"Why True-To-Life Photos Are Timeless" | Photography with Nathan Saczynski

What does it take to transform a passion into a thriving career? Journey with us as we uncover the inspiring story of Nathan Saczyinski. Nathan's path began in an unexpected place—volunteering in a church ministry—where he stumbled upon his love for the technical aspects of live production, which eventually ignited his passion for photography. Nathan shares how the blend of family influences, a non-traditional education, and an entrepreneurial spirit propelled him toward his dream of building his own photography business. 

Nathan opens up about the challenges and triumphs that come with balancing personal satisfaction with a high-quality reputation in the creative industry. He highlights the importance of embracing growth, confronting weaknesses, and the pivotal role mentors play in shaping one's journey. From the deliberate art of film photography to the clean precision of digital images, Nathan reveals the artistic inspirations that fuel his creativity, drawing from sources as diverse as HBO's "Euphoria" and classic art history. This conversation is packed with insights into the delicate dance of maintaining authenticity while navigating the demands of high-profile clients.

For those aspiring to make their mark in the creative world, Nathan's story offers invaluable lessons on risk-taking, mentorship, and staying true to your core values. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity in both personal and professional realms, sharing poignant reflections on leading a creative team and pursuing dreams with integrity. Whether you're a seasoned photographer or just starting on your creative journey, Nathan's experiences provide a roadmap for embracing your unique path while capturing the essence of the stories around you. Join us for this enlightening discussion that not only celebrates Nathan's journey but also empowers listeners with the tools to chase their own dreams.

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Transcript

Photography, Creativity, and Pursuing Dreams

Speaker 1 0:00

Once you have your first job is when you really realize oh wow, you're building your own dream or you're building someone else's. That's when it clicked. It's like I want to steer my own ship. When a client is happy with what they see, it's kind of like they see themselves in a new light that they've never seen before. It sort of fueled me to just keep doing that. I was like wait, I can actually do something and get paid for something that I enjoy. That's when I started kind of just toying with the idea of, like, what would it look like to own a photography business?

Speaker 2 0:28

How would you feel when people start to become way better than you?

Speaker 1 0:33

I think it's a dangerous place to be when you think that you are the best at something and nobody likes having their weaknesses pointed out. You can look at your weaknesses Like why do you hate that so much? It's probably because you need to grow in that area. What are we waiting for? Just have to take the initiative, take the risk and maybe it'll fail or maybe it'll go super well. But by waiting you're taking a risk too.

Speaker 2 0:53

At the cost of thinking about the future all the time, you're also missing what's in front of you, the present.

Speaker 1 0:58

I mean it's fair, because you don't want to be blindsided by always living in the future, nor do you want to live in the past.

Speaker 2 1:04

When we look at our past, we also find the answers of where we got to be in the present. It also informs the future that we want to forge. What does that legacy look like?

Speaker 1 1:12

I want to photograph things as they are in their natural beauty, the way that God would see them. Having the good work is one thing. Making meaningful work is something that takes years of development. It's more about who you are as a person and how you can interact with those people, before you ever take the picture.

Speaker 2 1:38

All right, guys. Hello, as you know, it is another episode with Henry Court. Hi guys, I know it's been a while and I hope you're enjoying the episodes that I've been putting out. Please like and subscribe. Social links are in whatever. Okay, you already know the deal, but in this episode we have a wonderful and upcoming photographer, and his name is Nathan Sosinski. Yes, nathan, why don't you tell us who you are and why you're here on this earth with this gift that you have bestowed on you? And, yes, I'm going to be dramatizing every little bit of this conversation.

Speaker 1 2:18

Go on Well. First of all, thank you. I want to just extend that to you. I'm very appreciative that you would have me on this podcast. It means a lot, so thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 2:28

Of course, dude. Of course, Guys, remember, find us at socials and give him a lot of support and love because, dude, his work is amazing. If you're looking for someone to capture your products or portraits, or you know landscape, he's the guy to go to and we will get his contact in the description below.

Speaker 1 2:48

But go on. Thank you for saying it so wonderfully. I consider myself a commercial photographer In that sense. You're not discriminating on what kinds of things you shoot. It's more about the end use for it. So if you're going to, make money off photos contact me.

Speaker 2 3:05

Actually, why don't you drop your social links, so people can actually find you?

Speaker 1 3:08

Yeah, instagram is just Nathan, underscore, sosinski or nascophotocom.

Speaker 2 3:14

When I saw your name Nasco, I was like damn, that sounds really cool, it's like NASCAR. But when I did the research it turns out that it was like an acronym for, I think, nathan, and your last name Adam, and then Sosinski. I don't know if I got the last middle name wrong. You did, I did Okay.

Speaker 1 3:32

It's okay. So it's Nathan Andrew Sosinski Creative Organization.

Speaker 2 3:39

It's close enough. All right, it's close enough. I have hearing aids, it's okay, I have hearing aids. That's the only excuse I will use, but anyway. So why are you here, mr?

Speaker 1 3:48

Sosinski, I am here because you invited me. And why?

Speaker 2 3:52

are you here to tell your story as a creative? What is your mission on this earth?

Speaker 1 3:57

Man, that's a deep question to start off with.

Speaker 2 4:01

I will only ask deep questions, for like a a wonderful conversations that's why we're here for it.

Speaker 1 4:07

Huh, I'm here for it. So go ahead, tell us what you want to do with your life as a photographer man, I guess if I had to give you, like my macro reason yes, dude, why I do everything, spill it it's gonna sound so simple that it's stupid. Okay, but it's to make people happy, okay, that's it why. This is kind of what started everything.

Speaker 1 4:27

The first time, and I'm sure you remember the first time you shot a video, was your client impressed with it? Were they happy? Were they excited? Yes, did they say, oh my gosh, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I love it. Yes, so the first time I delivered photos and heard that, it sort of fueled me to just keep doing that, and that's still a feeling that I get. When a client is happy with what they see, it's kind of like they see themselves in a new light that they've never seen before.

Speaker 2 4:55

And that feeling never seems to go away, even when the work starts to get overloaded. And all of that Because, like you, want to do so much to make a client happy, and it's almost like trying to find a balance between making sure that the work that you do is something that you enjoy while at the same time maintaining your reputation as a wonderful photographer that provides high quality products to the clients. But it's hard to do that when you, guys, when you, when you go up, make sure you protect your inner child. But before you did photography, though, where were you at that time, before you even considered that?

Journey to Creative Careers

Speaker 1 5:31

Man before I did photography. I guess you could say like my start into any sort of creative career was through Destiny Worship Center. Do tell, I would love to Go ahead. So around 2012 is when my family first started going to Destiny, but by 2014,. So I was in sixth grade, I think.

Speaker 2 5:55

That's when.

Speaker 1 5:55

I had started volunteering just in the kids ministry. Started off as a small group leader, didn't even care about the tech side, Funnily enough. But there was a need for it. So, the pastor reached out to me and asked if I would consider helping, which I agreed to it. I said sure thing. And I sort of got hooked by that point, just from a technical side. And then, the first time I remember there was this little 24-ch channel fader board that controlled all of the stage lights in there.

Speaker 1 6:26

Okay, like all 10 stage lights, nothing crazy at all okay and there was something so incredible about how you could shape a room, you could move people, express sentiments just with lighting, and I think that's when I really got hooked by it With the lighting.

Speaker 2 6:44

I think that's the Destiny. Wait, was that Steve Vaglas?

Speaker 1 6:49

So Steve Vaglas? Yeah, he's the head pastor there.

Speaker 2 6:52

Wait, was there not a pastor? Because I remember going there every now and then with my friends but I never really just took the time to understand the team or who was there. I just know they're a pastor. I don't know if he's the. What do you mean by like he's the only pastor there, or are there multiple?

Speaker 1 7:07

Well, he's the founding pastor. So, steve, you've got the Vigalis family.

Speaker 2 7:11

Okay so.

Speaker 1 7:11

Steve and Jackie. That's husband and wife. They founded Destiny, and then Victor and Steven are the sons. So under Victor was Josh and he was the kid's pastor at the time.

Speaker 2 7:23

Hi guys, If you're watching this, remember Nathan. You shaped him to who he is today with your opportunity to help him get to know how the lighting works. But with the light, though, when you were doing the fading, did you feel like you had the experience to back that up, or were you just learning everything on the go?

Speaker 1 7:44

Oh, it was all on the go. There was no training. Really. So I think that's kind of what started, like the whole teaching myself, learning on the fly, learning in the field, so to speak.

Speaker 2 7:55

Okay, before sixth grade, did you have any aspirations that you had set in stone before a photographer Like, for example, I thought I wanted to be an architect because of Legos? Oh, of course. But then there's math.

Speaker 1 8:07

Well, I think every boy goes through that. We all played with Legos and wanted to be an architect when we were growing up.

Speaker 2 8:12

But you know what's worse when you step on a Lego and it hurts, but you know what I mean. Did you have a predetermined career before you discover photography?

Speaker 1 8:24

Yeah. So in elementary school I was determined that I would be like a boat captain, and then that faded away real quick and then it became architecture once I got obsessed with Legos, Okay, and then after that I guess you could say just the tech field in general once started doing live production okay, boat cap boat captain. It's such a blip on the radar, no pun intended wait, what's this?

Speaker 2 8:52

by any chance, is powered by forrest gump. No, I mean. I mean he became a boat captain and he got crawfish and shrimp. That's why I wanted to ask I've actually never seen that movie.

Speaker 2 9:04

I'm sorry. Okay, all right, that's a strike one. Everyone After going to regional, before that did your parents, because, from what I've learned from the research guys, when I do research I'm a stalker. I look for every information, but I suddenly could not find a social security number. But we'll see. But I looked into um your family and they're all like the creative they have. They have their own business in the sense that, um, it inspired you to make your decision to go after photography. But did they, when you were, uh, being raised throughout your childhood, did they ever foster some type of creative um ambition like they and they push you to, they encourage you to do something like that Throughout your childhood? Did they ever foster some type of creative ambition Like they push you to, they encourage you to do something like that? Or did they want you to? You know, make sure you get a stable job. That will, you know, give you financial security. You're stable and you're okay. Did they ever do that to you?

Speaker 1 9:59

So kind of no to both actually Really. Which is surprising. So the creative ambition. Yeah not really. If anything, what they fostered in me was wanting to be entrepreneurial owning my own business. Okay, and then what was your second question?

Speaker 2 10:21

Did they ever encourage you to choose a path where it's like? A guaranteed stable income so like the typical go to college, get a job.

Speaker 1 10:25

Yeah no. So even after that they would still, because that kind of goes in line with starting a business. You don't necessarily need a bachelor's or master's degree to do that. Okay.

Speaker 2 10:37

Depending on what field you're in, but in my case you didn't, and my mom would always talk about like, oh, I got my bachelor's in marketing but, I, still don't use it and she does all of the business side for my dad's art business because you know, when we, when we grow up, we always look to our parents for guidance and when, whatever behaviors that they exhibit, we would typically um imitate that. So when you heard your mom say, yeah, you know I, yeah, I went to school and got my degrees in marketing, but I never used it, how did that inform you going forward into your education in high school and college?

Speaker 1 11:13

I mean, it kind of left me questioning like well, if not that, then what Like? What would that even look like if I were to just go start a business? How do you form a business plan?

Speaker 2 11:23

and make it profitable. Start a business, how do you form a business plan and make it profitable? Right, and then, from there, did you order anything that you just like. Realize, okay, college, yeah I don't need it.

Speaker 1 11:36

So I went off to college. Oh, very briefly. Well, I was at northwest and got an associates, but I don't even count that. Okay, when I, when I got to FSU about a year ago, I was actually in their architecture program. So the Lego kid came back alive. Briefly. Yeah. But I quickly realized it's not the path that I wanted to go down. So, unfortunately, it did take getting there to realize that, but even within, like the first day of being there, I knew that it's not where I wanted to be and I know I'm kind of jumping way ahead into that.

Speaker 1 12:09

Yeah, because there's the whole lead up to how I ended up getting there, right? Uh, haven't even talked about how I got into photography yet, but with architecture I realized just looking over, like the course syllabus, there were maybe two classes out of the entire program that I cared about.

Speaker 2 12:26

I'm assuming it's the actual designing part.

Speaker 1 12:29

It was right, it was the design courses.

Speaker 2 12:32

And I would imagine what kind of buildings did you want to build If you had to put yourself back in that shoes again? What buildings did you actually want to design?

Speaker 1 12:40

What kind of buildings? I think hotels would be cool, like a luxury hotel.

Speaker 2 12:44

Are there any particular architecture style? What kind of buildings I think hotels would be cool, and what kind of luxury hotel. Hmm, you know what about?

Speaker 1 12:51

are there any particular um architecture style, like Gothic or modern or Victorian, so this is going to sound like really weird, but I've always liked brutalism. How what Brutalism?

Speaker 2 12:58

Whoa Wait, how come that's a different, vastly. That's like that's going to be hard to fit into modern society. When it comes to the actual, don't worry guys, we're going to be talking about photography. We're just discovering who he is. Okay, anyways, go on. Why Brutalism Out of everything? That's a concept that's not normally seen If you walk around.

Speaker 1 13:19

You do see it sometimes, depending on where you go, like even just pensacola, has some brutalist architecture where downtown?

Speaker 2 13:30

they look like.

Speaker 1 13:31

They remind me of nashville maybe you need to see a picture of brutalism hold on.

Speaker 2 13:38

I'm gonna do that right now with brutalism. I isn't that like. Everything is simple or no?

Speaker 1 13:44

that's minimalism. What am I? Brutalism. Looks almost like kind of scary. That looks like sci-fi?

Speaker 2 13:53

Yeah, I don't remember. Okay, are you telling me this is what you're talking about? Guys, look, this is what he's talking about.

