ViewBug community member christopherpayne did artwork for a few bands some years back. "It was mostly album covers, but I never quite felt I had found my passion. My Father is quite a good bird photographer, and wen he bought a new camera, he gave me his Canon 40D. I went out with him to photographs birds, and it was like a fire was lit inside of me. I could hardly go a weekend without going out with my camera. It wasn't long before I started "seeing" other places and things that I wanted to photograph."
Read our full conversation with Christopher and get inspired!
What was your first camera and what do you shoot with today?
If we are to go way back to when I took a photography class in high school, then it was an old Minolta 35mm film camera. However, that Canon 40D I mentioned previously is the first camera I owned when I seriously took up photography, several years ago.
When someone looks at your photos, what do you want them to take away from it, what are you trying to communicate?
I want them to imagine their own story, and find the beauty in the photo that they are looking for. When I am looking for the photo I want to capture, I want to capture a story, and not just a pretty scene. I try to always include something that will catch the viewer's eye, and begin to form a story in their mind for what is going on. I think that is why the best photographs truly speak to people.
What is it that you love about photography?
I think this is the hardest question to answer. Why do we love anything or anyone? Sometimes we know what we are searching for and eventually find it. In my case, I knew I was close with my artwork, but that was not my true passion, but I really had no idea what was. Photography found me, and I love everything about it. I love the places it takes me, and that I can capture something that moves people. I can be in the same place for hours, and be completely happy and patient, waiting for that moment where the scene and the lighting are perfect. I never get bored out there. There is so much beauty everywhere, and it's my passion to try to capture it so others can see it. I hope that I accomplish that from time to time.
What are your 3 tips for others who want to become better photographers?
1) Don't just take photos of pretty scenes. Find something that takes your breath away, or a scene you find you can't stop staring at. Find out *why* that is, or rather what it is about that scene that captures you. Many times it's something as simple as getting that pile of seaweed on the beach, in the foreground of your photo. Then...make sure you capture/frame it in a way that will have the same effect on others.
2) Stay there a while, and take your photos with the changing lighting. I can't tell you how many times I thought I had *the* shot, but stuck around a little longer and was rewarded with something I wasn't expecting. You never know when someone or something will make it's way into a scene and make all the difference. I once was taking photos of the sun rising behind the Coronado bridge in San Diego I got beautiful shots of it shining between the opening in one of the columns, but I stuck around, just in case...and I managed to get a shot of a bird, perfectly silhouetted, right over the sun and the bright sparkles it threw on the water.
3) Learn the very important impact that aperture, shutter speed, and ISO have on your photos. Once you truly understand not only what each of these three things mean to themselves, but how they work together, then you will be able to set your camera to get exactly what you want. (Bonus answer: If you are reading this, you probably enjoy night photography, as a LOT of my photos are taken at night. It's worth it to get a camera that handles high ISO setting with very little noise. IMO, you can't go wrong in those areas with a Canon 5D Mark III, a Canon 6D, or a Sony a7s, though the a7s has a rather small 12mp photo size.)
What has photography done for you?
It has given me a direction in my life that I was never sure I would find. It always puzzled me how some people just knew who or what they wanted to be. I never did, and finding photography completely changed that. Now, most free days that I have, I think about where or what I would like to photograph that day. Some days I will just go out on a drive with my gear, without any specific plan. Sometimes the photograph finds you.
Do you try to be conceptual or do you prefer to show the feeling behind a photo?
I suppose it's both, and really shouldn't it be? If you have a good concept and the photo is nice but does not convey any feeling in the viewer, then what is the point? There are millions of pretty photos out there, and people will look at them and move on. If you can convey your concept/story and move them at the same time...they will stop and "read" that story in their mind. You've just made a difference in someone's life. How amazing is that? I truly hope that I can manage that with my photos. That is why I am so passionate about them.
How do you describe your style?
I've never been certain that I have a style, so much. I do a lot of night photography, and golden/blue hour photography. I love the dramatic colors you get from the golden/blue hours, and I can't resist a night scene with the right lighting can be magical. I never use a flash, but only the light that is there.
If you had to choose one lens which one would it be and why?
Oh definitely the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM. I take 90% or more of my best photos with that lens. Obviously, with the type of photos I take, you would be using a super wide lens much of the time, and this lens produces what I want...every time.
