark, I'm going to have to make an archival frame.It's a lot of work for local exhibit in a local unity basement. The musty basement no less of the local humanitarian church, well they use the magica word please, I'm just going to make some prints put them up there After the exhibit I open the local paper you probably get them down here in Altimore Florida, it's like not a penny saver, but just like a local paper, we call it the Gazette, 75 cents has a crime bloater in there the local sports, so this woman writes about the pictures something nice he says about my two butterflies pictures OK, I figure she is so nice, took time to single out my pictures after the exhibit I'll bring the pictures to her house, so I take the pictures and bring them to her house we having tissues as thank you.What are you going to do? This is the book that resulted for my year, talk about getting focus and setting goals, for one year this is all I did. This is just photographed butterflies while we were around the world, went to Mexico where they have the Yoga wintering of monarch migration with like 30 million butterflies.So anyway this is what she wrote about my pictures and this is who she is. She says, this is no local paper and I subsequently use the quote on the back of my book, she says for the size of vision, some shoes, textures and colors and the shear wonder this finely detailed description of butterflies are awakening us I think Rick Sammons photographs are wonderful, pretty nice, this why he gets the press, so this who she is, Maria Morris Hamburg curator of the Metropolitan museum back in New Yory city.Wow. I learnt so much from my parents. My mother, when I was young said, Rick actually they call me Dick, I changed my name to Ricky, that's a whole another story, you never know who's watching, right and you never know. If I didn't have my work out there, and believe me I use this quote in all the PR material and I use it on [xx].It helped tremendously with sales, but talk about, you never know who's watching when you put something up on the web, put something on your blog, on Google+, Facebook, Twitter. You never know who's watching. You could have someone [xx] that's nice or, this happened to me, I had guys say hey Rick I like your style.I want to come out and workshop with you. I said great, guy says, actually it happened twice, the guy says I want to go on, they want to go on private workshops with me. I said cool, I said where do you want to go? First time I said Mongolia, second time I said Africa, they took me on private workshops because they saw my stuff out there.So you have to get your work you've to think about this all the time, you never know who is watching. So getting you work there, you've to think about this all the time, you never know who's watching. So get your work out there that's definitely one thing that people should remember and then what about everybody I talk to kind of talks about finding a style and fitting into a style and only having kind of one way that you set yourself apart other people.But if you look at your photo galleries they doesn't really seem to be a style that emerges specifically. Right, I tell people that it sounds kind of funny but it's some setup I tell people that my specialty is not specializing, because I do people, I do wildlife, I do under water, I do landscape, I do all these HDR, I do studio lighting, I do outdoor lighting.I tried to do it all and I think in today's economy, I think not specializing is a good idea, now if you want to be a food photographer, specialize in that but do all the things. If you are good at food photography, you're good at close up photography. If you're good at food photography you are probably good at butterfly photography.So I think not specializing is important. Same thing with your investments, I don't know any six, actually, before I get to that, every photographer I know successful photographer is a good business person, right?Right
And speaking of business people you are kind of going to have all your stock in like Apple, right? You have to diversify in your investments and I think it's the same thing with your photography, I think diversifying just opens up a special gain in this very competitive market, opens up to like more customers.I want to stop you for just a moment and talk about this images on the screen here, because I love the color and I using the glass for the reflection, tell me a little bit about your inspiration here. Sure, that was taken in the Kona valley, and I really wish I had a behind the scene shot of this because I'm working Unicorn valley and [xx] there are all this people, it's a three to four day event and people get to dress up in all these beautiful costumes, behind the scenes shot which shows me and fifty other photographers trying to get the shot that I'm setting up here, thing is there's a big difference between taking a picture and making a picture, and one of the things that I like to do on my workshops, is I like to encourage the people to make pictures, I could have taken a nice picture of her right, she's walking around Venice with the buildings with the canals in the background but I isolated her against the relatively plain backgrond and then to get this reflection perfect it probably took me about 15 minutes because I'm using a flash and I want to get the reflection right, I want to get the flask, you could see a little catch light in the subject's eyes and that's from the flesh, I'm working hard at making the picture and I'm thanking you so much for liking the picture but if I took just a shot of her, you've seen a thousand shots like that so a big difference between taking the picture and making a picture and what inspired me, like I said it's usually the face but it is mask here and the colors, I compose for colors sometimes, I have a class here on Kelby training position one of the things I talked about is composing for color, look at that color, it's a source of
It's beautiful Thanks.