Speaker 1 14:04

Yeah, that's it. What building are we talking about in Pensacola? I'll show you sometime.

Speaker 2 14:10

Beside the point, that's beside the point, but no so. And then now we dive back into his journey leading up to the regional director, by the way, at the age, I think let me look at this, by the way, at the age wait, I think let me look at this.

Speaker 2 14:26

Yeah, at a young age it was like you were. Really it was a significant achievement. How did that feel for you after just getting all that time experience and having a whole entire team promote you to lead the whole entire thing? How did that make you feel? Because that's a big achievement.

Speaker 1 14:44

Well, it was super empowering, okay, because I didn't get hired until the day I turned 16. That's when I got a phone call with an offer whoa but before that I was basically operating in the same capacity, just volunteer or stipend with that volunteer opportunity?

Exploring Film and Digital Photography

Speaker 2 15:00

did you, did you feel like that? After discovering with the lighting, when did you start transferring it to photography?

Speaker 1 15:08

So that happened like the first time I picked up a camera. That was sophomore year of high school and that was just an elective course, but it was more of like a history of photography. It wasn't that practical.

Speaker 2 15:21

What do you mean? It wasn't practical, like it didn't feel, like the concepts reached out to you so they weren't really teaching how to take a good photograph.

Speaker 1 15:29

They were teaching history of photography, so starting with film, working through, say, like ansel adams famous black and white photos, even though you're not around.

Speaker 2 15:39

We love your artwork it's gorgeous so you, you were still looking through the history. Uh, you took that as elective. Where did, where were you at that time after, after taking or during the um course?

Speaker 1 15:52

so the interest of photography the first time I had seen it painted in like an attractive way, like kind of trendy, like oh, this is actually kind of fun, like this is a cool thing to do yeah not just what your grandpa does, but I was actually on YouTube, of course, and I stumbled across a video by Willem Verbeek. Oh what.

Speaker 1 16:13

His name is Willem Verbeek. Okay, he's Belgian, so he has a complicated last name. Yeah, but I'm Polish, so I have a complicated last name too. But anyway, he had a video about Super 8 film and I clicked on it and then, of course, that same night, watched like 90% of all of his other videos, and I still keep up with his content to this day.

Speaker 2 16:36

So it's been kind of cool to see how he's grown too, but it was just so interesting because he shoots on all film cameras anything from 35 millimeter or medium format and that's why you started shooting with a canon ae-1 with kodak gold portrait 160 I don't shoot a lot with film I after quickly realizing how expensive it was especially medium format okay I don't want to think about the cost dude, okay, because like it's like three to four dollars per image is what it averages but it adds up.

Speaker 2 17:14

It adds up so much and like what did you try to do? Like developing it by yourself, or did you have to send it off to a lab?

Speaker 1 17:23

I considered it, I learned everything about it okay but once I realized how expensive it would be on top of everything else, I just send it off the medium format.

Speaker 2 17:32

With the film photography, that's a different type of workflow and you don't normally have like a margin of error where you can make a bit of mistakes, whereas with the, with the film photography, it's like you don't even know what settings are, if they're actually accurate to capture what you're seeing. What did you like about that format versus digital?

Speaker 1 17:52

well, if anything, when you're shooting film, the entire process just slows way down okay, so you have to focus more on your composition, okay, and then making sure, because it's not like digital where you can just keep rapid fire. You know, yeah, you gotta exactly, but you're limited by the iso to the sensitivity of the film yeah so there's a lot more limitations, but there's also like sort of a freedom that comes when you have confines, like that, because some of my favorite work has been with film and I don't think it's the film itself like while it can capture light interestingly and uniquely from digital, it's not gonna equal the best photo you've ever seen okay, we're gonna go into a debate here with film and digital.

Speaker 2 18:40

Which one do you think you that fits your style? Because in all of your work that we've seen and I'm talking about the viewers, because they're going to look at your work too, all of the work that we've seen it's very clean and it has the commercial look. But with the film, were there any elements that you liked that did not get transferred to digital, that got lost in the the process? If that makes sense, like grain, you have to digitally post it, you have to do it in post and you have to certain way capture slide. Digital is too clean.

Speaker 1 19:15

So with my digital work, especially with the coloring, yeah, I try to emulate what a professional film stock would capture. So if I'm shooting with Kodak Portra 400 or 800, there's a very clean look to it that almost doesn't even look like film. Kodak Gold looks like film but, with 160, 400 and 800 Portra film stocks. They're professional, they're made to be what would be used in like a professional setting. So that's kind of what I'm going after with my digital edits.

Speaker 1 19:52

I still want it to look natural, true to life. I don't like edits that look just unearthly because I don't think that's going to stand the test of time. Like I want photos that look good today to look good 20 years from now. Like we all saw the Instagram VSCO trend with, like the moody brown edits just super unearthly looking, it looks cool at first sight, but you can like scroll back a few years on people's feeds and be like I can tell that was a trend.

Speaker 1 20:23

So I don't want my feed to look like that and be like.

Speaker 2 20:24

I can tell that was a trend, so I don't want my feed to look like that. There has been a huge resurgence and a nostalgic element that comes with film and you see people wanting to buy older cameras Like I do have the Fujifilm X10. And people are now wanting to emulate the 2000s, early 2000s, look even early in the 90s. My question is with digital, they both both art can live, they're both timeless in its own way. But what?

Speaker 1 20:50

what digital art, yeah film and digital.

Speaker 2 20:53

What is it about the digital that you think would?

Speaker 1 20:56

outlast the film, just the ease of using it. You don't have to pay to get it developed it's not as wasteful. Okay, because the developing process I mean it is wasteful. It's not very go green and that's the ugly side nobody ever talks about. Okay, I did not even think about that. But also, then you have to pay to get them scanned, you have to store your negatives. So, like I said, it's a much longer process working with film so I think film emulation like fuji film has done a great job.

Speaker 1 21:31

Yes, like with the x100 series, that is truly emulating, basically like a leica m6 what if we blend both of the worlds?

Speaker 2 21:38

let's say, we emulate film, the elements of film, but in digital we do that in post. Now you did say um, the digital photos will be able to outlive um against film. But what? What if we're still trying to do the exact same thing that we see in film, but for digital? We go into post and destroy it. We look good, we do you ever find yourself? Okay, let's turn down the sharpness, let's add more grain.

Speaker 1 22:04

It's like we're taking a perfectly clean photo and we're destroying it yeah, well, that's one thing about film, is it's like perfectly imperfect, if you're shooting with the right stock and it's a high quality lens.

Speaker 1 22:16

Okay, you can get near digital quality. But there's always an aspect to film that I think can't be emulated digitally and I think it comes down. It's like a scientific process the way that light is captured chemically with film. The amount of dynamic range that you can get in film is pretty crazy. Like even shooting with Portra, I'm usually two to three stops overexposed just because I know that I want the shadow detail but it still keeps your highlights intact, Whereas digital it's such a clinical look on a digital sensor.

Speaker 1 22:48

You can't overexpose. You can retain some of it. Like if you're shooting bracketed. You can always blend those, but it's going to look so clinically perfect. I think that's part of why people are going back to the film. Look, because you see like direct flash and blurry images coming back?

Speaker 2 23:05

yeah, and I think people are just nostalgic well, I would like to ask what?

Speaker 2 23:09

what's your take on? Maybe the digital could still be good, but what if it's the lens that's in front of the camera? That gives a clinical look? We use older like there's a, there's a helios 44-2, we use that as and we put it, and when we shoot it behind the person, when we shoot in front of the person that's behind or in front of the trees, it gets that characteristic of a swirly look. What about that? What if it's the lens?

Speaker 1 23:35

So that's part of it, but that's not all of it, because one thing you see with film like take CineStill. Yeah. It has halations oh, I love that one which you can add artificially and resolve, but it's not always going to be the same.

Speaker 2 23:50

So it's artificially film, but it's not really film.

Speaker 1 23:54

Softwares are trying to emulate what only film can do. And same with your highlight roll-off. Right. Like if I were to start talking about oh, the tones look so good in film.

Speaker 2 24:03

It's the highlights and the way the dynamic range makes it.

Speaker 1 24:07

So, like people like to shoot with a promise filter because they're trying to get the highlight roll off, that you see in film, yeah, but you can usually tell like, okay, that was clearly shot digital. Yeah, they were just trying to make it look like film.

Speaker 2 24:19

Yeah, I wanted to circle back to the lighting. I wanted to circle back to the lighting. When you were going into the broadcast. What were some of the moments that you realized how different and how important it was to take lighting into consideration? Because you did mention that broadcast is a different approach versus in a different scenario, like if you're shooting a short film, go on Right.

Mastering Lighting for Visual Productions

Speaker 1 24:39

So, like with a short film which I'm not like a videographer I'm not even pretending to be one Yet, but I know how like a videographer, I'm not even pretending to be one, but I know how to light a scene. Anyway, when you're lighting something for broadcast especially, you're no longer lighting just for artistic purposes- You're lighting for a specific type of camera to see things in the most ideal way possible. So in that case, that's the first time I realized oh, there's different color temperatures. Right.

Speaker 1 25:08

Suddenly you have an LED wall behind a speaker that is a little bit cooler than daylight balance, but then you have incandescent house lighting that's at like 3,200 color. But then you have accent lighting fixtures that are LED and they render so cold that it almost looks magenta. So when you have all, and then, like you have some house fixtures that are a different type of bulb- yeah so it has a green cast to it so when you have all these different temperatures? What do you do when it looks like crap on video? Right, so that.

Speaker 1 25:43

So that's when I started realizing like, okay, I need to approach this entirely different, because cameras can't see unlimited white balances.

Speaker 2 25:51

Yeah.

Speaker 1 25:51

You have to lock into one, okay. So, in that case we're going to lock into, say, 4,000 Kelvin. So we're going to find a way to balance everything to get it as close to 4,000 as we can, to get it as close to 4000 as we can. So if our LED wall is too daylight, we need to color, balance it to be warmer so that everything's true.

Speaker 1 26:10

white looks pretty similar. The stage lights if they're tungsten, we're putting a CTB filter on that. So color temperature blue it's just going to cut out all of the warm frequency, and same goes for house lighting. Swap those to LED, so then you can go cooler with it. Remove color cast, which you can do that with a filter or with LEDs.

Speaker 2 26:33

Okay, we just got a crash course on taking everything into consideration in stage lighting, because now I wanted to know Well, that's just one aspect of it. Oh.

Speaker 1 26:42

God, that's just color. I didn't even get into different fixtures for different uses and angles and all that.

Speaker 2 26:48

Have you ever been put in a challenging situation where how did you even deal with? You know some lighting will change colors throughout the performance, or anything like that. How do you account for? Okay, you said, all right, we know that lighting is magenta, we know this lighting is going to be green, but how do you deal with the ones that are dynamic in terms of changing colors? So they're changing colors live.

Speaker 1 27:11

Yeah, that's just something that you have to take into consideration. Do you want it to be an artistic element? Yes, or is that like an essential fixture that cannot change, so like in our case, like you've heard of three-point lighting, yes, so you're going to have your key light, your kicker or a side light and then your back light. Right, so in our case, we were doing more of, like, five-point lighting. Oh man, because when you're on stage, everything is much more dramatic.

Speaker 1 27:39

Your shadows are harsh. Right, you're trying to make it look natural, plus your speakers dynamic. They're running all around the stage. So then you add in the fact of okay, we need consistency across a 30 foot wide stage. So, going from like a leeko fixture, that's a spot, it's a very theatrical light. So then we swap to a fresnel, which is just a wide pool of light, right soft, and then we swapped to a Fresnel which is just a wide pool of light, very soft, and then we even added diffusion on top of that just to get as soft as we could.

Speaker 1 28:11

So with that five point your key light. It's going to have two coming from the side, so it's minimizing shadow.

Speaker 2 28:19

Especially down here at the face Exactly.

Speaker 1 28:22

Your side lights are coming in to reveal some detail on your side, and then your back light separates it from the background. So those stay the same. Those are all at the same, kelvin the same white balance. But then you have the more artistic fixtures, their accents. They don't have to be the same color because you want contrast.

Speaker 2 28:43

Even if that just means you have different colored fixtures in the background, it's not hitting your subject, so it's okay what's the process when it comes to, uh, managing, managing the cup, the person's skin color it, the way the light hits our skin is always going to be different, no matter what, with every other person, so how do you also factor that into them walking around the stage? And then all of this accent lights, five-point lighting. How do you take into account for that specific part.

Speaker 1 29:12

So you're saying people with different complexions, yeah color, especially color.

Speaker 2 29:16

How do you take that into account with the lighting?

Speaker 1 29:20

Well, honestly, the biggest thing we've run into is when people wear high contrast outfits, Really Right. So say you have like a white person wearing just all black on stage. They look like a void with a floating head, so we try to like have them wear variety in color.

Speaker 2 29:38

You see, that's not one. The thing is like there are people who have certain personalities where it also shows what how they express in their outfits, and have you ever been in a situation where you had to actually uh, talk to them and how you want the lighting set up before they get on stage?

Speaker 1 29:54

I didn't have to have that conversation. Oh, dude, that was just outside of my wheelhouse did you ever think about being a gaffer?

Artistic Inspirations and Commercial Photography

Speaker 2 30:03

because all this knowledge I mean, that's kind of what I do well, like I know you said you want to be photographer, but that's gaffer is like strictly more into film production side. That's like someone that's responsible for that, but you're still doing, you're applying that in photography. Did you ever have you ever consider about taking, you know, crossing the uh, dark side as a Sith Lord of lighting? Have you ever considered that? Or is that something you're planning on doing later down the road?

