A few months ago I get this email from a photographer saying how much she loves the show and that she thinks she’d have a lot of cool things to contribute. I frequently get guest suggestions, but honestly, I don’t tend to give that much weight to people who suggest themselves. But, I took a look at her website and saw her clientele. Rob Zombie. Marilyn Manson. Alice Cooper. Marshall Amplifiers. And other major rock bands. My first thought was “Wow, I’m honored someone who’s been involved with such major bands is that interested in my little show.” But, to be honest, my NEXT thought was, “Do I really want the photographer for Marilyn Manson on my show?” Anyone who knows me well knows I’m more of a David Crowder, Mercy Me, and Fee Band kind of guy. 
But then I had a third thought, “F-Stop Beyond is about interviewing ALL kinds of photographers, from all walks of life. Let’s do it.” So I wrote her back, invited her to be on the show, and she gladly accepted. I’m so glad I did.
Today’s guest is a real “rock star” photographer. Not only because of her clientele, but because her work does indeed “rock”. Gabrielle Geiselman started her career at the tender age of 12 when she would sneak into L.A. rock clubs and take photos of bands during the early 80s. Yes, I said age 12 (as she puts it, she didn’t, ahem, look 12). Music has always been an important part of her life, so it’s only natural she’d gravitate to taking photos of rock bands. Gabrielle shares all kinds of terrific insights like: how to get good exposures in a dark rock club (answer: become good friends with the lighting designer); why you should shoot with a 50mm 1.4 for a year; what it’s like traveling on the road on a bus with a band when you’re the only girl; surviving and thriving in two male-dominated industries (photography and music) withOUT sleeping to the top; whether or not the personas portrayed by her clients are just for show, or if they are like that in real life; and so much more.
This is another one of those great conversations that I didn’t want to end. I have to admit that I had judged what I thought Gabrielle would be like based on her clientele. Thank you Gabrielle for reminding me that you never know what you’ll find inside an individual until you have the courage to look inside. That’s what this show is all about. It was such a pleasure having you on.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Tune in next week for another brand new episode.
Sometime the stars all align for a guy and an innate talent can quickly lead to super stardom. Jeremy Cowart is such an individual. He started his full time commercial and music editorial photography business in April 2005. In December of that year he was photographing music legend Sting (yeah, as in the ex-lead singer of “The Police”. When he was first discovered by his agent, he didn’t even know what an agent was). It’s been all up hill from there. His client list reads like a who’s who of entertainment: Sting, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cirus, Denise Richards, Ryan Seacrest, Kim Kardashian, ABC, E!, Fox, FX, Capitol Records, Island Records, and on and on and on. Last year he was the official photographer for the Christian concert tour Passion (comprised of four of the top bands in the Christian music scene), and he was the official photographer for Britney Spears’ Circus tour (talk about diametrically opposed. 
Oh, and did I mention he has NO formal photography education? Crazy man!
In this insightful interview, Jeremy tells us the story of his path to success, what life on the road for months at a time is like (hard when you have a wife and two kids waiting at home for you), where he gets his inspiration, and how his faith plays into his work. He also talks about his first foray into video production shooting his first music video for the group Abandon (using a 5D Mark II of course). He mentions on the blog post for that video how he just jumped into it without knowing anything about video (kind of like how he started in photography). I’m confident you’ll find this another inspiring interview.
Next week we have mother/daughter portrait photog sensations Sana Antisdel and Kia Bondurant of Antisdels Photography. Another example of an uber-successful studio in a small town.
Prince. Led Zeppelin. Wayne’s World. Purple Rain. Favorite guitar influences. These are not necessarily the topics you’d expect to hear on a photography podcast. Unless that podcast is F-Stop Beyond. Today’s interview with commercial, wedding, portrait, and product photographer Jay Lawrence Goldman is one of the most fun I can remember. Jay’s love for music leads us into a discussions about the aforementioned topics. (In fact, Jay wrote the outro music for today). We also talk about generation gaps, family, the movie “Cars” (according to Jay did you know “Cars” was Paul Newman’s largest grossing film), and much more. And don’t worry, we also get some sage advice from this 20 year veteran of the industry as he shares with us his take on newbies in the business, giving physical proofs in a digital world, editing your own job, what it was like for him when he first started, and the impetus for his homage to Avedon’s “The American West.” I think you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.
As I mentioned earlier, Jay was kind enough to compose an original song for this week’s outro. I want to hear from you listeners what you think: should I replace the current opening song for FSB and make this the new official show opening tune? Leave a comment on our blog fstopbeyond.com and let me know. Or, send an email to feedback@fstopbeyond.com.
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Next week we have two Totally Rad photographers, Chenin and Doug Boutwell. Don’t miss it.
Lastly, I want to than listener Alex Maldonado for giving me the tip about adding album art to the mp3 files. If you download the show now, you’ll notice I’ve added the photographer’s photo. Thanks for the tip Alex, and thanks for listening.
