Photographer's Interview: Shaun Lowe

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:16 pm

[Shaun settles into the hot seat, his nose is powdered, the lights go on, cameras start rolling...]

Shaun Lowe: Turn that camera off.... this is audio only. :-)

Keithwms: Oh, uh, right! Anyway, it's a pleasure to have Shaun Lowe for our first in-depth photographer's interview here at Phototakers. Thanks for giving us the opportunity, Shaun!

SL: The pleasure is mine, Keith. I'm quite happy & honestly I'm quite honoured to share some insight with the Phototakers community.

KW: Your gallery (http://www.pbase.com/shaun) includes a number of memorable landscapes, a few of which we have seen and discussed on Phototakers. How's business up there? Does your web gallery generate as many sales for you as your storefront sales? When is your IPO?

SL: Business is pretty good. With an upcoming group exhibition in February and the Christmas rush back in December, I've been kept quite busy lately. My print sales off the site ebb and flow, with November-December being my busiest periods. The online sales currently do not outweigh the storefront sales & rentals.

KW: That's an interesting tidbit; so you definitely still see a future for person-to-person sales in a gallery? Do you have any tips for members who wish to try storefront sales... how did you locate the right place(s) to market your work?

SL: Definately. A lot of people, in particular the older generations can't rely on seeing something on the internet vs. in their hands at the point of sale. I would recommend approaching galleries with a portfolio of your very best work in a reasonable print size, ie 11x14 or bigger so that the gallery director/owner can get a good feel of your work. If they are interested, you will hear from them. No question. So far I've lucked out with one Gallery, the director/owner & I have a great relationship, with plans for a solo show this summer.

KW: Concerning equipment, will you divulge your weapon(s) of choice? Do you work with multiple cameras, or are you a monogamist?

SL: I am indeed a monogamist. Currently a Nikon D70 is my weapon of choice. A D200 is sure to grace my camera bag in the coming months, however.

KW: What can you tell us about your primary influences? Are there any classic shots that you have attempted to recreate or improve upon? Or are you driven more by originality?

SL: On a local level, even before I was addicted to photography I was exposed to the work of Angus R. MacKaskill. Ansel Adams' work has had a very strong influence on me as well. I've never tried to recreate someone elses work per se. My goal is always to approach a subject with a very open mind. Often times I revisit the subject over & over again to form an intimate knowledge of the light, the location & the perspectives offered from different vantage points.

KW: Speaking of vantage points, I'd like to ask you about one photograph in particular, which you entitled "Stand of Pine":

This shot is so effective- converging trunks, fluffy white infrared leaves, the gradient in the sky... do you plan that kind of shot in advance? Do you see it in the viewfinder before you click? Or is it something that comes to life more gradually, as you work with the capture?

SL: Oh man. There's a story behind that shot.... lol

I happened to be out for a swim one hot day in July. I could see the pines from the lake where I was swimming, so I grabbed the camera and took a walk over. I kneeled down on the ground, getting as low as possible with the camera, emphasizing the converging lines of the tree trunks with the wide angle lens. Quite pleased with myself I went back to swimming. :-)

A few days later my legs began to break out in a horrendous rash. I did some research on the net.... and soon found the culprit. Poison Ivy! When I had kneeled down to get that low vantage point, I had done so in a patch of poison ivy!! So I paid the price for that shot, needless to say.

KW: No pain no gain, right! Now a fantasy question.... a magazine has made the call and they need for you to pinch hit. In three days, you'll be off to some mountainous, exotic, pacific atoll for a week of unrestrained photographic debauchery. What do you pack? How do you prepare?

SL: Oh my.

What to bring? Everything! I would honestly take as much gear as I possibly could. A backup body or two, a wide variety of lenses, wide angle to telephoto, teleconverter, vast quantities of storage, portable lighting.... etc. To prepare.... I would research the location as much as possible, checking sunrise & sunset times, moonrise/moonset times, when is high tide/low tide. Which side of the island offers the best sunrise view/sunset view. Same applies to moonrise/moonset. If possible I would try to organize having a local guide to help track down the location's hot spots.

I'd also prepare myself to have a blast. :-)

KW: That's an excellent list of tips you gave there- know the sun/moon rise and set times, and plan the best vantage points. Perhaps one of your finest examples of good planning is your multiple-exposure image, entitled "Bad Moon Rising" (http://www.pbase.com/shaun/image/39062256)

Here, the moon rises over an otherwise ordinary industrial landscape, and the exposures are tied together in time by a flock of birds. You experimented with a similar approach in "Rise of the Trio" ( http://www.pbase.com/shaun/image/39295188 )

What motivated these shots, and did you ever consider observational astronomy?!