Speaker 1 30:30

I think that's the extent at which I would get into the filmmaking world. So I don't want to be the person who's sitting at the editing bay all day. Okay, I want to be the person lighting the scenes, so the cinematographer a. Dp a gaffer. The people who are helping to put the film together from a creative stance. I just don't want to be on the post-production side. Well, congratulations. The same is true for photography. I like lighting scenes and working with a subject.

Speaker 2 30:58

Well now, in this case, you are now in front of the camera. You are the subject. Out in front of the camera, you are the subject. One of my favorite styles that I've seen, even in photography and videography film, is rembrandt lighting, freaking beautiful. Do you have a specific art style that you could see in paintings? Um, even, because a lot of our the way we see the world can still be traced back into. We're going back into your art history. I'm sorry if you didn't enjoy the class, but here we are. We're about to explore.

Speaker 1 31:27

Everything is just emulating art. Everything just emulates art. So the things that look good subconsciously like there's a design principle behind it.

Speaker 2 31:39

I'm glad you mentioned that because you know the Vibhunachi or the Swirly. I think it's a vibranachi sequence, I think I. I didn't really pay attention to certain classes, but I know there's a swirly thing when I saw that one and they started, uh, showing certain items in the world. It's literally you can see it everywhere. And so with lighting, rembrandt, lighting just so happens to be the one I'm attracted to the most do you have a specific look that you love. That could be found in art throughout art history.

Speaker 1 32:10

Rembrandt, that's where you get the triangular shape yes, yes okay, I mean, yeah, I like that too. I wouldn't say that there's, like this one specific style, the biggest rule of thumb that I have when I'm creating because, I't want limitations per set. Okay, it's just have it look true to life. I don't want something to look so unreal, so fake why is that it?

Speaker 2 32:33

doesn't, because there should always be, like the human element to it everybody has their own style, but with yours that you really love the naturalistic and true to life right in comparison to these, why what makes it so, uh, attracting?

Speaker 1 32:48

I think it just goes back to like film because I want something. I'm not into trendy things okay, oh like what would be so great in the moment. Like I'm very long-sighted, I want to see or I want to create something that when you see it in the future, you like it just as much as when you saw it that the day it was created.

Speaker 2 33:06

Can you recall a time in your childhood that you saw something that you can maybe have been able to recreate in your current artwork today?

Speaker 1 33:15

Like a specific photograph that I saw that I want to recreate Photos, movies. So the most. And I may get in trouble for saying that I watch this, but hbo's euphoria series oh I don't know if you've seen that bro, oh my god oh my gosh. The cinematography in that is pretty incredible, it's not just crazy. It's godly, it's, it's, it's. Which. Did you know? They shot that on ectochrome oh yeah, yeah, the.

Speaker 2 33:42

I think it was season two or season three. They switch yeah season two dude, the colors just pop it's incredible but, here's it still looks real okay, but here's the thing I'm gonna actually counter, argue with you with that the part that you said you like. You like artwork that are true to life and more natural, but in euphoria though some colors are, so it's it's emphasized to a point where it's almost like you're looking at a theatrical, like a theater uh, play because, how is that?

Speaker 2 34:13

how is that contrast? How's that contrasting with you, what you want to see in your work versus what you like to see from?

Speaker 1 34:19

euphoria. So in that case, I think you're not representing a person as much as you're representing a sentiment. So, think like very simple You're telling a scary story, You've got gross green lighting with an uplight like a flashlight. That's not a natural look that you'd normally see in everyday life, but in that specific instance it works because you're trying to get a certain feeling across and I think in Euphoria they do use that selectively, which I have a theatrical background. Right.

Speaker 1 34:50

Because, in addition to Destiny, I was still working with Emerald Coast Theater Company, oh okay, so I did a lot of broadcast lighting, but I also did a lot of theatrical lighting too, what was the part that you loved the most about Euphoria that made you just like, oh, I want to try that in my work. So I actually did recreate this back at Studio 2215 right after it launched this is Megan's little shout out moment. Congratulations.

Speaker 2 35:17

We're having a flashback moment. Yep.

Speaker 1 35:20

So, back in. November. This is when Justin hosted the Create and Elevate event. Yes.

Speaker 1 35:28

And on the first or second day we had like different breakout times, just to create. So we had like four different photo sets going at once and for the one that I created I specifically had in mind I want to recreate like a euphoria scene, Okay, so as if you're taking a frame grab from the show but, it's just a photo right it's composed a certain way, the outfits look away and the lighting is a certain way, and I think I achieved it pretty well in your creative process.

Speaker 2 35:59

Now that you mentioned that you take the photos, how do you actually gather inspirations? Because most for some people when they look at work. Okay, I like this from this movie, let me take a screenshot of that. I like this photo from somebody else. I want to take that. What is your creative process like?

Speaker 1 36:15

so with commercial you really do have to balance everything, because on one hand, you're having to listen to what the client wants, you're listening to what the client needs, but you're also thinking like this has to reach such a broad audience, like it can't be too weird, it can't be too out there, like it has to look very clean, almost clinical. Okay, because that's just the usage for it. Now for my own creative work.

Speaker 1 36:43

I'm usually going off of what I see in movies or TV shows, or sometimes I'll see something that one of the creators I follow does and I'm like I'm going to pull inspiration from that I want to know what your take is on.

Speaker 2 36:55

is everything original?

Speaker 1 36:57

No, nothing new under the sun.

Speaker 2 37:01

So then we're stealing art by inspiration. So how can we make ourselves stand out, especially with commercial? You know, there's every, there's a certain process that gets a certain look. How would you want to be able to push that to the next level, because everything already is done in a certain way that gives a certain look? How would you like push the standard of what is considered the best, or the standard of commercial photography? How would you like to push that?

Speaker 1 37:26

so are you asking, like, how do you want to stand out as a creator?

Speaker 2 37:28

yes, and specifically in commercial, because you know there's some photos like okay, here, yeti, lighting, lighting, lighting, pretty right. How would you want to push beyond that limit of what is possible?

Speaker 1 37:41

um, with commercial work well, you've got like your typical like. Take an e-commerce photo. So when you held that here. White backdrop, white three-point lighting. It's basic, that's what you see on Amazon.

Speaker 1 37:54

No one can really stand out just based on that. So what you can do is change your talent that you have on set, the location in which it's shot and then every other surrounding piece in that. So you have to think outside the box of how do you want this product to be portrayed, because everything has a connotation attached to it. So you could show this being used by, maybe like a high schooler playing sports. You could have dads that are like 40 years old using it. You could have moms putting.

Speaker 1 38:28

Starbucks in it. It yeah like it doesn't matter. Okay, there's a whole lot of different use cases for one of these, so I think that's how you can stand out.

Speaker 2 38:35

It's just based on its surroundings that sounds like you're diving into the. You're mixing the world between commercial and lifestyle. How would you differentiate between the two, though?

Speaker 1 38:46

because, well, lifestyle can be considered commercial because, remember, commercial that's just saying will this be used to generate revenue?

Speaker 2 38:53

okay, and then lifestyle is just to, because that can be also used for revenue, because you can use that for magazines. Right, they need to look for, let's say, they want to capture a family using uh yeti. How would that be classified as commercial or?

Speaker 1 39:09

lifestyle. Is it gonna be used for advertising? It could be both for both. So then yeah, commercial lifestyle, social media I'm not.

Speaker 2 39:19

I'm not a photographer this world, guys. I just want to let you all know that. So if I'm saying the wrong thing, so let me know the comment. After growing up with your parents, um, you know, having this, all this business that they've been able to become successful with, and then come out and add on to that the fact that your mom just told you, yeah, I didn't really get the use marketing, we still love you, mom, just so you know. Um, hearing all this, as you got older and you started to, you know, want to pursue a business in photography, what did you learn? Because, guys, as a creative, we're very terrible with business.

Speaker 1 39:55

Oh yeah, of course we're very terrible and it's kind of draining to have to do the business side. I know, Like you almost want someone. You need a producer who just handles all the business stuff.

Speaker 2 40:07

Do you have trouble with delegation by any chance, or are you just like you can delegate easily?

Speaker 1 40:12

I can delegate certain things. Okay, so, like, if it's the business side, sure, I'll delegate that all day. But when it comes to like a creative vision for something, I'm a little bit more hesitant, depending on what the setting is. Okay, for example, if this is my shoot, like if it's a passion project, I'm gonna want to be the one who creates it. It's your baby, right it's your baby but then if you go on to a certain like, take a commercial set, okay for yeti, you're working with a team of people yeah you're all trying to get the same goal okay accomplished.

Speaker 1 40:46

You have to be able to delegate and speak in terms everyone understands. You're not the torture genius director anymore.

Speaker 2 40:55

Do you want to be in that environment?

Speaker 1 40:58

uh, the one I just described. Yeah, because that's like yeah, I can do both, you just have to go into with the right mindset.

Speaker 2 41:03

The most painful part about the business is like valuing yourself the right way, right. Is that the hardest part or there's something else that's much?

Speaker 1 41:16

worse. Imposter syndrome is number one for me. Okay. Number two is yeah, valuation of work. It's very hard to put a price on something that you're just passionate about.

Speaker 2 41:28

Ah, man, but that's the thing. If you have somebody who's a producer and they can see your work from an objective standpoint, it's so much easier. But since we're the creators, we can't look at it from an objective standpoint. We're just like no, no, no, no, there's emotions attached to it. I love this. It's our baby. What imposter syndrome. How, what were the thoughts that go to your head? Does it feel like everything that you do? Um, no matter how much people tell you that it's so good, what, what are some of the things that it makes it harder for you to believe that what they're saying is actually true?

Speaker 1 42:05

Well, it's not even about like what other people say. It's more of like seeing how many great people are out there, how many talented people are out there. Especially with social media, when you're constantly scrolling you're like, oh my gosh, that looks incredible. Like mine will never look that good. Who am I to even be on here pretending like I'm a photographer, that I mean, so it's comparison, that's eight million or eight billion people out there.

Speaker 2 42:31

I I'd like to think the artwork still has some value, even if there's a sea of even more talented people out there. Just because they're at a different level doesn't mean you won't ever get there, though they probably took a lot of time, pain, especially pain to get to where they are well, a lot of failure too, and that's the part that nobody really likes to publicize when you see certain people say you look up, look up to do, you feel like you will learn a lot more from their failures or from their success.

Speaker 2 43:01

Well, they don't advertise their failures so it's hard to learn from it, okay so, if anything, I'm looking at.

Speaker 1 43:09

Okay, what does their style look like? Why do I like it? Okay, what's their process? What are they pulling inspiration from? What do they value?

Speaker 2 43:17

okay, and then I'm sort of implementing that in my own work what are some of the failures that you have to come to that, uh, throughout that process, because you know we can implement what we like to see from somebody else, but then sometimes we find that okay that I don't know why this is working for them, but it's not working for me, if that makes sense. Were there any failures that you've come across throughout that process?

Speaker 1 43:41

well, I think, at least for me, a lot of that came down to gear related things. I thought the answer to everything was well, I need a specific piece of gear to do that. Okay, and to an extent having the right gear does matter, but it's not the very utmost important thing either. Like you could still shoot on a 5d Mark two and get incredible results out of it.

Speaker 2 44:05

You don't need the latest camera, at least for photography.

Speaker 1 44:07

Video is a little bit of a different piece. I wouldn't shoot on a 5D Mark II for videos.

Speaker 2 44:13

Well, to be fair, that camera has been used in early 2000 movies. It was like at one point, the best camera.

Speaker 1 44:20

Yeah, Well, I think it was the first DSLR that had 1080p. Wait what? The Findy Mark II?

Speaker 2 44:25

I did not know that. I think it is. I never shot with Canon that. What Can you imagine 1080 being?

Speaker 1 44:33

The standard.

Speaker 2 44:34

At that time.

Speaker 1 44:36

Yeah, 2008-ish.

Speaker 2 44:38

But 4K every time I look at it, 10. Okay, I didn't even know that one, but I just knew that that camera was used heavily in some movies. But I didn't know that specific feature because I never really bothered to look at it, because it was just a photo camera with the gear in question. As a person, I think it really comes down to the person, though, because with gear, yeah, sure, but it's not to say that the person behind the camera, even if they shoot on the phone, their work is still going to be great. I think people are too hung up on the technicals, though. Yes, for people that want to do what you do, how should, where should their focus be at?

Speaker 1 45:11

oh that's a good question, I would honestly say, like learning design principles, if you understand, like the principles of what makes a good image. Yes, so composition and lighting, I would say those are the most important two things.

Speaker 2 45:29

You already came up with that. You have the advantage of doing that.

Speaker 1 45:32

Right, so like I actually started backwards, Most people start by getting the camera having an auto mode and then just figuring Right.

Speaker 2 45:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1 45:43

Spray and pray, just shoot as much as you can, and then they're like well, why does this look terrible? Whereas for me, like I started my learning professional lighting before I ever picked up a camera. So then, when I did pick up the camera for the first time, I already kind of understood the principles of design. Then I just had to learn exposure triangle, the principles of design. Then I just had to learn exposure triangle and then about a year and a half in is when I started using off-camera flash, and then I've just kind of grown since then.

Speaker 2 46:13

At that point, you started wanting to transform that into a business. Right, how was that experience like at the beginning? Not not where you're at now, but at the beginning. Because, dude, we all know what it's like when we get our first loc. Oh my god, mom and dad, I'm a business person. Now walk us through that moment when you got your loc and then I don't use an loc. What I?

Speaker 1 46:37

don't use one whoa.

Speaker 2 46:39

I'm a sole proprietorship walk us through your decision, why you chose that one over not considering the llc though, because I don't think that I need it yet.

Speaker 1 46:47

If anything, I would jump straight to an s corp if I started making like over 60 000 a year. But it's a tax decision. It's a what?

