At some point you have to ask yourself, why am I doing this?
If youre not familiar with your own subconscious, when it does arrive, it will scare the s#*! out of you. ~ Gray Scott
I first discovered Gray Scott at liveBooks Photographers in Focus video series. His work has a brooding, almost eerie sensibility about it. After watching the short video, I knew that hed be a terrific guest for the show. His sense as an artist, his talent, and his passion for his work are right up our alley. Whats even more amazing is that hes gained a great deal of success in the commercial and fashion world after only picking up a camera five years ago. His artistic career started with oil painting as a kid. But somewhere down the line he got into make-up of all things. But, whether it was a desire to be the guy in charge (as opposed to just the support staff), or his need to say something with his work, he dove into professional photography full time (he was shooting his first editorial only after 3 months). In this very inspiring and vulnerable interview, Gray shares with us about his career growth, his view as an artist, the pain in his past that has such a profound influence on his work, and how his work has evolved over the years. You get a sense that hes a man on a quest. For those of you who are passionate artists, Grays words will be like honey to your ears. This is quintessential F-Stop Beyond. Enjoy.
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Next week we return to the world of social media with the woman who actually came up with the name WordPress. Wedding and boudoir photographer and social media maven Christine Big Pink Cookie Tremoulet.
How many of you would be willing to cut 25% of your revenue so that you could have a better life for yourself? Today we’ll speak with a couple that did just thattwo giants in the world of teen and family portraiture, Kent and Sarah Smith. About 7 years ago at a time when their studio was grossing over $900,000 a year, $250K of that was from weddings. When they were forced to leave a great vacation in Italy in order to get home in time to shoot Saturday weddings, two weddings that involved a lot of stress, it was then and there they decided to quit weddings cold turkey. They’ve since made up that revenue with just their portrait business and life is so much better for them because of it.
Kent and Sarah share with us stories from their 25+ years in the business. A lot of you do same-day slide shows at your weddings. Hah! Kent was doing slide shows at the weddings back in 1982 when he was literally using slides! He’d shoot the weddings on slide film, then develop them in the back of his van and project them later that evening. They comment on leadership, the use (over-use) of Photoshop, we talk about the movie Braveheart, getting paid what you’re worth, and how to keep the passion of your art when running a business has turned your love photography into a “job.” And I get to get back on my soap box about the exploitation of teens in sexually explicit advertising. This is one of those episodes that covers the whole gamut. Don’t miss out.
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Next week we have on the show wedding photographer, savvy businessman, and music aficionado Fred Egan.
I only had to visit their website for a little bit before I knew Matt and Krystal would be great guests. You’ll notice that today’s show is all about being silly and having fun.
In today’s episode, we actually don’t talk about faith (or a lack of it) at all. Instead, we talk about their career path into photography. He was an electrical engineer, and she was in the U.S. army for nine years. Today, they are PPA Master Photographers (well, as of January ’09 anyway), instructors, and successful wedding and portrait photographers. We learn how they hooked up on a blind date after a mutual friend lied to both of them. (Luckily, they liked each other enough for a second date). And Matt gives us his take on the state of photography today. That ironically, because of digital technology, bad photography today is worse than it’s ever been, but good photography is better than it’s every been. (Quite a quandary). Oh, and only with the Radlinskis would we have the first ever F-Stop Beyond drinking game. Listen and play along (NOTE: I am in no way endorsing drunkenness, so no complaining e-mails please! 
Today’s musical outro is “Alone Tonight” by Castella courtesy of Triple Scoop Music.
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Next week we have both an inspirational and touching interview with Justin and Mary Marantz.
