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Photographer Interview
Name: Landon A Michaelson
Hometown: Born in LaMesa CA, but my home town has been Wenatchee WA since I was 5.
Education: 3.75 cumulative GPA from high school. Attended college up to the point I had to determine what I wanted to be. I dropped out, bought 51% of a video production company and went through the school of hard knocks for 8 years. I learned how to shoot video by having to edit my own footage. I learned how to edit by doing it for many years. I learned a lot then, and never want to learn that much that way again.
--Current projects and publications:
Current project is my 1/day/366 project = http://blog.landonmichaelson.com
Which has been a big undertaking and completely worthwhile.
I have not been "published" as a photographer yet, but my work has been selected for advertising, an album cover,
--Past projects and publications:
Past projects have really just been focusing on spending an entire year working on my capture workflow, then spending another year working on my processing and file management workflow.
I have recorded three podcasts in the last couple months, that was fun. Two round table discussions on Martin Bailey Photography podcasts and one with Shutter's Inc in Australia. Those were a lot of fun.
I shoot with three or four assignments in mind every month. That keeps me thinking of subject matter differently and keeps images fresh and ideas flowing.
1) What inspired you to begin photographing? How has that inspiration changed over time?
That is tough. I was inspired when I got my first real camera that could actually give control to the photographer. I bought a Pentax ME Super and two lenses and went out shooting. Film and processing were expensive when shooting a lot so the learning curve took years. I guess I was inspired to create images and the passion came and went over the years. For me the connection between taking the photo, seeing the results and knowing what I did right or wrong was too far apart. Once I got my first digital camera the learning curve truly started and the feedback and learning was much more tangible for me.
Inspiration has been really refined over the last couple of years. I pretty much know what I want in the end result and that helps me when acquiring images. I am inspired to take the best photos I can of what is in front of me. I am inspired by good light and maximize it as much as I can. I am inspired to take people into good light and do portrait photography outdoors in great light. I am inspired to create images that mean something to me and share them. I am inspired to keep learning, growing and improving my vision over time.
2) What do you pay attention to now as opposed to the past? What has changed in your vision?
I pay attention to everything I can now. I approach a photographic moment with depth of field, shutter speed, ISO settings, light values, subject motion, mood, etc. I don't over think settings any more, they have become second nature now. My vision has changed because I am not thinking about things in the camera. The shooting workflow has become much more organic now and cameras are just an extension of my brain, hands, eyes, heart. My vision used to limited by equipment, but now I find opportunities in limitations and enjoy a good challenge.
I now find myself visualizing shots long before I take them. I have shots in my head I don't even know exactly how I am going to pull them off. I have shots that will only be able to be made at a certain times and place once a year, but they are there and will get realized some day. I am always thinking, visualizing and learning.
3) Who has inspired you?
Hundreds of photographers inspire me. Flickr has been a great place to find inspiring work.
My wife has inspired me to push my creativity. Friends and family inspire me to keep going.
I am inspired by the work of certain other photographers style. I am not out to copy a style, but I do like to find what I like and see how that might alter my approach to different subject matter over time.
I could give you a short list of web sites too of contemporary photographers that inspire me.
4) What would you say your underlying theme is in all of your work?
Control. Controlling as many things in that frame as possible, because at the end of a shoot, I was the one that pushed the shutter when I did and I made all the decisions that went into that moment capture.
5) How does your work relate to your life?
Photography is me. It is part of my day, part of who I am. It is my main passion for creativity. I shoot photographs for my day job and find satisfaction there. I shoot photographs for myself, and I do portrait and event work for the benefit of others and myself. So it is part of me. I find something to shoot everywhere that I am. I do not limit myself to very many constraints but I do find that I get more excited about image making when good light is available, when new vistas are before me, a new assignment is challenging me and when I get to see something new. I even visualize trips and plan as much as possible to see things at the best time of day or plan a vacation route that might net me a few keepers of a spot as we are headed to another destination. One of my four cameras is nearly always with me. It really bugs me when I see an awesome moment unfold and I cannot capture it. But in those moments just taking it in can be enough too. At the end of each day photography is a balance and I try to not let it take over my day, but just be part of it. I have many priorities in each day, and if I can fit photography in for 30 minutes that can often be enough.
6) Where do you see your work going in the future?
Improving. I am constantly aware of how much I still have to learn and how many things still have gone untried and visions not yet realized. I am not satisfied with yesterday and always know I can do better. I shoot the best I can today and keep learning and experimenting for tomorrow. There is no promise tomorrow will ever come, so I try to maximize each day that is given to me.
7) What is your goal in photography?
Photography is a journey, not a destination. My goal is to always find complete enjoyment in the photographic endeavor. I want to share my images and let people see the world the way I do. I want my photography to be self sustaining. I want my workflow to dictate my equipment purchases and my vision to be achieved by using what I have in my kit today. I want to keep learning, growing and experimenting. I want to break the rules and do it for a reason. I want to defy the statement "everything that can be photographed already has been". I want to create images that have not been seen before, or at least not that way. I am challenged by someone saying "that cannot be done" and find a way to do it. I always enjoy a good challenge.
8) When someone looks at your photography 100 years from now, what do you think they will see?
Hopefully a style and approach that meant something. I am not out to please everybody and I do not have one discipline either. I hope it would stand out a little above the mass exodus of the digital pile of images around us now. I would hope that it last beyond the "going digital" phase. Next week I start making fine art prints in earnest, so hopefully one or two of those would be around in a hundred years. I am enjoying the now though and not really concerned about tomorrow, but I do stop once in awhile and wonder about this very question.
9) Tell us about your experience with the Waterlogged August collaboration. What was enjoyable about it? What was difficult? What would you do differently if you had it all to do over again? What was your favorite photo/piece of writing?
It was very different. I was not sure what to expect but jumped on board to the idea as soon as it was brought to my attention. I will say that getting to know somebody over the Internet takes time. Doing this project in-person would really be cool, but that is pretty tough. I have friends all over the planet now and over time I have gotten to know them more and more. It is hard to get to know a person from ten pieces of work, but it certainly was fun. The project of "strangers" was a tough shooting assignment. I approached it a dozen different ways and then let the writing help dictate what images would be matched up. I think it would have been fun to have the writing and photography to go more hand-in-hand and actually take some out with me on shoots and read them while I was shooting something to match to it. May not have worked any better, but I shoot a lot and always up for trying something new.