Speaker 2 46:57

it's a tax decision, okay you want to read books on business? Well, as long as you have contracts in place, you're fine, oh do you not know how many people out there that don't do work without contracts or that do work without contracts?

Speaker 1 47:12

that's insane you can get burned yeah, you can get burned.

Speaker 2 47:15

You can get you. Yeah, just don't ever work without contracts. Were there anything that you saw from your parents that when they were handling their business? What did you learn from them and that helped you become at least achieve some form of success?

Speaker 1 47:34

So the biggest thing that I learned from them was actually just tracking expenses. I'm basically my own bookkeeper, so between that and then how to have an accountant do all your taxes, you don't worry about it yeah those were the two biggest things that I learned from them sometimes what it's a.

Speaker 2 47:53

It's a in our if parents do it right, they built this innate for the lack of better word sense of knowing that we're bored something. Parents are gonna do that with their, with their child, and when they do it right, they'll know that they're worth something. Parents are going to do that with their child and when they do it right, they'll know that they're worth something. Now, when you combine that into business, did you have any trouble realizing that? Okay, I know that what I'm trying to do and what I'm trying to offer to the world has that sort of value. Did you have any conflict with that and actually realizing that business requires you to sell to people? How did you equate your value that you think you have in your work and convincing people to actually see that I'm terrible at sales? All right, walk us through that.

Speaker 1 48:39

I mean, that's it. Put it very simply I hate the process of selling people on things even if I fully believe in it. Okay, I think partially it's because I just love what I do so much that, oh my gosh, I wish I could get everyone things for free. But nothing in life is free. Right so you have to charge, and that's something like. Even today, I'm still hung up on what is a fair assessment of what I'm offering. What is it worth? What are people willing to pay? Because we all have bills.

Risk and Growth in Creative Careers

Speaker 2 49:13

Exposure doesn't pay the bills, that's true. Likes and follows and shout outs don't even pay the bills either, they sure don't, especially once you see how expensive gear is too. Do you feel happy with the career that you're at? Because I know each and every one of us will always want to be more. Where are you in that, in that, in?

Speaker 1 49:35

this career. I think I'm just ready for more like I want to learn as much as I can about the commercial photography field living around here. It's a pretty small area, it's just hospitality driven so you don't really see many true professional creatives, so I feel like if I were to just immerse myself in a more creative environment, I think that's when I would start to flourish and that is why I yeah, you do have that plan of going somewhere else.

Speaker 2 50:03

I think that's when I would start to flourish and that is why I yeah, you do have that plan of going somewhere else I think it's a dangerous place to be when you think that you are the best at something. Bro, that statement could not be any more true. Okay, we're going to go into this segment of like. Do you have that mentality of like, the small town mentality you want to get out? Yes, but then.

Speaker 1 50:27

But there's a lot of people here who think that they're the best at anything, not even just photography. But you can look at it and objectively say it's just not great. No shame. But if I'm trying to become a great creative, then I need to go where I'm like pretty low on the totem pole so that I can start learning from people who are really great, the people that are landing the enormous gigs, and then once you can learn from them and see what they're doing right and what doesn't matter, I think that's when you can start to stand out, because I'm a huge proponent of mentorship.

Speaker 2 51:08

You remember the AJ Blair. One Part of me was like the dilemma with that one is knowing that there is more out there. But you're here and the dilemma is like it's hard enough as it is to go beyond what you're able to do at this moment. You're plateauing and that's the biggest fear I've had. Right, and it sounds like that's the same thing you're going through, yes, Like that's the same thing. You're going through, yes, After you know, oh my gosh dude, After the whole entire thing with AJ Blair, at what point are we? What are we waiting for? Like I know there are certain circumstances in our own lives we can't really do it because we have the circumstances that we identify as something that might not make it possible. But there's also taking risk.

Speaker 1 51:55

Well, I think the primal fear that every human shares is just fear of failure.

Speaker 1 52:01

That's true, and I think that's honestly the pinnacle thing that holds everyone back from doing anything. But if you want to get more specific, I think it's usually fiscally related, because if we don't have income, you're not going to eat and then you're going to die. Yeah, it's simple as that. Yeah, I hate to make it that simplistic, but that's usually the truth. A lot of our decisions are motivated by money. So if, for example, I know I'm trying to get out of here and go to a bigger city, the immediate rebuttals I have to that are money-related. How can I afford that? What if I don't find a job in time? What if I fail? And then I'll just end up right back here. And it's also not to say that if I were to leave, that I would never come back. It's more of a personal growth thing.

Speaker 1 52:51

So if I want to become better at what I do. I want to learn from people who are better than I am.

Speaker 2 52:58

But that's hard here, those certain type of people, because I think growth cannot. You know, we can take time to focus on ourselves and become better, but the missing half of that is actually getting mentored by somebody else. That's better, right.

Speaker 1 53:14

So then, where do you find those mentors? Because they're not really here, except for one that I was like a studio assistant with for two years that that wouldn't that require sacrifice and a risk.

Speaker 2 53:28

Knowing that? Because, if you want, from what I've learned, it's like as we get better at what we do, we cannot just keep on taking, taking, taking every opportunity. We have to give up something at the same time. If we're staying here, what we're taking is the opportunity to be somewhat better, but we're still plateauing. That's what we're taking, but what we're giving up is the amount of time that we could have given ourselves to become better. How are you so? It's like a perceived safety thing.

Speaker 1 53:58

By staying here. Anytime you say yes, you're saying no to a million other things right.

Speaker 1 54:04

So, by saying yes to staying here and no to learning from other people who are in bigger areas, it's risky. Both things are. It's risky to move because then you may go broke, you may end up homeless, you may not even find the mentor that you thought you would find. But high risk, high reward, you may get all those things. But then it's risky to stay here. It's a perceived safety to stay here because it's smaller oh, I'm the best in the area but it's risky because there's so much potential that you're leaving on the table. If you want to become the greatest you can possibly be, you'll have to take the risk. You'll have to find a bigger pond and become the bigger fish.

Speaker 2 54:50

One of the most painful part in our creative journeys, when we see our friends that we grew up with. But they took the risk and it's like, oh my gosh, they can do it. So why shouldn't I right? Why couldn't I not?

Speaker 2 55:02

why shouldn't, why should I tell myself that I can do it when, clearly, the people you surround yourself possible, yeah, right do you feel like you're still waiting on um other than the fact that we have to get this certain, uh, tangible things in order, getting paid? We're not gonna die, we're not gonna, we're not gonna put ourselves on at the risk of you know just actually, I'm just gonna go back to die. What would be the thing I will push you to actually go for it, because do all we can think of is the scenarios that we imagine our head, but the reality is that we also have to make that happen. So what is the opportunity that you're waiting for that will push you to say you know what? Hell? Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and do it and I don't know what's gonna happen but I'll do it.

Speaker 1 55:51

See, I'm like torn, because the logical side of my brain is like yeah oh, it's easy, just move.

Speaker 1 55:55

But then on the same side it my brain is like oh, it's easy, just move. But then on the same side it's like whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not going to make that rash of a decision. Part of me wants to wait for a door to open, so to speak. But what if that never happens? What if you have to be the one to go find the door and open it yourself? There's a certain point where you just have to take the initiative, take the risk and go do it, and maybe it'll fail, or maybe it'll go super well, and you just don't know. But by waiting you're taking a risk too.

Speaker 2 56:26

But what about what your parents did with their business? Because I'm sure they've had so many sacrifices and risks that they took, but clearly by seeing what they've done can model your business after them, which I think I'm pretty closely modeling it the. Thing is.

Speaker 1 56:43

The thing we share is that we're entrepreneurial. However, we're in very different industries. The entire business model looks different. They're in the art world. 30a is a huge art community, right, so they can do very well there. 30a is not a huge digital creatives area. That is true, we're not a filmmaking hub. Now we may start growing into that and I've seen exponential growth even recently, like with the Distillery 98 thing and PSA Small shout out.

Speaker 2 57:15

But I don't think we're quite there yet and is that a risk that we're willing to wait or take to wait?

Speaker 1 57:23

Well, we can wait, but who's going to be the change? Maybe that has to be you.

Speaker 2 57:31

I think it's within all of us. It's not one person, but it's up to each and every one of us to stand up and actually decide to make that change.

Speaker 1 57:39

Well, a dangerous thing that I also never want to be unaware of is groupthink A. What Groupthink?

Speaker 2 57:47

Groupthink.

Speaker 1 57:48

So when every say like we've got 10 people around this table. Yes. We're all just oh yeah, I agree with you 100%. Yeah.

Speaker 1 57:56

We're all just yes, men at that point agree, so we're all sharing the same mid ideas. I want to break out of that and hear from different people who are in different fields and have just gotten more industry experience, because it's easy for us to say like, oh yeah, we're all great at what we do, which we are. I'm not saying that we aren't, but I want to hear from people that are in la that are in atlanta in new york.

Speaker 1 58:27

I want to see like, okay, this is the very realistic logistics of what it looks like to be a professional creative and then here it's like there's comfort, there's this sense of comfort. It's like it's a very slow pace yeah, and but the thing is okay.

Speaker 2 58:47

The logical side I would imagine the logical side of your brain would also look at what's currently happening in the industry, like in la atl, from where I, in the industry that I work in, it's like there's a lot of things going on with the film industry. There's layoffs, there's a massive, slow amount of work happening. You know companies are dropping every employees, left and right. That's the logical side, but the the the emotional side is like okay, sure, but that could change. What? If I just go and take the risk, can you say, can you describe the exact scenario from from the photography perspective?

Speaker 1 59:26

so I just want to learn from people that know way more than I do. Like I said, I'm big on mentorship, so if I can do that, it's not that I want to go find an identity with a certain group of people.

Speaker 2 59:39

Yeah.

Speaker 1 59:40

I just want to learn from people. And then if I end up living here, then I have something more to offer of value. It's almost like I would view moving away and learning these things as like my alternative to a college degree. So I'm gonna go move away for two years, learn as much as I can so that I can come back here and offer a ton of value how did it influence every all of these elements that we face as creative as we get older?

Speaker 2 1:00:11

how did how do you make sure that your personal side of you like outside of work? What are you doing to make sure that your personal side is also the type of person that you want to be?

Speaker 1 1:00:26

Can you elaborate just a little bit?

Speaker 2 1:00:28

Self-growth. I want to be better at emotional intelligence. I want to be able to learn how to communicate, Because beyond just work, we still have to learn how relationships. They're very complicated, but I want to learn how to make sure that every aspect of relationship I know a lot more so that I can know how to handle people in relationships, family, all that stuff.

Speaker 1 1:00:52

That's what I mean. So you don't want to just be consumed by work is what you're saying. Yes, so how do you make sure you're living a healthy, fulfilling life?

Finding Mentors and Balancing Growth

Speaker 2 1:01:02

yeah, outside of just what you do as your trade.

Speaker 1 1:01:03

Yeah, well, I think honestly, a lot of that comes down to like your worldview, the things that you believe in, because where are you pulling these big truths from? That's also our parents too, right well, but then they were faced with the same question of like okay, what standard are we gonna pull from when we're raising up children? So like where does the buck stop? Like how many generations you want to go back?

Speaker 2 1:01:36

I don't know, because sometimes there will be people that will break beyond, where, sure, they will get all the knowledge from other people, what they've learned from their parents, but there will be people that will make the opportunity to discover that for themselves, and that's also taking risk to not know what direction it is that they're going. But they know that they have this sense of curiosity that they have to discover in order to discover a part of themselves that where, if they go after this risk, they'll know that they'll be able to discover that, whereas if you stay comfortable, an area like this, you might never ever we will never ever discover that yeah, I mean, comfort is a killer hi guys, kino here just wanted to take a second to say thank you so much to each and every single one of you that has been with me on this journey for hidden record and just sharing all these stories of all of the creatives that have appeared on the show.

Speaker 2 1:02:27

If you enjoy deep conversations like this, make sure to hit like and subscribe on youtube, and if you're listening on a podcast platform like spotify, make sure you follow that so you won't be out of the loop for every month, because I try to drop at least two episodes. So grab your popcorn and soda and let's get back to our conversation. How do we the thing is the thing when we were talking about staying in this town, do you feel like you're also this sense of wanting to be better, wanting to be more and wanting to get out and wanting to get out are we also using that? Is that also blinding us from what's in front of us too?

Speaker 1 1:03:01

So you're not living in the present moment, you're always thinking about the future.

Speaker 2 1:03:05

Yes, but at the cost of thinking about the future all the time. You're also missing what's in front of you in the present Right. What are you?

Speaker 1 1:03:12

doing about that Dang? That's a good question. I mean it's fair, because you don't want to be blindsided by always living in the future. Yeah. Nor do you want to live in the past.

Speaker 2 1:03:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:03:23

So how do you balance all these things? Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:03:27

Welcome to therapy guys.

Speaker 1 1:03:31

I mean, I think it's important to always reflect on your life too, like to be honest with yourself and ask other trustworthy people what they think about where you are. So back to the mentor thing, that's someone who can objectively say, like here's where I see you're doing great, here's what needs improvement, this is what just needs to stop entirely, so they can give you that advice. But that's only from, like, your work point of view. So then, if you need to grow, say like emotionally or spiritually, that's where you would have like, say, a pastor who can pour into you so you're growing in other areas too with your parents that I think that they already provided the business side of um.

Speaker 2 1:04:22

You know they when you. There's multiple areas where they teach us, but you have outside influences, like the pastor from destiny worship center. Now, with the creative side, have you been able to find that mentor for you, or is it still something you're searching for in this area, not not an atl or los angeles, but in this area? Have you been able to find someone that fits your criteria, criteria of someone that's classified as a mentor for you?

