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| Category: | Professional Interviewed |
Life as a portrait photographer in the USA - ePHOTOzine chat with portrait photographer Adam Bonilla.
Posted: 5th October 2009
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Did you always want to be a photographer?"I always wanted to do something artistic and photography seemed to be the best way to make a living doing that. Since I can remember I’ve always been drawing, painting, sculpting, building and photographing something. I have this overwhelming desire to create that consumes all the hours in my day but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I still love all art but photography is my favourite."
What was your first job?
"My first job was photographing a low budget wedding in Los Angeles where the ceremony was in the 10x10ft dinning room and the reception was in the 25x50ft backyard. It’s funny thinking about that now because I was so excited to be photographing my first wedding that I didn’t even think about how hard it was going to be to get artistic pictures in that environment. The couple ended up being happy with their pictures though."
Tell us a little about your career.
"I have a small studio in Denver, CO where I photograph a lot of portraits for various different clients. Some days I’ll be doing an elaborate shoot for a commercial client and other days I’ll be taking some portraits of a kid for their parents. I’m very diverse and cover most forms of portrait
photography."
Where do you do most of your work? Studio or on location?
"I actually spend a lot of time at both. Some clients want outdoor lifestyle type pictures and others want dramatic lighting with a studio setting. I think if you are going to be a photographer you should be an expert at all aspects of photography and should be diverse enough to offer your clients anything that they want."
What equipment do you use?
"Currently, I’m using a Canon EOS 5D, and Canon L-Series lenses. I use an 85mm f/1.2L, a 70-200mm f/2.8L, and a 24-70mm f/2.8L."
Is this a personal preference or one that makes your professional role easier?
"It’s really both. Having the best lenses really makes the pictures sharper so you really need to invest in getting the highest quality glass if you want your images to be at the professional level."
What's your favourite or best lens and why?
"Hands down the best lens for portraits is the 85mm L Series f/1.2 lens from Canon. It’s tack sharp and easily the best lens I’ve ever used."
Who has influenced you and why?
"I really don’t let photographers influence my style as I feel the more that I learn from others the more I lose my own style. When I was in photography school this was something I was always trying to be very aware of. I wanted to learn the technique but not ever use it again. That way, I have to come up with my own and that makes my images look unique. If I’m in a slump and need to get inspired I usually put down the camera and pick up the pencil. I’ll just draw and draw and draw until an idea comes to me. I also like to go to art galleries as this also helps me come up with
ideas."
How would you describe your style?"If I had to define my style in one word I would say "romantic". I want my beauty and fashion images to be romantic, passionate and somewhat mysterious. There is this feeling that people talk about when they first meet their husband or wife, the “love at first sight” feeling where you get tingles down your spine and an awkward smile on your face. That feeling is what I’m trying to give to people. I want to look at an image and fall in love with that person while I’m looking at it."
How do you approach a photo shoot?
"It’s really based on the shoot. If it’s a big commercial shoot I’ll spend a week or two drawing ideas as kind of a blueprint for the project until I come up with something that the client and I really like. I’ll then shoot it with my own models and than straighten out all the kinks before the big shoot."
Are they all different?
"Yes, they are all different. Sometimes I’ll be shooting a UFC fighter and will want to make him look really tough other times it will be a beauty shoot so I’ll want it to be romantic."
Do you have a favourite technique?
"To tell you the truth, I’m not very good at remembering the techniques that I’ve used in the past. I just mould the lights to get the look that I want and I rarely use the same set-up for two different models. I always change my light based on the person I have in front of me. When I see someone, I can usually picture what I want with the light in my head and I try to get as close to that as possible."
Do you only shoot fashion?
"I love shooting beauty and fashion but really I just love photographing people. This is why I got into photography in the first place as I felt this was a great way to do something for people that is priceless. I’m from Southern California and there are always fires there. When you watch the news you hear people being interviewed that just had their house burnt down and all they ever say is “we lost our pictures” nobody ever cares about the furniture or electronics, that’s how important photography is. This is why my life is consumed with trying to improve my skills because I feel it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give my client my absolute best. It’s just too important."
Is this because of the money or is it something you really enjoy?"I don’t think there is a successful photographer out there doing it for the money because that would be a bad investment of their time. Photographers really don’t make a killing. The last time I checked the average photographer was making around 30k and it takes 1,000’s and 1,000’s of hours to get good at it. Sometimes I think to myself about how many hours and hours I spend trying to improve my skills to get to the next level. If I were to give the same effort that I do to photography in practically any other field I would be super rich. I’m pretty successful with photography but, to me, being successful is not the same as everyone else, I don’t really care about money. To me, just being able to take pictures for a living is like being rich because I really do love doing it."
What's the most interesting shoot you've done and why?
"Well I’m a HUGE fan of the UFC and I was able to photograph a few of their fighters so to me that was my most interesting shoot. Those guys were really funny and we had a great time during the photo shoot."
Do you have a client/magazine or model you would love to work with?
"Absolutely and it drives me to work on getting better every single day. I have 3 goals that I want to accomplish with photography and I call it “My BIG 3”. I think about doing these 3 things all the time and hopefully I’ll be able to do them one day.
1. Be a photographer for an episode of America's Next Top Model.
2. Do a featured celebrity editorial spread for W magazine.
3. Photograph the President of the United States."
Do you have any advice for our readers?
"Value your service as a photographer you're doing something that people will treasure forever. Charge a fair price for your services and NEVER give it away for free. There are a lot of photographer websites out there that encourage TFP (trade for pictures) and this is the worst thing a photographer can do to themselves. Even if you don’t charge that much at first, charge something because your time and efforts to get good at photography are worth something. It takes time but you’ll build your portfolio and if you need to get your portfolio built, go to a workshop that has professional models and allows you to use their pictures in your portfolio."
What's the best thing someone's said to you about your work?
"The best thing someone has said about my work is nothing at all. I’ve had a few Mums get their pictures from me of their kids and just burst into tears. It’s a really good feeling when that happens and you know it means that you did a good job. This is why I also love photographing kids they are always fun and the parents really value a great picture of them."
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Visit Adam Atari Bonilla's website for more details.
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