I've have been a huge fan of photography ever since I was a child and my dad subscribed to those National Geographic magazines. Fast forward 10 years later and I'm still awestruck by pictures on the internet. So naturally when friends are involved in things I find interesting, it's awesome seeing the passion come out in their work.
So anyways, I asked a friend who is a professional photographer to do a Q and A and she said yes! And here it is!
Here's a mini bio of Jessica Van Pelt, she's a professional photographer in Southern California and here's a link to her site www.JayRaePhotography.com
Heyo Jessica! Thank you for this small Q & A for aspiring photographers! As one who enjoys art in all mediums, I find many similarities between a good photo and a good piece of art.
1. I want to ask first, what was the allure of photography and what did you do to make it a part of your life and future career.
Well to be honest my first allure was that I was working with film. I actually loved the science behind film and capturing an image onto essentially a piece of paper! It intrigued me so much so I took my first photography class my sophmore year in high school. I love things that are very technical so the knowledge behind getting the "right" settings on a camera to get a certain look also caught my attention. You have so much control as an artist with a camera in the effects that you want it to produce! But of course the actual 'art' of it all also helps! When I started photographing people I literally knew that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life!
2. Is there any recommended literature or websites which helped you hone your photography skills?
CreativeLive is an amazing place for people to learn! They host free live seminars with people that are huge in the industry. I also recommend just searching for blogs, some of my favorites are Sara France's blog, Jasmine Star, Marissa Rodriguez, and Ashley Goodwin. Those are just a few that got me started!
3. For a starting photographer, can I still get crisp photos using a mediocre camera? Is a digital camera needed? Or for that matter, how important is equipment? Is it going to cost me an arm and a leg to get started?
As far as crispness goes, it really does depend on your equipment. For a long time I had just mid-line equipment and that did me a fine job, but if you really want to get the kind of image quality that the pros get, you really have to get the right gear. But, within that I also want to state that it all depends on the kind of images that you want. As artist, it's not always the "crispness" of the image that you want. But yes, if that's what you're searching for, then I would recommend getting the right gear.
4. How important is the computer? Do you find yourself using it with every project? What software do you use? Is there anything else computer related you would like to add?
As far as computers go, I have actually been using a mac notebook for about 4 years now. As soon as I got into wedding I invested into an external hardrive of 2 TB. It's way more storage than I needed at the time but I was investing in my future! As of now I own my laptop, my external hardrive (which both lend me the capability to work on the go if I need to) but I also have a desktop computer with a 50 inch screen at home which makes editing a thousand times easier!
5. Last question, what do you love most about photography? And do you have any favorite photographers?
The thing that I love most about photography mainly came from my grandparents. As a child I would have never really known about the people that they were without going through their albums. It allowed me to see them as they were, through all their adventures, experiences, and lessons without going through their photographs. I wish that my children can experience these things through my own photos and I truly want to capture these things for other people's families. My favorites photographers (who are mainly wedding photographers at this point) are those who really capture the emotion of the day and the true love that is surrounding the people they are photographing! (Sara France/ Jasmine Star).
P.S........Above all my favorite quote sums it all up
"We don't remember days, we remember moments." Cesare Pavese
Thank you for your time Jessica. You are very inspirational.
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