Learning and Mentoring in Photography

Speaker 1 1:04:48

so let's rewind a little bit to 2020, the height of covid when we all hated our lives. Yeah, a distant memory, yeah, but in 2020 I met someone named david molnar we love you bro he was a commercial photographer based out of nashville, okay. He moved down here back in either late 2019, early 2020, sometime around then. We got connected pretty early on through my dad because they would surf together. All that to say, I became his studio assistant, Okay, and then sort of like an associate videographer, creative director blah blah blah. All the things.

Speaker 1 1:05:35

But he became like a mentor for photography because that was the first like true professional that I had ever met outside of like a wedding photographer. But I already knew that I didn't want to shoot weddings, like I wanted to do the big Hollywood set type stuff. But he was the closest thing to that. So once I started learning from him, that was the first time I ever saw someone use like off-camera flash too. So suddenly I, oh and I had full access to his studio, which was huge, so I could use that equipment, I could use the space, I could bring models and friends there to also shoot, which that's a whole different thing.

Speaker 1 1:06:16

It's like the synergy that happens on set. When you have other creatives with you, I think you can exponentially create something better Agreed. But with that being said, having access to all those things, I'm very grateful for it because I think that was also the first time I had realized I can make a career out of this. So photography up until this point was just a hobby. It's like, oh, this is an expensive hobby but it's fun, I enjoy it.

Speaker 1 1:06:42

When I saw that, I was like, wait, I can actually do something and get paid for something that I enjoy, it was a whole paradigm shift. So that's when I started kind of just toying with the idea of, like, what would it look like to own a photography business or a creative agency, anything. But learning from him was probably the most pivotal thing that happened to me.

Speaker 2 1:07:10

Now take all of that experience as you become the person that you want to be as a photographer, as you build up your skills. How would you like your mentorship style to look like when you eventually mr miyagi, basically, basically, mr miyagi, okay, everybody has their own mentorship style. Um, now for you, it might be hard to think about. I don't know, because we're still like discovering. We're at the face, uh, we're at the stage where we're still discovering things that we don't know about. But I think, when you get to that point, how would you want your mentorship style to look like when you're starting to teach people?

Speaker 2 1:07:46

that you're saying when I start teaching people yes, what is the mentorship style that you want to look?

Speaker 1 1:07:52

like it's like a full circle moment. Yes, yes, well, I would probably go back to how would I want to be treated?

Speaker 2 1:07:59

if the roles were reversed.

Speaker 1 1:08:01

So if I was the mentee, what I enjoy doing, because I'm a very observant person- Right Like. I'm looking at, like the nonverbals, I'm looking at how people interact with other people, the little things that they do their MO. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:08:15

So like I'm watching from the sidelines and then if I have a question I would just ask like hey, why did you do that specific thing right there to get that outcome? So that's how I would prefer to learn things. Okay, now I know everyone has a different style of learning. Some people just like rapid fire, asking a bunch of questions I would get annoyed by that here we are, we're asking him a lot of questions. You gotta grow somehow, and there's usually pain with growth. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 1:08:42

Otherwise you're comfortable, like if someone had approached me like, oh, could you mentor me? There has to be give and take involved. I wanna first see you take an initiative that proves to me like, oh, you're not bullshitting me, like you actually want to take this seriously, because otherwise I'm giving away so much free value. Because what I know now, what looks simple, took thousands of hours of learning, of trial and error, from averaging all these different things that I've seen from different sources to get to where I am now, things that I've seen from different sources to get to where I am now. It's not like I have just this little pamphlet playbook of how to be a successful photographer.

Speaker 1 1:09:23

So if I'm going to give you, like, all of my insider secrets, I at least want to see and it's not that I'm gatekeeping, but I want to see that you're taking it seriously because, otherwise I'm just getting taken advantage of.

Speaker 2 1:09:34

I mean, it's also not to say that in this community it just so happens that it's everywhere. The gatekeeping part, the hardest part about that as a mentor, I would imagine, is you would have this paradigm shift as a leader and as a mentor, where you have to realize that when you're good at something, but it takes another mindset shift to realize that the people that you're teaching will eventually succeed you. And that's a that's a hard, emotional ah. How would you feel when people start to become way better than you, even though you've strived in your entire life why is this person in dubai so much better than am?

Speaker 2 1:10:16

Why is this person in Africa doing better than I am? How are you?

Speaker 1 1:10:20

Well, I think we would get offended like that, because it's not even that we trained them, because you should feel honored that they're ahead of you, but it's pointing out your weaknesses and nobody likes having their weaknesses pointed out so bluntly, yeah, but I think that you can look out your weaknesses and nobody likes having their weaknesses pointed out so bluntly.

Leading and Building a Creative Team

Speaker 1 1:10:37

Yeah, but I think that you can look at your weaknesses Like why do you hate that so much? Well, it's probably because you need to grow in that area If you're offended by it, I mean really look at it for what it's worth, and I mean that still takes a lot to.

Speaker 2 1:10:54

That's why I'm saying earlier, when we're so consumed by the work we still have to, we have to remind ourselves not to leave our personal life behind. Right, if you work with someone who's a professional and you want to learn from them, but they're assholes, how would? Is that someone you wouldn't want to look up to?

Speaker 1 1:11:11

No See, it's like, if you Well, I had that experience in the live production field too. Oh, we ate.

Speaker 2 1:11:18

Oh man, Were there a lot of assholes in that area. I'm so sorry we had to go through that.

Speaker 1 1:11:23

Well, I shouldn't say a lot. Let me rephrase We've all had bad bosses before.

Speaker 2 1:11:29

Yes.

Speaker 1 1:11:31

Which you can learn from them, but it makes it a much more painful process when it doesn't need to be, and then it sort of puts like a distance between you guys when you open up with nascar photo.

Speaker 2 1:11:43

Where is that company gonna go? Do you eventually envision?

Speaker 1 1:11:46

yourself to have a team? I think so, I purposely which designing that entire brand took forever oh it took about a month and I did it all myself, Like I learned I don't say that in like a pretentious way, but like I took the time to learn Adobe Illustrator because I wanted to design it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:12:07

But also even just choosing a name for a company because that's going to hold so much weight. It represents you and your entire company, everything it stands for, everything you offer. So you want it to be flexible for the future. So I finally landed on nasco is one. It's tied to my name because I want it to be. I'm the one working on set. You're hiring me because I'm going to give you a unique look at something. And then the CO, and that acronym is just creative organization. And then I tacked on photo at the end, which maybe I'm giving away too much information. Eventually, the thought was it could be NASCO photo, nasco lighting design, nasco video, anything, any avenue that I decide to go down. It could be subsidiaries of NASCO.

Speaker 1 1:13:03

So, really NASCO photo is just the first iteration of whatever I end up making. It it could eventually become NASCO media. If I have a full media agency I don't know yet, I think it's in the cards media agency I don't know yet, I think it's in the cards. It's possible, but start small and become very good at what you do before you start offering a bunch of things that is so true, guys.

Speaker 2 1:13:25

That was a gem of knowledge. It's so simple but so effective. Well, the reason why I was asking if you wouldn't, if you do end up having a team, what the kind, the kind of the leader that you want to be? What is that kind of leader? What does that leader look like? The leader that you want to be? Because, as a leader, you're also mentoring the people that are working for you.

Speaker 1 1:13:47

You have bad bosses. Well, that's part of why I wanted to be self-employed is because I want to be the one calling the shot. There's been a number of leaders or bosses I've had in my life where I disagree with their style. Maybe I don't think that they did something the best way that they could have.

Speaker 4 1:14:09

Maybe I felt like I was the smartest person in the room and I should have been making decisions.

Speaker 1 1:14:11

Maybe I felt like, oh, I'm actually listening to everyone in the room, not just what I want to do. So I feel like that would be more my leadership style. Okay.

Speaker 2 1:14:21

But then, at the same time, you want to avoid having a team of having yes-mans. Would you want to have someone, at least one or two people, that will be able to challenge the status?

Speaker 1 1:14:29

quo. So I think when you get into like a yes-man situation that tells me your leader is probably a little bit totalitarian. You don't want to cross them because there's going to be hell to pay for it, okay, or you're going to lose influence with them you.

Speaker 2 1:14:45

I guess that would require having a vetting process of the employee that you want, what's who will be your ideal employee because I don't know that I want employees per se, maybe subcontractors, but that's.

Speaker 1 1:14:55

isn't that about a team, though, like that would be a team where I don't know that I want employees per se, maybe subcontractors, but isn't that about a team? Though that would be a team. I don't think that I want to be like a staffing agency.

Speaker 2 1:15:04

Yes.

Speaker 1 1:15:04

Like I don't want to have employees because I want people to also grow as individuals too. Like if you want to build up your brand while also helping me with projects that's great, do it.

Speaker 2 1:15:16

I don't want you to feel like you're locked into something with that being said, when you have that figured out, what's the one work that you will eventually feel like oh my gosh, I am so happy I made nasco photo media, but what is the one project that will actually make you so proud of the reason why you started everything in the first place? What? What is my dream project? Yes, that will make it feel like everything was worth all the losses, the pain, the heartaches.

Balancing Values and Opportunities

Speaker 1 1:15:43

Good question, very introspective one too, I think. Like I feel like this kind of goes into like oh, where do you see yourself in five years, right? So, like five years from now or maybe shorter, I would like to be shooting large-scale campaigns for brands. Okay, so when you're walking throughout the store and you see these blown up images, lifestyle images I want to be able to say, like I shot that or I directed that, like I want to see my fingerprints on the project but the thing is going back to what we said we will take, take, take opportunities.

Speaker 2 1:16:21

What are you willing to give up?

Speaker 1 1:16:23

to get that opportunity. Well, I don't have much to lose right now so what am I willing to give up?

Speaker 2 1:16:28

I mean the second a door were to open, I would probably go through it I would say there is a bit of um sacrifice that we would have to make as we get bigger projects. We know that that would require a lot more time of our time to work on it, to become the best project it could be. But that's what we, that's what we um take that opportunity to do that. But what we give up is the time that we could spend with our family, our friends. So are you willing? How much are you willing to give up in order for you to get to that opportunity? What are your non-negotiables?

Speaker 1 1:17:05

If it compromises my values, I wouldn't do a project. There's certain brands that from the get-go I just wouldn't work with. Or if there's a certain message behind something, I wouldn't do it because there's always going to be other opportunities.

Speaker 2 1:17:19

I wouldn't want to compromise what I hold near and dear just to get that client on my client list yeah, I mean the thing is like, even with when they come with a brand name, that's like holy shit, I I have coca-cola, but I don't like their drink. I'm not saying that your drink's terrible, please don't sue me.

Speaker 1 1:17:38

But that's just like a personal. That's a small personal preference. That's not something that would compromise, like a value that I hold, for example, like, if I like, take certain fashion brands like Balenciaga, okay, if they were to show like something defaming Christ, cross upside down, whatever, anything like that, promoting demonic activity, I wouldn't be on that project. I wouldn't be disrespectful, I would just be like kindly, it's not your forte. Correct, Kindly. I don't think I'll be the best fit for this role.

Speaker 2 1:18:13

Actually, I would love to ask this, if you don't mind me asking In your work, how much of your religious belief do you try to implement? Because, as creative we and we, we bring everything that we have grown to believe, um, what we, what we're inspired by, what we're influenced by, we will see that in every work that we do. Right so, from your parents, from how? Especially the fact that you got this?

Speaker 2 1:18:40

lighting thing at least we still take. You're still taking influence that in your work. But if you don't mind me asking, I would love to know how much are you uh implementing, um, what we believe in, especially in, uh, christianity I don't know if you're christianity or you don't mind me asking how what are you doing to implement that into the work that you do? That makes you feel like it's encompassing every parts of you, that makes you feel happy with the work that you do?

Speaker 1 1:19:05

very loaded and my response will be equally as loaded. Go for it, dude go for it. That's what we're here for get ready let's go so I'm never going to be on the nose with something. Okay, I'm never going to force something down someone's throat. Okay, and be like you're going to believe what I believe, yeah. You don't have to.

Speaker 1 1:19:27

It's your choice, but what I will do is okay, roman Spitero. He's a photographer that I've been following for some time. Okay, roman Spitero, he's a photographer that I've been following for some time and one of his projects he did several years ago. It wasn't At first glance you wouldn't even know that it was a Christian project, but when he gave a foreword to it he was mentioning he wants to capture the essence of God and all of his images Okay, and I think that's great, I think it's beautiful.

Speaker 1 1:20:01

So, in a similar sense, when I'm creating work and I think this goes back to. I want to portray things as natural, clean, as they are, because I think there's also beauty in that simplicity. So I want to portray things. I want to photograph things as they are in their natural beauty, the way that God would see them.

Speaker 2 1:20:17

Everything's in God's image.

Speaker 1 1:20:18

Right. So what I'm not going to do is basically promote something that's ungodly and then, in another sense, you may never see it point blank in my work, but in the experience of working with me on set, like I said NASCO, you're hiring me.

Speaker 1 1:20:40

So part of that is I'm not a super woke guy and if you want that, that's okay, but you're going to be looking at a different photographer to work with. So in my case, I would be very selective and mindful. If someone who is woke wants to work with me, I would kind of look over like here's the project. Is this something I can get behind? What does my attitude look like on set? How would I interact with them? Is this an opportunity to be an encouragement, to be a light in their life?

Speaker 1 1:21:17

There's a lot of things I would be weighing to make sure that I'm still in good standing.

Speaker 2 1:21:25

Seriously, I love that answer. I know it's super convoluted no, no, no, no, no, no. That was such a valuable answer because, dude, thank, I'm serious, thank you for sharing that insight from how you, uh, see the world. That, that's the most important thing, is because, like you said, people are afraid to talk about their failures, but the other side of that is they're also afraid to be willing to be vulnerable and authentic because they're afraid that that would either close off to a certain type of clients they might not get that, this and this and that, but there's such a great value in being just courageous enough to say how you really are and what you gave.

