DWF – Let’s start off with a little bio, tell us a little bit about yourself.
GREG - I’m originally from LA (Lower Alabama) and I went to college on a music scholarship – I’m actually a sax player in my “other life”. My father worked for a newspaper when I was growing up and he always had cameras around (Crown Graphics with flashbulbs) but they were forbidden for us kids to touch. The fact that I couldn’t go near his cameras is probably what piqued my interest in photography. My mother had a Kodak Brownie in a closet and I begged and pleaded until she let me use it. I took photos of everything in the yard, in the house, model cars and airplanes, my dogs; I was hooked. I got my first 35mm camera, a Graflex rangefinder, when I was 13 years old and I shot school events, the NASCAR race at Talladega (we band kids got in free for participating in the pre-race parade), and the usual landscape/sunset photos. I was sort of the photo nerd at my high school.
I shot film of various sorts for almost 40 years before I picked up a digital camera, a Fuji S2. The last couple of years shooting film I shot my studio portraits on a Hasselblad and scanned the film on an Epson scanner and started doing my own retouching in Photoshop. Once I started shooting digitally, I never loaded another roll of film. I think that seeing film images for so many years has greatly affected the way that I process digital images now – I still see with “film eyes”. Back then, we all strived to “get it on the negative” with good light and a few filters and vignettes. In the darkroom stage I’ve used dodging, burning, texture screens, cross-processed E6, etc., just as I use Photoshop today.
DWF – How did you become a photographer?
GREG - I taught music for a number of years after college and I started shooting weddings for some extra money and because I really wanted to photograph weddings. After my first one I knew that I wanted to do more and my business eventually became too large for me to continue to teach. I started wedding photography around the time that Bill Stockwell and Rocky Gunn came onto the scene and it was going through great change.
DWF- Who or what inspires you as an artist?
GREG - I think that my first real inspiration came from the man who took portraits of me when I was a baby, Leon Kennamer. He and my dad were about the same age and lived near each other growing up, so I was fortunate to know him and to learn from him. When I first started shooting portraits I would go by his studio and I could sit for hours just staring at the images on his gallery walls, mesmerized. I would go and visit him at his studio every now and then and my wife, Jan, actually modeled a few times for his classes.
There are a lot of photographers who inspire me today, like Jerry Ghionis. I think that he has an unbelievable talent for composition, light and for capturing all the emotions that go along with weddings. Also, I love to study photographs by Karsh, Steichen, Bull, Hurrell, etc. Even with vast differences in style, there’s always something to be gained by feeding your mind with images from such great master photographers. Then, there’s the weekly favorites on DWF…some incredible, fresh imagery.
Other than photographers, I have found great inspiration from portrait artists such as Rembrandt, Vigee Le Brun, etc. I also love to watch films with great cinematography. Again, I really like the modern films and the old b&w films from the 30′s and 40′s with that great lighting and those wonderful soft focus lenses.
DWF- If we needed a photographer today why would we book you? What makes you unique?
GREG - I think that today the definition of “uniqueness” is a bit more compressed than it was, say, 10 years or so ago. With the advent of digital imaging and immediate feedback from the camera, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to stand out. Almost everyone has a good website these days! I think that a solid background in comoposition and lighting is helpful. I always have the rudiments of lighting and composition in my mind when I click the shutter, although sometimes I do just aim and fire if I have to do so. One thing that I stress to my clients is the fact that no matter what situation arises, I have the experience to deal with it and they don’t have to worry about whether or not their photographs will be beautiful, or not, and their wedding images will be consistently good from lipstick to rice. I’ve made a real effort to stay current and fresh without abandoning those things that I’ve worked hard to perfect.
DWF - If you had to pick a favorite “Tool of the Trade” what would it be? and why?
GREG - This is the toughest thing to answer. I could be equally happy with Canon or Nikon, so today’s cameras and lenses, as great as they are, are probably not in the mix of my favorite tools of the trade. I guess that Photoshop, with it’s ability for me to complete my vision with it’s almost endless possibilities, would be the tool that intrigues me the most. I get the most satisfaction when I’ve created a good image in the camera and I can add just a bit of polish in Photoshop.
DWF – Care to share your favorite photographs?
GREG-
(see the gallery below for larger versions of Doug’s work)
DWF – How about some final words to live by?
GREG - Be passionate in all that you do and covet peace of mind.
Location – Trussville, Alabama
Business Name - Studio G
Websites - www.studiogphoto.net
Workshops - www.studiog.wordpress.com
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2 Comments at "That’s One Saxy Photographer!"
Really nice pics Greg.
I enjoyed reading through the interview. I truely enjoyed the photography. Thanks for sharing.
Take good care
James
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