Have you received negative feedback from your work? What did you do about it?
There is always someone who not only doesn't like something you do, but has nothing better to do with their time but to harshly tell you why. At least you know you moved them in some way! In cases where you get that not-so-constructive criticism, simply ignore the tone in which it was given, and look behind that to what they are really saying.
If there is some genuine feedback that can be gleamed from their comments, it will allow you to consider it, and decide for yourself if you can use it to improve your photos. Only you can decide whether any negative (or positive, for that matter) feedback can be used to hone your skill and style. Just remember, you have to capture what you find beautiful first, and use any feedback to help improve from there. If you have a true passion for what you are doing, then never let *anyone's* feedback take you off the course. If you take the feedback for whatever worth it has, and allow it to simply help you steer the course a little better, then almost all feedback can be useful.
Where did you learn to take photos?
I learned the basics back in high school. Remember film? It was a B&W photography class, and we got to develop our own negatives and photos. It was great fun. Then I wasted a lot of years, for some reason, doing other things, including my artwork, before catching that "bug" again.
Raw vs jpg and why?
RAW....absolutely...no question. I know the files are huge, but external hard drives are cheap these days. Even a full quality JPG cannot stand up against a RAW file. Why?...the RAW file retains details in the darker and lighter areas, that your eyes can't see. Once you convert to JPG, that data is gone. With a RAW file, you can bring up the darker areas to a certain degree, and pull out details that may make your photo look better. Same goes with the very bright areas. If they're not totally blown out by a lot, many times you can bring down those bright areas, ad regain detail that you couldn't see before. My best advise for drive space issues. Only save the RAW files for the photos you are sure are "keepers", and the rest you can either erase, or if you're paranoid like me, save the rest as jpgs, so you at least have them, but they don't take up as much space. For the keepers, even after I have processed the photo and saved it as a JPG as the final version, I still retain the RAW, just in case I later look and find I'm not as happy with it as I thought I was.
What do you carry in your camera bag?
A Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 50D (backup)
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens
Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II STM lens
Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG APO HSM lens
Variable ND filter for my wide lens
Remote shutter trigger
Manfrotto tripod (hangs on the outside, of course)
A 128gb card, and a couple 64gb cards, just in case
Lens cleaning brush and cloth
A couple of chargers and 6 batteries, just in case
If you could have the gift of a great photographer who would it be and why?
I know this sounds like the easy answer, but Ansel Adams. In answering that, I don't mean that I wish to emulate his style, but I would love for my photos to have the same or similar effect on people, as his. He had a way of capturing a scene and then dodging and burning to create the most amazing and moving images. Who wouldn't want to strive to be mentioned in the same breath as Ansel Adams?
What is the most common mistake you see people making when shooting these days?
I don't know if it's just "these days", but one of the most common mistakes (in my opinion) that photographers make, is to capture a beautiful scene that does not "capture" the viewer. By that, I mean that you want to control the eye of the viewer. Even landscape-ish photos need a subject. Is that an interesting looking tree...a lonely bench in a park? By the elements you include in your photos, the framing, the lighting, the depth of field...YOU can control where the viewer's eye goes, without them even realizing it. The best way to capture an image people will tell a story to them and move them...is to take their eyes on a journey through the photo.
What is your dream location to shoot?
How can there be just one? There are many places very high on my list, but I suppose the one I keep coming back to in my "dream" locations, would be to photograph the Northern Lights in Alaska.
How do you decide on where to shoot a photo?
That's an easy one. No matter the location, if the scene is interesting enough to make me stop and stare for more than a few moments, then I'll either break out my camera gear or make note of it and come back when I can, or when the lighting and sky are right. I don't really have an agenda for the type of shots I want to get, which is why I struggle to answer what my style is. I like to capture beauty, wherever and whatever that beauty is. Whether I knew about it and went to it, or I just stumbled upon it.
What is next for you?
I definitely want to raise enough funds for a cruise or trip to Alaska in hopes to shoot the Northern Lights. I'd also like to take a trip to Denver, Colorado. The more photos I manage to sell, the more likely those trips are...haha!
What is your goal with your photography?
I want it to be my sole source of income. Not for that to be the end goal, but for that to allow me to go to places I have never been, and could never have previously considered, so I can capture the beauty of those places, and share it with people.