Speaker 2 1:22:09

Nathan when you gave, be proud of that and thank you for sharing that, of course, oh my gosh, which I know that it like.

Speaker 1 1:22:17

At this point in the world it's very counter-cultural to even say that, because it makes it sound like, oh, you're being offensive, you're not inclusive, etc. But I would disagree, agree and I just don't.

Speaker 2 1:22:33

I don't understand why people are so. They're wanting to just make everything so controversial. Yeah, it's like what you said.

Speaker 1 1:22:39

Well, it's because that's what drives views when you have controversy. I mean, think about it. We all love watching drama stuff. True. We all gossip. Well, we shouldn't, but everyone gossips because we love controversy. But Even think about the major media outlets. That's all. The news is it's controversy, because that's what gets engagement.

Speaker 2 1:23:07

Okay, I'm not well versed in the Bible, nor how should I say it I've lost my way. Okay, but what I love about the conversation that you and I just had even though I lost my way I have a hard time finding my way back I still find value in other people's perspective. That's why it means a lot when you share stuff like that. But I love what you said about the God's image thing. There's always a beauty in the peace and the calmness and the work, and when you have all this chaotic, chaotic noise in the world, what is that one work that would encapsulate that specific feeling where it's all about peace and calmness in your work?

Speaker 1 1:23:51

Honestly, I think it would go back to landscape photography which is something that.

Speaker 1 1:23:55

I don't do a ton of because I feel like I've just overshot what this area has to offer so much. But I think that's also why film photography has had a resurgence is because people are so used to going a million miles an hour that they need something to slow down, stop overthinking and just be present in a moment, and I think that's something that film allows for, because you're not fiddling with a camera there's really not many. You have your aperture and your shutter speed and focus. That's what you have to worry about, so you just look through viewfinder and capture and move on oh, man, man, but that just somehow dehumanizes.

Speaker 1 1:24:38

It may turn out or it may not, you don't know.

Speaker 2 1:24:41

But also thinking of it just dehumanizes, if that's the right word for it, what's actually beautiful in front of you, because have you ever had a shot where it was just too beautiful that you have to just look at it, even though you want to take a picture? Well, you take a mental picture.

Speaker 1 1:25:00

Huh, you take a mental picture.

Speaker 2 1:25:02

There's a value in that. But a lot of people want just want to take photo, just because they want to show it off right there's. I don't really like how I don't know it's just that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 1:25:15

It's so hard to balance between wanting to be present and wanting to capture every little thing in our lives, but there's always a value in just letting things be and like I like. Going back to what I said, where I'm not as um well versed in the bible, what I do appreciate about what the bible says and the overall religion. Religion is, you know, the beauty and everything, the beauty and the art, even in the people, even though they may be flawed in so many ways. Right, there's beauty in that too. You did say film photography is perfectly imperfect. Yes, something like that.

Speaker 1 1:25:52

So I think that's also part of why I enjoy portraiture so much. Like even in the campaigns, that's still just portraits. Now you're going to have more set decoration involved, but really you're capturing a person and their personality and you're finding a way to communicate so many things in a still image.

Speaker 1 1:26:14

So, like when you go to take a portrait of someone. That's why I think like you should always meet for someone or meet for coffee with whoever you're going to go shoot with, because I think it's so critical and even you'll see it like there's a different comfort level on set, like after you've been with someone, even if it's only 30 minutes, hear a little bit of their story, because then there's a trust built suddenly you have rapport with them, so they're going to trust you.

Speaker 1 1:26:41

Everyone's attentions are going to be a lot lower and you can get a more honest reaction out of them I love that.

Speaker 2 1:26:50

Now. I love the, especially the honest. Everybody's so afraid to be honest. Who they are what they say. There's always some filter Right. Wait, to a certain extent, you should never say offensive things. But there's a fine line. Yes, there is a fine line. But, guys, we're going to go into the last round of questions. Please, Nathan, please, drop your social links. Bro, Go for it.

Speaker 1 1:27:16

You can follow me on Instagram, nathan underscore Sosinski yes, or you can check out my website at nascophotocom yes, you can text me at. I'm not going to give that out.

Speaker 2 1:27:29

It's 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0.

Speaker 1 1:27:33

That's it.

Chasing the Future Self

Speaker 2 1:27:34

Yes, if you don't want to keep receiving messages from him, just spell s-t-o-p. Dude. Yeah, um, but we're gonna, unfortunately, guys. I hope this episode has been impactful in some way, and that, again, is why you just heard it from him.

Speaker 2 1:27:52

That's the message that I want you guys to be able to walk away from knowing that you have to be honest with yourself and being able to use that as a strength. I think that's what I learned from you today. I learned about being honest and just being capturing everything. Not everything has to be so over complicated. There's beauty and natural look. Every single thing, like even even the yeti, looks beautiful. You could just take that and color grade it, uh, increase the contrast. What am I talking about anyways? Now the last few. I'm sorry I go. I go off on a tangent.

Speaker 1 1:28:27

You really like the yeti, don't you? I actually do. You want me to give you a yeti funny story? My dad actually painted a bunch of Yetis, what he was commissioned to paint them, and they sold out the first day in Fort Lauderdale.

Speaker 2 1:28:42

No way, but how did that opportunity even that is so crazy, I don't know. Alright, the last few questions have this, the one where you talk about the image what is the type of work that would get the exact same reaction to people, from people, the same way that I did when it comes to one getting natural look, that understanding why you do things in a certain way and also capturing the beautiful portraits of that? What is the one work that will get the exact result, exact reaction from those, from the people that you want to work with?

Speaker 1 1:29:19

So I don't think it's even like this one project that I have in mind. Okay, because my dream projects, they're going to fluctuate. Notice I didn't say like I want to work with this brand five years from now. Right. I just said I want to shoot a brand campaign. Okay, that could be anything.

Speaker 1 1:29:34

Yeah, but the biggest thing that I want to be able to do is honestly and with excellence. Not perfectly, but just with excellence. Okay, share someone's story, so if they have a wholesome story to tell, I want to be able to capture that in the best light possible to where they look at it and they're like, yes, this perfectly captured the essence.

Speaker 1 1:29:58

Okay, because to me that's the greatest compliment I can get for photos is wow, you perfectly captured the essence of fill in the blank. Because then you're reliving something when you look at it Like say, like I want to capture my brother's youth pastor get his element teaching, imparting something to the next generation of adults.

Speaker 1 1:30:24

How can I do that in the best way possible To where aesthetically it looks great. All the design principles are there. But it's honest, it's not a fake representation. It's not a fake representation. It's not a false representation. But you can even see like personality in an image and that takes a long time to develop what a wonderful answer, good job.

Speaker 2 1:30:47

We will sign him up for the presidential candidate, mr susanski, for 2025.

Speaker 1 1:30:53

I don't think I'm old enough yet, but perfect.

Speaker 2 1:31:00

The other question I have is this what would you want your parents to say after having accomplished the goals that you have outlined for your company as NASCO? After having achieved all of those things. What would be?

Speaker 1 1:31:22

some of the things that you want to hear from your parents when they look at what you do. I think I want to do it earlier in life than they did, and I think that's a regret that they had. I was waiting so late to actually start it because they're in their 30s when they launched the art gallery. Okay, and before that I mean it just kind of phased into doing art full time, okay. So it started as like working at Home Depot or, even before that, working at a cable company at Home.

Speaker 1 1:31:43

Depot. Then he started a landscaping company, then started making art out of the garage. In 2012, they get a gallery, so you just drop off all the other clients and suddenly it's like, oh wow, I'm doing art full time now and I think that's basically what I'm doing right now. Okay, so, by being like my day job, doing real estate content. Technically I'm self-employed, I'm a contractor there, I'm not on staff, but until I'm doing my own thing full time, I don't know what age that's going to be. I'm 22 right now. I would hope by, let's say, 25, I'll be fully self-employed.

Speaker 2 1:32:24

If not before then.

Speaker 1 1:32:26

Maybe, that's a 2025 goal.

Speaker 2 1:32:30

You know, I'm really proud of you for acknowledging that for yourself at 22. Because, dude, ann annika, you're awesome today over lunch, uh, I was trying to figure out how old I was, because I completely forgot and you were trying to figure out how old you were yeah, I forgot how old I was, how I don't.

Speaker 2 1:32:50

Okay. She was like wait, how old are you? And I go like I think I'm 24, but she has. And then she goes wait, what year were you born? 1998? And then she goes oh, you're gonna be 26. I was like what?

Speaker 2 1:33:04

oh my gosh I'm about to be 26, so I'm letting you know I'm, I'm. There are so many people out there, especially the youth generation, where they're just gonna go about life and just go coast. You know they. I want to recognize the fact that you recognize what you want to do at the age of 2022, 2022 22 that is a blessing on its own well.

Speaker 1 1:33:28

The other thing that I want to point out is like just because I launched in february does not mean any of this is new. Like this was a long time coming. Like I had the first dream, so to speak, freshman or sophomore year of high school. And I think once you have your first job is when you really realize, oh wow, you're building your own dream or you're building someone else's, and I think that's when it clicked is like I want to be the one in charge, like I want to steer my own ship, because why would I want to spend my life building up someone else's dream?

Speaker 1 1:34:02

A message that has been repeated multiple times, but I think that's also something so nice about the community that we all work in as creatives. We're all building up our own thing while also helping each other. Something Kevin mentioned at PSA is that we all rise with the tide, and I think that's so true Because we can all coexist, we can all work on set together, and it doesn't mean that we're making one person better Because it's a project. Everyone's fingerprints are on the project, I agree.

Speaker 2 1:34:37

Not that I'm being a yes man. I've been agreeing, but I'm not trying to be a yes, man, it's just that there are a lot of things that I love what you're saying.

Speaker 2 1:34:45

I would disagree at some point I don't know when, but thank you, that's a great answer. But seriously though, it's like even if you said it's a long time coming for you with this company, it's just being able to take the courage, having the courage to just take the steps. That's at least. You're already at 90% ahead of everybody around the whole world. People are too free to look at and be honest with themselves.

Speaker 1 1:35:13

Right. Well, like the biggest fear I have is like I'm a perfectionist. So, before I launched my company, I wanted everything to be perfect. Insider tip it'll never be perfect. It's always being edified, or at least it should be, but I finally just reached a point where I'm like it's good enough. So February 2nd, I think, is when I officially launched everything.

Speaker 2 1:35:40

That's still.

Speaker 1 1:35:41

And then immediately found issues that I had to go fix, and that's okay.

Speaker 2 1:35:44

Yeah and then. Okay, so many questions. We will have you in the next episode, do you agree?

Speaker 1 1:35:53

I think we should do a round table next.

Speaker 2 1:35:55

Oh you guys want a mukbang. I know you say you don't want to have food. Let us know in the comments. Mukbang or just a regular round table?

Speaker 1 1:36:03

diet coke and popcorn uh, oh, yes um movie time. What, what did?

Speaker 2 1:36:09

you say diet popcorn.

Speaker 1 1:36:11

No, diet coke and Coke and a popcorn. Oh for the audience.

Speaker 2 1:36:14

No for us.

Speaker 1 1:36:15

That's the mukbang. So we're eating popcorn while drinking soda, while we work in production. Forget it, I got it Okay.

Speaker 2 1:36:26

I got it. Last few things yes. What would you say to yourself? Last few things, yes. What would you say to yourself In looking forward? Because in the Oscars there was Matthew McConaughey? I don't know how to say it.

Speaker 2 1:36:40

McConaughey Dude, I've been saying McConaughey. Oh no, it's Hay. I have speech impediment, I have hearing loss. That's my excuse. There was one speech that he did when he won the Academy Awards. He said there's this person that I'm always chasing after and that's, that's the future me. And I'm always chasing after that person, if I think I think I'm wording it right, not exactly verbatim, but he said I'm the person I'm working so hard to go go after is the future me. So, taking that analogy, what is the one thing that you're working to strive? What is, what are some of the things that you're working towards to become that future person that you will be happy with, because that that is a never-ending cycle so like what is the best version of myself that I'm trying to become.

Speaker 2 1:37:24

Yeah, what does that look like? For you therapy 101.

Speaker 1 1:37:29

I think that just means always walking uprightly.

Speaker 2 1:37:33

Okay, which?

Speaker 1 1:37:34

is more of a biblical term. Go for it, but it just means like are you following the rules that God has laid out? For humans to follow. Okay, because if you are, then you're accordance with his will. So that's something I'm always trying to keep in mind. And it gets tricky when you start doing business, because there's a lot of times that you don't want to do that and, if I'm being honest, to get ahead in life, sometimes you do have to compromise those values, which I'm not saying is good, nor do I condone it.

Speaker 1 1:38:06

But a lot of times, like the Uber successful people. You see, it's because they don't always follow that model. And is that something you want to try maintain? Yes, it's something that I'd like to maintain. Okay, so that I have a clear conscience, but the other thing is just always doing things with excellence.

Speaker 2 1:38:25

I think that's a given and then making sure that I'm helping to edify people in the process I think that's one of your pillars, that as a mentor, when you get to that point, I think that's a great foundation to stand out amongst other people Well, I never want to tell people just what they want to hear.

Speaker 1 1:38:43

Okay Now, if what they want to hear aligns with what they need to hear and what's for their best, good then, yeah, I'll say it, but not always do all three of those boxes get checked.

Speaker 2 1:38:58

Damn. That's a good end up right there, all right, fuck. There's so many things I wanted to ask. It's like your work, oh my gosh. You know what? We're going to have you in the round table, okay. Round table, agreed, agreed. Okay, 2025.

