This is in the first of several blog entries where I plan to talk about and showcase talent, both more experienced and up and coming photographers that I feel people need to see and learn from.
I wanted to kick this off with Houston, Texas based photographer Robert Seale. Robert has been recently profiled by Adobe as an Adobe Success Story and is a much honored and well known portrait and sports action photographer.
When I found out recently that Robert Seale, had started a blog. I felt compelled to let people know.
I know that another photographer starting a blog is not a big deal as there are a lot of them out there in the blogosphere, but when someone of Robert's photographic talent and stature feels he has something to say or offer via a blog, I think photographers, young and old need to take note.
I believe that so much of what we do in life depends on our interactions with other humans, I feel the best way we can learn and grow in our personal and professional life is by giving back, teaching and sharing with others. Those people who do this, never seem to lose that creativity and passion that keeps them at the top of their respective professions.
I was fortunate enough to be a a photo editor at the Sporting News while Robert was a staff photographer and I can tell you that he is an exceptional portrait photographer. He will downplay his other photographic skills such as sports action, but having been his editor I can tell you he is no slouch at sports actions and I have no doubt would be successful in whatever aspect of photography he chose to pursue. But it is his portrait work which he clearly enjoys and which I want to focus on.
What Robert does so well and which is a common trait among great photographers is that he is a "problem solver". He figures out through, planning, preparation and hard work how to execute his photographic ideas. This planning and preparation allows him to simply fine tune things during the shoot and to overcome obstacles that will inevitably arrive as the shooting process progresses. The old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is true. Those photographers who plan and prepare have a much greater success rate than those that don't.
Click here to see his thought processes where he took an idea that had been kicking around in his head for several years and finally put it to good use when the opportunity presented itself.
Another aspect of good photographers is that many of them have what I like to call an "idea log" For some this is a more formal list that they write down, while for others it is a list they keep in their heads. But either way it is the pathway to good photographic execution. For example the great Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Ioos keeps a journal of "unique" backgrounds that he sees in his travels, backgrounds with interesting texture or color etc. and then when he has a portrait shoot he will try and match up the subject with a background that he feels gives him the photographic vision he is looking for on that particular shoot.
Robert had a lot of ideas as well that he catalogues. When you do this, it makes it easier for things to come together when you are trying to come up with something unique. It also helps as you try and get your vision and idea/content of a photograph across to those viewing it.
Sometimes the ideas are put to use and sometimes they don't work out, but it is important to always have them catalogued in some fashion to increase your odds of success.
I remember an idea the Robert had to photograph major league pitcher Dontrelle Willis, currently with the Detroit Tigers, and at that time with the Florida Marlins. Dontrelle has this really high kick during his windup, when he pitches and Robert had this idea to photograph him standing on one leg in his high kick stance with a flock of Pink lawn flamingoes standing on one leg. It was a great idea and would have made a great portrait, but as I remember , (correct me if I'm wrong, Robert) the idea was nixed by his agent and the team who didn't like the idea of their star pitcher being compared to a pink flamingo.
But you get the jist. Catalogue those ideas, write them down, record them or whatever it takes to remember them. Ideas are fleeting and sometimes come at weird times. But they are incredibly useful later on when you suddenly need them. Personally I'm still waiting and hoping to see how the flamingo idea will present itself in some future Robert Seale portrait.
Also another way to grow, and get great ideas is to look at the work of others. Writers, directors, artists and photographers all have great ideas we can all learn from. I frequently encourage young photographers and many of the staff photographers that I work with to look at other photographers work. I tell them, it will refresh your batteries, re-charge your idea bank and most importantly you might just actually learn something you didn't know.
So do yourself a favor and hop on over to Robert Seale's website and blog and see what you can learn. Follow this link.
Also Robert and his good friend Brad Mangin recently visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where they were asked to speak at the first annual “Baseball Photography Education Day.” They gave two different presentations during their visit to the museum: a presentation on the history of baseball photography through the years, and another program, delivered together, of their work.
Below are a couple of Robert's baseball images and here is a link to a slide show of these and other baseball images. check it out here.
