"Shoot things that are actually interesting and worthwhile to look at. There are a million photographers out there who are obsessed with gear and the technical side of shooting, but they focus so much on those two things, that their work is just sterile and lifeless" - Dave Lehl

Dave is the guest judge in the Playing With Darkness Photo Contest. Dave is an action sports/adventure/lifestyle photographer hailing from Denver, Colorado. He cut his teeth in the snowboard industry, photographing athletes from the backcountry of Canada to the streets of Beijing, China. More recently he's expanded his focus to more motion in general, but his favorites include skateboarding, cycling, running, and motorcycling. Learn more!

Hi Dave! Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style?

I guess I’d say that I’m moving in a more conceptual direction. While I do like shooting documentary style and just capturing what’s there, I really like setting up a scenario that hasn’t been done to death a million times already That’s how I came up with my light trails series. I was soooo tired of seeing and shooting snowboarding photos that were all just interchangeable with any other snowboard photo shot in the last 10 years, so I wracked my brain to try to come up with something that no one had ever seen before As far as my documentary style, I like to think of my photos as being very intimate. I really try to get in there and hopefully the viewer comes away with a feeling of what it was like to be there.

When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?

I really started taking photos back in high school. I was the photographer for my high school yearbook. Originally I think I did it because it was an easy excuse to get out of class all of the time. In college I got a little more serious about it when I bought my first SLR camera and started taking a bunch of photos which ultimately ended in a Fine Arts degree as well as a Journalism degree. During my senior year of college I started apprenticing a fashion photographer in Denver who introduced me to assisting professionally, and it all took off from there. I assisted professionally for about 5 years while shooting modeling portfolios on the side until I realized I was better at shooting people in motion than pretty girls standing around.

You started young! Do you have any influencers?

Back in the day it was Richard Avedon and Bruce Weber mostly, because those were the only two photography books in the University of Colorado's library! Nowadays I'd say I really like Kealan Shilling, Frederic Schlosser, and Brian Gaberman.

What has been your favorite photo shoot and why?

My most favorite recent shoot had to be the one of Sage Kotsenburg doing the handplant over the tree with the light trails. At the time I was extremely nervous about it. It was June, which isn't exactly epic snowboarding weather, and Sage drove all of the way to Colorado from Utah just to do this one shot so there was a lot of pressure to get something good. I had about 5 people along helping build the kicker, there was hardly any snow, and I had to shuttle my snowmobile over about 10 miles of dirt to get everyone and all of the gear out there. It ended up taking us a lot longer to build the jump than I'd anticipated, so by the time sage started hitting it, it was already starting to get dark. Sage started nailing the trick within about 20 minutes and did it a handful of times, but he was flying over me so fast that it was extremely hard to get his hand hitting the top of the stump at the exact right moment. After about 10 tries it was getting hard for him to see and he was getting pretty tired and physically beat up because it was a really high stump and he was falling out of the air from about 15 feet up each time, so the pressure was REALLY on to get my timing right. Finally within the last few minutes of usable sunlight he soared a hand plant over the stump again and I nailed it. It was the best feeling ever.

Your light trails are awesome! Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?

My most recent difficult session happened while I was shooting some urban climbing under a bridge in Denver. There were some bums asleep under the bridge, but none of them seemed to notice us. About 20 minutes into the shoot one of them woke up and thought that we were trying to take pictures of him. So he got up and before any of us could realize what was going on, he ran to where our gear was and tried to throw my friend's shoes and cell phone in the river! After a heated screaming match, he went back to sleep and we found the phone and one of the shoes. We started shooting again and within a few minutes he was back up trying to grab one of my flashes. One of the climbers intercepted him though and he wasn't able to do any damage. After that we were pretty over it and called it a night.

What do you carry in your camera bag?

I've got a Canon 1D Mk III, a Canon 5D Mk II, a 70-200, a 24-70, a 15mm fisheye, and 3 Pocket Wizard TT5s.

Who has been your favorite subject to shoot?

That's such a tough one because I feel like everyone I shoot is such a total pro and a good friend to boot. If I had to pick one I'd say Sage Kotsenburg. He's just the perfect example of a total professional and just a rad guy to be around. Like I said, having never shot with me before, he drove 8 hours to Colorado without a question to shoot one photo. I was so impressed that I emailed all of his sponsors afterwards to tell them what a hard worker and total pro he was. This was before his Gold medal podium at the Olympics this February, so at the time he wasn't quite at the status he is now.

What are you currently working on?

Getting my new portfolio finished so I can start sending it out and hopefully start landing some bigger jobs!

Can you share a couple of tips with your fellow photographers?

I would have to say shoot things that are actually interesting and worthwhile to look at. There are a million photographers out there who are obsessed with gear and the technical side of shooting, but they focus so much on those two things, that their work is just sterile and lifeless. It’s like they’re just shooting things to show that they can do it too, not because they’ve actually got an interesting idea or compelling subject. Instead of obsessing over bokeh or your Octabank, spend a little more time obsessing on pointing your camera at something worthwhile.

What are the most important aspects needed to get a good light painting shot?

Technically all you need is a dark area and some kind of constant light to 'paint' with. Really though I think the most important aspect of getting a good light painting shot is the ability to think outside of the box. Use your creativity to come up with new items to make a light trail with, or build your own! I feel like a lot of light painting has been done to death, so try to come up with a new way to do it that hasn't been seen a million times!

Join the Playing with darkness photo contest, this is an amazing opportunity to have your photos reviewed by one of the best with light-painting.