Speaker 1 1:39:14

If you want to ask more questions, feel free, because I know you're going to splice it up in post.

Navigating Personal and Professional Values

Speaker 2 1:39:18

Okay, all right, I guess we'll scratch that. Sorry, guys, spoilers, we were just joking. Okay, we'll give another 15 life to go back to and the 15 minute counter starts now. As a person and as a creative. So you have to those two things, okay. What advice would you give to those that follow the same model that you're going after? You try to make sure you have a good conscience, right, that's both, and both personally and professionally. Right now, do the same thing for those that don't follow that model too.

Speaker 1 1:39:54

Okay, but are you saying just professionally speaking, what advice would I give those two types of people? And personally, oh, both, yes, well, first I'll give like the why behind my what. Go ahead, and this goes for pretty much every facet of life. Yes, I'm looking at big picture. Okay. I can focus on small details but, it's because it's to achieve a big picture thing.

Speaker 2 1:40:17

Okay.

Speaker 1 1:40:18

So, if you have the long run in mind I mean take religion, for example we at some point have to start asking the very hard philosophical questions what is the meaning of life? What happens after we die? Where are our ancestors? Why did so-and-so die as a child? Why do all these bad things happen in the world.

Speaker 1 1:40:41

Like at some point we have to ask, unless we just numb ourselves out and never ask it. But I'm like I enjoy deep conversation, so I already have asked all these things, and when you start needing answers to those, you can get a dying hope from the world or you can get a living hope that's offered through what I believe is the Christian faith.

Speaker 2 1:41:08

And that's professionally or personally.

Speaker 1 1:41:10

So that would be the preface. Okay. So all that to say the preface. Okay. So all that to say long run in mind. For example, like at the end of the day, it's just burgers and fries. That's what one of my audio engineer friends says. Like it's not that serious, it's just burgers and fries. So don't take things quite so seriously. Take things quite so seriously, but in terms of how that applies into my professional life, I mean, is what I'm doing in accordance with my values Is this furthering a message that I think needs to be shared or should be shared.

Speaker 1 1:41:46

So that's how I'm choosing between different projects. I do or like is this something that I want to share online or no? Is this something I want to do to make money? Or are there more wholesome ways to make money? For example, like I could never work in a bar setting because I don't want to be in that type of environment. I don't think that that is something wholesome and I don't want to make money from doing that something wholesome and I don't want to make money from doing that.

Speaker 2 1:42:14

So understanding your boundaries in both areas is such an important thing, right?

Speaker 1 1:42:20

but then I hope that answers your question. No, it does. It does free to have follow-ups too no, no, it does it.

Speaker 2 1:42:26

It's also giving me a lot of different perspectives that I never even thought about thinking, because the one perspective that I've followed through my entire life is experience everything, even if it's some okay, except drugs. Don't ever do drugs, guys, all right, but they're challenging, they're gonna do it now. Huh, they're gonna do it now because don't push the red button no, it's like I've always thought the best way to get experience in life Is by doing. Yes.

Speaker 2 1:42:56

But also experimenting something that you don't, where society normally doesn't think it's a good thing to experience. So, like the bar setting, obviously I'm never going back to the bar and club Because I got dude when I was in a club in Orlando. I was taking photos and there was a I think it was a drunk guy. He threw a glass of water at my back. Oh my gosh, yeah. So I'm never going back there. But getting that experience to know what everything else, what the world has to offer, it's also valuable. It is.

Speaker 1 1:43:29

Because you can learn from bad experiences too.

Speaker 2 1:43:31

Because you can learn from bad experiences too. So what's to say? If you're already establishing boundaries, you're already closing off to those experiences that might have been a good thing to learn from.

Speaker 1 1:43:40

Well, there's a difference between that and then spreading a message. So, like in the work I'm doing. Anytime I post an image, I am subconsciously sharing a message that I back. Yeah, so like I'm not going to promote something that I disagree with, like it could be as simple, as I'm not going to photograph things that have cigarettes in them because why would?

Speaker 2 1:44:04

I want to promote that it's not aligned with your beliefs. Right.

Speaker 1 1:44:09

Now, I know some people that would do that and they're fine with it. It's just not something that I would do. I'm not shaming them for it, but that's another thing where, like it's not on the nose, it's a very subconscious thing that the average person wouldn't notice in my work Okay.

Speaker 2 1:44:28

Damn, I'm not going to have after this dude. I'm going through your Instagram and be like okay, Dude, literally take apart your work. Oh, that makes so much sense.

Speaker 1 1:44:41

Well, even like into, like you can get as deep into like set etiquette, even like the experience of shooting another. Um, I guess you could say a compliment that I got. Yeah. So I was working with someone who's getting digitals done. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:44:56

So the images that you'd send to your agent if you want to get into modeling, now, part of that like if you're going to be doing swimwear stuff, okay, they want to see you in like a bathing suit Okay, so like close to naked, but not fully naked Okay, you're still. The way you act is pivotal. And after the shoot like, for example, like me and Justin were there, so I was photographing and he was producing- and directing.

Navigating Dark Times and Growth

Speaker 1 1:45:24

I'm not going to put myself in a situation that could even look bad. So like if it was just me and her doing photos, it could be misconstrued if that word got out. So afterward she was just thinking like, oh my gosh, the last photographer we had made me feel so uncomfortable. He was so weird. But she was like this is just like such a breath of fresh air, like this was so nice, this was comfortable. Blah, blah, blah. I want to work together again, that kind of thing. So it's like okay, great, I would love to emulate that same level of like, like we're all comfortable on set, because there's some photographers that are truly invasive, like they're gonna make you feel uncomfortable. Like I'm always trying to make sure what's it called? Putting your subject at ease, and that's how you can get genuine tensionless photos.

Speaker 2 1:46:21

The thing about that, though, is those photographers may have been raised with wrong choice of mentors. They look up to the habits that they picked up from the type of people that they're around with. It all shows up in the work, right, guys, don't be a creep. If you want, guys, if you're a model, watch summer ice and mints episode. So it gives you a lot of tips on how to make sure you're secure, but that's, that's a good thing, like keeping everyone calm and just comfortable. Right, it's such an important thing. All right, lightning round, lightning round, lightning round. Okay, throughout your career, especially during your times of doubt or challenge, what has kept you focused on your vision of capturing authenticity and storytelling in your photography, and is there a particular project or moment that reinforce your commitment to that approach.

Speaker 1 1:47:15

Like I said in the very beginning of the podcast, when you see how happy it makes people when they can see high quality images, it's like they see themselves in a new light and it sort of breaks down any pre-existing insecurities that they had good question uh, good answer good question too working on projects like the music video that you did with logan poacher must have presented a unique challenges.

Speaker 2 1:47:42

Can you share a story about a time during this project or another where things did not go as planned and how you handled that situation?

Speaker 1 1:47:50

because, guys, he's a photographer, but this one you film the music video yes, well it was, with all of his creative direction okay so I may have helped with the filming of it, but it was really his baby, okay, and I did the photography side of it too so this was kind of like in conjunction with the video, so honestly, there really weren't challenges.

Speaker 1 1:48:17

I'm sorry no, I think, I think it was, but also logan and I have like such a this is gonna sound so weird, but like a special relationship, like he is the person that I've just always photographed with, like he's known me since I was 13, I think, and has seen me grow up and I've seen him grow up and, what's funny, if you ask him, I was one of the few people that actually gave him a paradigm shift to start doing music, because I had asked him like well, he used to also work at Destiny with me. Okay.

Speaker 1 1:48:51

And he was there one day. I'm trying to think of exactly how this works. He needs to share this because I'm trying to share it from my point of view. But he was like he said something to the effect of man, I really just want to do music.

Speaker 1 1:49:06

And I had said something like but aren't you already doing that? And he was like oh wait, I guess I am. Anyway, we've just always been like there's always synergy when we work together. So anytime I have like a new idea that I want to test out, I usually am like hey, do you want to go shoot? And it's always a yes, and I'll go along with it.

Speaker 2 1:49:24

Have you seen the animated movie Brother Bear? Mm-mm. Oh my God. Dude. Okay, it describes that relationship the brother bear. It's like they're looking after each other, but they're always there.

Speaker 1 1:49:40

Oh, you have to watch the movie. All right, I'll watch it. I'll watch it.

Speaker 2 1:49:43

Okay, good answer to that one. Okay, your work has been featured in prestigious publications like Harper's Bazaar and at Emerald Coast magazine. How did this features come about and what impact did they have on your career, and did they open up any new opportunities or present any new challenges go?

Speaker 1 1:50:03

funny you mention Emerald Coast magazine so their publisher is Roland publishing. Okay, the first time I had work that was really published like that was during my very dark season when I lived in Tallahassee. So flashback I mentioned, I went to their architecture program last year. That was probably the lowest point of my life. I absolutely hated life at that time, but it was also the very first time that I had gotten hired by a magazine to go shoot for them and get paid for it.

Speaker 2 1:50:40

Oh, how did? How did that make you feel in that dark time?

Speaker 1 1:50:45

I feel like that, in a sense, was like the light at the end of the tunnel, like it took me getting to that terrible place to get that first thing.

Speaker 2 1:50:56

And was that also something similar to a paradigm shift?

Speaker 1 1:50:59

As in okay, all right, I'll share, I'm not even going to tell you how much I got paid for it, because it was not much, but it was just the sentiment of everything. The fact that a magazine had reached out that, oh, we want you to shoot for this, and I had to BS it all on set. When I showed up, I had to pretend like I had everything together and I knew what was going on and I could lead a photo shoot.

Speaker 2 1:51:30

But that's such a hard thing to do when? Okay, but the dark side, that's remember when we were it was like the silver lining of my time in tallahassee you remember when I asked you to uh, well, all of us and the boat, that's what I uh, that's what I wanted to know to get to know what what were your darkest moments or secrets? Remember that. Hey, justin, you remember this. Let me know what that is. He already gave me a hiss. I wanted to know, to get to know. Ask what? What were your?

Speaker 1 1:51:58

darkest moments or secrets. Remember that. Hey Justin, if you remember this, let me know what that is. He already gave me a hiss, it's your turn now.

Speaker 2 1:52:02

Nobody watching this knows what we're talking about, except for Justin and Amanda. I do want to know. Okay, I've had dark moments in my life. The one that I had that was so close to darkest time in my life was when I went to scad.

Speaker 1 1:52:13

See, it's always when we go off to college.

Speaker 2 1:52:16

Maybe that's the common thread don't go to college you know, I think maybe monster inc university would be a different one.

Speaker 1 1:52:21

It's all about scares and laughter maybe I wish I could go to monsters university be french with mike kusowski.

Speaker 2 1:52:27

But, oh my gosh, I went to scad and it was at the point where I was like getting, uh, I was on my, I was on the top of my own shit, I was, I was, I felt like hot shit, yeah, okay. I was like okay, I'm gonna go to scada school.

Speaker 1 1:52:42

These douches, sorry, I can do this, and I would have thought that you could too, but I didn't and I saw just how much people were so much better.

Speaker 2 1:52:53

Yeah, and and the classes I was taking is like I went to each and every class. What the fuck is this? I'm not. I'm so bad. What was me to a point where it actually drove me to a point where I almost wanted to, you know, unalive. Yeah, and guys, this is what I'm talking about. Be honest with yourself in your past, and that was the hardest time that I had in my life and it just when it never stopped. It went from scat and then I went to nashville, met even more better people than I was, well and I and also bad clients I'm never going to name you, guys, please do it's those scenarios that made it even harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaker 2 1:53:42

I got you, and it also made me want to change my career. I actually wanted to web design. I thought I was going to do it, but then now I'm back in in this field.

Speaker 1 1:53:53

I mean, I thought I would go into architecture and before I even thought about photography, I was thinking like well, should I just switch to something that's like a safer major? Yeah, because like I'm already here yeah, what if I just go into it yeah, that's a guaranteed route, and it's similar to what I did with lighting design and but here we are it's um.

Speaker 2 1:54:15

And the reason why I bring up all this is that, acknowledging that dark times how did you even, how did you feel like at that moment? Because it's really important as a creative to acknowledge that the dark times is also what shapes us and how we tell our stories do the work that we do.

Speaker 1 1:54:32

So how did you?

Speaker 2 1:54:33

well, it's in like our toughest times that we grow the most agree okay, all right, I'll just pretend for the sake of not being agreed I disagree, but yes, please tell me why but how did you make it so that, when you look back in that dark, dark time, now, that you appreciate it even more, now that it happened?

Speaker 1 1:54:54

I think, had I not gone through that time, that was just atrocious. If I'm being honest, that I may have always stayed in like stasis, I don't think I would have ever actually had that catalyst. That like really propels you to be better to do things. That like really propels you to be better to do things. Because what's funny is like take Justin, for example. We had only met, I think, once prior to any of this, back in 2021 or 2022. Uh, I mentioned I worked at that studio, so we happen to be shooting at that studio.

Speaker 1 1:55:32

And he was the last minute addition. I didn't even know he would be there. After that didn't talk to him for several years. He would even try to like repetitively call me and text me like who is this guy calling me? I would always decline it.

Speaker 1 1:55:44

And then, when I was in Tallahassee, he called again. I'm like whatever, what else, what do I have to lose? So I answered it Long. Whatever, what else, what do I have to lose? So I answered it long story short, I think like a month later is when he hosted the event at megan's studio and that was another thing that, like propelled me forward, so you never know who you're gonna meet no, I'm really happy that you're able to come out that place.

Speaker 2 1:56:11

That's the. That's the other thing that we don't talk about, because people want to be successful and they feel somewhat of a shame in hiding up the past that truly made us who we are right and well, you find out who you are during the tough times too disagree. I'm playing on that one, but I yeah.