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Join Mia McCormick as she sits down with multi-talented artist Mark Rodriguez, who recently took the Best in Show award at Photoshop World. Marks’s background is in graphic design, and he is a successful animator and illustrator in his day job, but his unique and creative images are what have captured the attention of everyone at KelbyOne. Over the course of an hour Mia and Mark discuss what drives his creativity, how his family gets involved in his art, how important it is to Mark for his images to tell a story, the thought process behind every image, and so much more!
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The Inspirational Interview with Professional Dog Photographer Kaylee Greer close
Join Mia McCormick and Kaylee Greer as they sit down to discuss Kaylee's fast and fabulous rise as a commercial pet photographer. Kaylee's passion for dogs is contagious, and her energy, love, and compassion for dogs just radiates from her work. Her unique approach to dog photography has resulted in growing list of commercial clients and her pet portrait calendar is booked out a year in advance. Over the course of this hour Mia and Kaylee discuss how she got her start, where she gets her inspiration (hint, the dogs), how she creates much of her signature look in-camera, and so much more!
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The Art of Digital Photography: The Inspirational Series with Kevin Gilbert close
Join Mia McCormick and Kevin Gilbert as they sit down to discuss Kevin's inspiring 30 career as a photo journalist and educator. Being a photo journalist has enabled Kevin to travel the world, bring back photographs from 70 different countries, and cover subjects ranging from tribal cultures to world leaders. Always on the look out for the coming trends in the field Kevin made the transition from film to digital while still holding dear to the concept of getting it right in camera. From working with newspapers to large production companies to starting companies of his own, Kevin's get it done attitude has opened the door to a world of opportunities.
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The Art of Digital Photography: The Inspirational Series with Roberto Valenzuela close
Join Mia McCormick and Roberto Valenzuela as they sit down to discuss Roberto's inspiring career as a wedding and fine art photographer. Based in Beverly Hills, CA, Roberto is known for his ability to create wedding photographs that are elegant, timeless, and romantic. Roberto credits his success to his commitment to deliberate practice that he brings to all aspects of his craft and business, which has allowed him to hone his photographic and business skills into being considered one of the most influential wedding photographers in the world.
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The Art of Digital Photography: The Inspirational Series with John Keatley close
Join Mia McCormick and John Keatley as they sit down to discuss John's inspiring career as an advertising and celebrity portrait photographer. John has developed a style that is as fun as it is creative, and yet very real. John has photographed celebrities, athletes, and politicians, and his work has appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to Wired. Spend an hour learning about how John got started, how he developed and stays true to his style, how he's dealt with some of the fears all creatives face, and so much more.
Sharon Farmer's interest in pursuing photography was sparked by a visit to darkroom while in college. This would lead her down a path to becoming a photographer for the White House in 1993, where she eventually became the Director of White House Photography in 1999, and the first African American and first woman to fill that role. Prior to her time at the White House, Sharon began her career as a freelance photographer and went on to work for the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and the Smithsonian Institute, to name a few, where she covered news, politics, and cultural events. Sharon's photography has been exhibited in museums across the USA. Her tenacity and perceverance, as well as her warmth and her intelligence, is an inspiration to us all.
Trailblazers: Powerful Women of Photography the Sharon Farmer Interview close
Sharon Farmer's interest in pursuing photography was sparked by a visit to darkroom while in college. This would lead her down a path to becoming a photographer for the White House in 1993, where she eventually became the Director of White House Photography in 1999, and the first African American and first woman to fill that role. Prior to her time at the White House, Sharon began her career as a freelance photographer and went on to work for the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and the Smithsonian Institute, to name a few, where she covered news, politics, and cultural events. Sharon's photography has been exhibited in museums across the USA. Her tenacity and perceverance, as well as her warmth and her intelligence, is an inspiration to us all.
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The Art of Digital Photography: The Inspirational Series with Matthew Jordan Smith close
Join Mia McCormick and Matthew Jordan Smith as they sit down to discuss Matthew's inspiring career as a commercial photographer. Matthew is known for his spectacular beauty, fashion, and celebrity photography, and more recently his personal book project "Future American President." Spend an hour hearing stories of how Matthew got started in photography, and some of the many lessons he has learned along the way. From the importance of overcoming the challenges that life sends your way to the necessity of believing in your own vision and seeing it through to the end, Matthew shares insight and perspective into what has fueled a successful career that spans three decades.
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Trailblazers: Powerful Women of Photography the Elsa Garrison Interview close
Elsa Garrison has carved out a career capturing breathtaking moments at the peak of sports action for nearly twenty years. Shooting for Getty images, Elsa's photographs have appeared in every major sports publication, and she's covered everything from the NFL to the Olympics. A self-described shy person, Elsa's determination and nose-to-the grindstone work ethic has earned her spots on the sidelines of an incredible array of sporting events and her photographs have earned her the respect of her peers and colleagues.