Speaker 2 1:56:30

And when you discovered that, was it easier for you to leave your older self behind and realize that, um, when you want to leave that version of you, did you? Are you still holding on to that person, like, do you carry it with you as you grow up in life? Because I, for me, I try to remember the bad times to remind myself that that was the lowest I've been. Now I know if I can go that low, I know I can go as high as possible. It makes everything that came after, every little thing, becomes easier to handle. It makes it easier to climb your Mount Everest Right, and that's for me reminding myself of where I was at. It makes it easier to climb your Mount Everest Right, and that's for me reminding myself of where I was at. It makes it easier. So for you, do you still carry that person that you used to be to help you get through? Or at least remind yourself that whatever happens after it will not be compared anywhere close to that.

Speaker 1 1:57:31

So the person I was like living in tallahassee in your darkest time, do you?

Speaker 2 1:57:37

carry that person with you as you reach newer levels of success.

Speaker 1 1:57:41

Well, there was a lot of shame attached to it as well. Okay, because my decision to go there almost felt more like I don't want to say my hand was forced into it. But you have a lot of external voices saying like this is what you ought to do. Why aren't you doing this? You're kind of just going in circles. Something's got to change. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:58:00

Which isn't entirely wrong, because it did feel like I was going in circles and nothing was happening. But it wasn't until I went there and like got humbled real quick that I realized okay, this is what I actually need to change in my life to see growth happen. So do I think back often to it? Hard to say, I guess no, not necessarily, because I don't like to meditate that much on the past because it can quickly turn into spiraling.

Speaker 2 1:58:32

The past is also when we look at it, I kind of I actually kind of disagree on that. There we go. I kind of do?

Speaker 2 1:58:39

I kind of disagree on that, mainly because when we look at our past, we also find the answers of how we got to be, how where we got to be in the present. When we understand our past Right, it also informs the future, yes, that we want to forge and for us, whereas if we just don't acknowledge it, the future might be a little bit harder to have a sense of direction without having some form of reference, some point of reference Right and that lives in the past. That's how I would say. Some form of reference, some point of reference Right and that lives in the past, that's how I would say having that kind of past, your history has some value, right?

Speaker 1 1:59:20

Well, I don't like to exclusively look at how did I feel in the bad times.

Speaker 2 1:59:24

Okay.

Speaker 1 1:59:24

Like I was also weighing. Why did I truly feel fulfilled or happy in the times that I did? Okay. So it's not just about that time in Tallahassee, it's about all the time before that that I was looking at too, like okay, you've got all these different things that I did from destiny to ECTC to doing little shoots like with Logan.

Speaker 2 1:59:47

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:59:47

What's the common thread between all those? So it's not just the bad times, but why are the good times good? So that's what I was looking at and then I finally realized, oh, it's because I already know what I actually want to do. I was just suppressing it because I guess people-pleasing. I was trying to do what I thought people wanted me to do, which was to go get a degree that would lead to a steady desk job like office space but that's not our meant.

Discovering Purpose Through Creativity

Speaker 2 2:00:18

That's not what we're meant to be there's something, at least not for me no, I'm saying the careers that we've chosen and we're not meant to be in that space. It's not. It's not to say that those spaces, it may, may be good for other people, but acknowledging that you have something that you want to offer the world, it just further confirms that we're meant to one. You share your message that you see through God, because everything that we do, I think in the Bible it also says— Well, yeah, you're supposed to use your gifts.

Speaker 2 2:00:50

Yeah.

Speaker 1 2:00:50

And by not doing that you're sinning.

Speaker 2 2:00:56

I'm sinning already I'm, but no, I agree again. Why do you have to make everything so agreeable? It's just. All my entire family are all doctors and for the longest time, dude, I felt so burdened. It was like a self-inflicted wound. Okay, if I ask you this from an objective standpoint, who's more valuable A videographer that makes a video or a doctor that saves lives?

Speaker 1 2:01:27

Well, on paper it would sound like a doctor. But also, if you were to ask it on like a deeper level, just like the trend right now, you could argue that a videographer is just as important because you're communicating well. You have the potential to communicate a very profound message that billions of people could see but I didn't understand that I didn't ever.

Speaker 2 2:01:52

I wasn't able to see that dude and I felt so pressured to. Okay, I'll just follow the doctor footsteps because it'll make them happy right, and it's literally in our family line, it's our line of work, but I just didn't want to do it and I felt like I was influenced by people pleasing, specifically my parents, and having the courage to.

Speaker 2 2:02:18

It took so long to have that paradigm shift, to finally realize that I don't have to do it, and the first thing was my parents told me you don't have to do it it was so simple, but it was enough to change or at least start the chain, start to create the change in how I burden myself with their legacy and versus the legacy that I want to build right. And so for you, what is that legacy? What does that legacy look like when you get to, when you want to achieve everything? What is the legacy that you want to leave behind at the message that you want to give to the people that will eventually be inspired, but it may be inspired by the work that you want to leave behind, at the message that you want to give to the people that will eventually be inspired by the work that you did, or do.

Speaker 1 2:02:59

Well, you know, like a picture is worth a thousand words, that's the saying, right? Yes.

Speaker 1 2:03:03

So, more than that, physically, what am I leaving behind? Photos, digital files, maybe a couple negatives, but I think it's the intangible things that you leave behind that will be much more meaningful. So, behind every picture, if there's a story behind it and people can be like oh, I remember when we took that, it was such a great time they can give you the full story of what led up to it. It kind of reminds me of like Sean Murphy's work. So he has such a distinct look to all of his images which, if you ever get to meet him, he's one of the most interesting people I've ever met.

Speaker 2 2:03:42

He's also crazy, he uh his life story is pretty cool too he did uh the sword with justin. Do you remember the sword?

Speaker 1 2:03:52

which is awesome. I took that photo. I feel like you should throw that one up too but go on which justin hates that entire.

Speaker 2 2:04:00

But beside the point, we still love you justin. We still love you sean we'll go on.

Speaker 1 2:04:06

But all that to say, like, with his photography, what he's leaving behind, it's not about the images, it's about the unique stories and how many stories he has to share. Think about, like when you're bored, do you resort to just scrolling through your camera roll. Do you ever do that? That's one of my favorite things to do is because I know like every time I look at those images it's bringing back all the memories, even like you can kind of smell, like you remember everything that was happening in that moment that it was taken.

Speaker 1 2:04:38

Which video just takes that to a whole other level. But I don't do video.

Speaker 2 2:04:43

Yet.

Speaker 1 2:04:43

Yet, or maybe I do, you never know. But anyway, I mean that's what I want to leave behind is I want people to be able to share the good times that led to those photos. Having the good work is one thing I think anyone is capable of making good quality work but making meaningful work is something that takes years of development and, honestly, I think it's more about who you are as a person and how you can interact with those people before you ever take the picture.

Speaker 2 2:05:16

That's such a beautiful message, dude.

Speaker 1 2:05:18

I'm serious. Well, it's not about the picture. That's what I would say.

Speaker 2 2:05:21

No, I'm saying the whole answer. That's such a beautiful answer. Oh my gosh, I'm getting emotional a little bit. No, I'm actually getting a little bit emotional. Oh my gosh, sorry, a little bit. No, I'm actually getting a little bit emotional. Oh my gosh, sorry, no, I'm getting the exact same feeling that I got when we were at the AJ Blair's.

Speaker 1 2:05:39

Really.

Speaker 2 2:05:40

Yeah, wow, maybe it's a paradigm shift.

Speaker 1 2:05:45

A growth moment. God damn it.

Speaker 2 2:05:47

Do you?

Speaker 1 2:05:48

need a tissue. Huh, do you need a tissue?

Speaker 2 2:05:50

No. Okay, somebody's cutting up onions here. Somebody's cutting up the audience, all right, any is there. What are the last words that you would like to give? That you never got that, uh, that I never got to give you the opportunity to say. What are some of the last words you want to say?

Speaker 1 2:06:07

um to the audience. I mean we covered lot. The biggest thing is, everyone has a story to share, and I think that we're all obligated to share that story too.

Speaker 1 2:06:17

So, by whatever means that looks like, if that's photos, videos, painting, even like lighting design because that's what I, before I even got into photography, I saw how the dynamics and the colors, everything that goes into designing a show or a performance or a church service, whatever it may be, the way it can move people in such a profound way to where, like, okay, I said like after a photo shoot when I show the client, oh my gosh, I love this. In a similar sense, after a performance that I designed for, and I hear people talking as they exit oh my gosh, that was so cool.

Speaker 2 2:06:57

Did you like that moment where blah, blah, blah, it's like wow, I know that I created that I think that's also a value that each and every one of us has a capability to give right. It just so happens that yours has its own unique identity to it.

Speaker 1 2:07:15

I'm just using light to do it. That's like my medium of choice, but everyone has their own thing that they do. So I just encourage you to find whatever it is, because we're all creatives at the end of the day. Like that's another biblical principle. It's like we were all made to create things Same way God did yes and actually we'll bring up another biblical reference.

Speaker 2 2:07:37

So you say you just create the light, god, on the first day of earth. I think he okay, I might be wrong again, I did say I was not about first, but did he bring light first? I can't remember, you know you verify it. Just verify for me.

Speaker 1 2:07:55

God brought light. Well, now I'm quite, I think, but now I need. I'm questioning it all because you're questioning it.

Speaker 2 2:08:01

No, no, I'm not Hold on.

Speaker 1 2:08:03

What day was light, what day no? God, maybe it was the third day. Oh gosh, you're going to have to cut this part out, because I'm going to look like a complete oh gosh, you're gonna have to cut this part out, because I'm gonna look like a complete first day.

Speaker 2 2:08:15

It was the first day yeah, first day light was created. Second day, sky was created. Third day, dry land seas okay. So yeah, trust your gut always go, we're good, we're good but the reason why I bring that up is you actually said something. You said, yeah, just control the light. But you hear all these people. You know I love all this, but I think you're also carrying this biblical message.

Speaker 1 2:08:39

That was first spoken Well, God is light.

Speaker 2 2:08:42

Yes, but wait, when he said he brought light in the world. What you're also doing is you're bringing light in their world to see the beauty, and not only the portraits, but also the work that you're contracted out for the right clients. That's what you're doing. You're bringing light in the way you shape your work, everything you do Wow.

Speaker 1 2:09:06

Everything I do, it surrounds around light. Yes, what is darkness? That's the common thread.

Speaker 2 2:09:13

You know what that is actually a great message, from all the dark times to everything that you've done up to this point. You're carrying the light for yourself and you're and I feel like the reason why you're so like, you want to offer so much, is because you have so much light to give and you want to light everyone's world, where everything's constantly under darkness.

Speaker 2 2:09:34

I think that's a beautiful thing that you're gonna, one of the things that you will be able to leave behind your legacy right you're always bringing light but a lot of times people don't like to be exposed because it shows their insecurities but with that I I kind of disagree in a sense, that we need to expose our insecurities to become the better version of ourselves. Right, I agree, are we being honest if we're always hiding the shadows? No, no, we're only going to be honest once we embrace both light and the shadow, like the yin-yang, like here, yin-yang guys. The message here, actually under.

Speaker 1 2:10:16

That's funny, you mentioned highlight and shadow, because that's like the quintessence of lighting design is working with highlight and shadow. Okay. And the same goes for like artwork you were talking about you like Rembrandt lighting. Yeah. It's because of contrast ratios. Yes. Between highlight and shadow, but we don't need to get into that we will get into that at the round table.

Speaker 2 2:10:38

Okay, but you are the light of your own world, but you are also the darkness in your internal world. I have no idea what I'm saying, but I hope that makes sense. So deep, I will say one thing. There's a message here. Do you see it?

Speaker 1 2:10:54

No, I'm very blind.

Speaker 2 2:10:55

No, you hear it, you see that.

Speaker 1 2:10:58

No.

Speaker 2 2:10:58

No, you see the symbols though.

Speaker 1 2:11:00

Oh, okay sure.

Speaker 2 2:11:01

And this one says save journey, turn your disasters into blessings. I just bought this from Amazon, but that message resonated Anyways. Thank you guys. Oh, anything else you wanted to say?

Speaker 1 2:11:16

no, that was it just find whatever it is that you're supposed to share, or find whatever it is that you're supposed to create.

Speaker 2 2:11:22

Yeah and put it out in the world. Yes, thank you, guys, so much for watching this episode. Nathan, thank you so much for coming on, thank you for having me it's been an honor and thank you for sharing your honest yourself. What did I say? What did I say?

Speaker 1 2:11:37

how to say yourself and it's strong, and it's strong and it's strong.

Speaker 2 2:11:41

Thank you guys so much for watching this episode. If you are looking for more content like this, just uh, hit like and subscribe. Um, we will have even more wonderful guests. But the most important thing is focus on bettering yourself every single day and focus on creating light, not only in yourself, but also what other people that you are working with and also around with. And, yeah, I'll see you guys in the next episode and that'll be it.

Speaker 2 2:12:07

Cut and that's a wrap for today's episode on Hymn Record. Thank you so much for sticking with us and I do hope that today's episode was insightful and also it gave you some kind of fresh perspective in your creative journey. If you're listening on Spotify or any other podcast platform, a quick review is definitely gonna help. It helps other people find us. And, for those that are watching on YouTube, make sure you drop a comment down below or a question, because I would love to see what your thoughts are. If you have any takeaways, advice, insights, anything of the sort, I'd love to see what you guys have. And, most importantly, I hope you guys can take away a lot from these conversations, especially if you have hearing loss or disabilities, because I want you to know that you are not limited by your condition and that you are more than just that. Thank you so much for watching Stay inspired, and I'll see you all in the next episode.