SL: It was Astronomy that first exposed me to photography, back in 2001. For nearly a year the only photography I practiced was astrophotography with a 35mm Pentax SLR, then my first digital camera, a Kodak DX3900. (lol) Capturing & viewing the Moon, the planets & stars became an obsession. Over time I became more and more interested in photographing more than just the skies & eventually I broadened my views.

I still have the telescope, but with more and more of my time devoted to photography my observing tends to take a back seat.... I still maintain my membership with the Royal Astronomical Society so that from time to time I can take a peek through the big 'scope at the observatory.

KW: Thanks for the interview! Now we'll "open the phone lines" and turn the thread over to other phototakers for more comments and questions.

PT Members: please post only one question at a time and please wait for Shaun to respond before posting another! Let's not have several different questions pending all at once!

[edit: fixed links]

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:48 pm

Shaun your work has influenced me I think more than anybodies. I frequently visit your site and am in awe and anger all at once. :)

My question is to you: Do you feel you can take good pictures anywhere compositionally, even in bad situations, or does it depend more on good places to visit?

I ask this because I live in California and I find it hard to find good landscape locations to photograph and I'm wondering if I need to dramatically improve my composition skills or if I happen to be in an unlucky location. You have a very artistic eye for composition and seem like you can pull any shot off.

Thanks Shaun for your imput and inspiration.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:35 pm

Justin, I'm extremely happy to hear that I'm any sort of inspiration or influence. It's very humbling, to say the least.

To answer your question... as I mentioned in the interview I always shoot with an open mind.... no preconceptions. There are times when all I do is explore a new area to me.... maybe not even shoot anything if the light isn't quite how I'd like it. The key is to recognize the potential of a location & come back when the lighting will make the composition pop that much more. Jump in your car & go for a drive to some place you've never explored.... just see what happens. Take that dead end road that leads 'nowhere' you really never know what you might find.

I certainly don't pull off all my shots.... I have my fair share of rejects, but I can recognize now which are 'ok' and which are portfolio material.
The key is to always learn something from your mistakes.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:03 am

I see a lot of great photos on this site, but yours usually make me go, "Wow."

In your opinion, how much of photography is skill that can be learned, and how much is talent that is innate?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:20 am

Shaun, I agree with everyone on your amazing work. I'm a Halifax based photographer as well, and it's nice to see other points of view from different photographers of the known places for me :)

I'm currently finishing my portfolio so that I can show it around a few stores in downtown. Do you have any tips on how many images I should have? I'm opting for 10 for now.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:10 am

One pending question at a time please! ;)

Let's let Shaun answer one question, and then we can ask another!

:) keithwms

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:22 am

ina wrote:

I see a lot of great photos on this site, but yours usually make me go, "Wow."

In your opinion, how much of photography is skill that can be learned, and how much is talent that is innate?

Ina, thanks so much.

That's an interesting question. The technical skills required can certainly be learned by anyone... but the artistic eye, I feel that comes from a subconcious level in some ways. Obviously it's possible to be taught what an artistic composition is, recognizing it in everything you do... well that is another matter.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:30 am

andrewshalin wrote:

Shaun, I agree with everyone on your amazing work. I'm a Halifax based photographer as well, and it's nice to see other points of view from different photographers of the known places for me :)

I'm currently finishing my portfolio so that I can show it around a few stores in downtown. Do you have any tips on how many images I should have? I'm opting for 10 for now.

Thank you Andrew. We'll have to get out shooting sometime.... :)

I would say 10-12 of your very STRONGEST photos. Each piece should be able to stand all on it's own. Really try to mix it up as well, variety is key I feel.

Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Posts: 893 Location: Cincinnati, OH

You are a master of blending and gradient work post process...Is this something you visualize when taking a shot or something that comes when you are at the pc working on the image?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:53 am

A master? I don't know if I'd go that far.... :-)

Almost always, yes. In order for the blending to work the most effectively it has to be shot with this in mind.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:52 am

Are you always in a "mood" to shoot? Do you ever get somewhere and just don't feel like hauling out the tri-pod and setting up?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:58 am

Oh for sure, Steve. If I'm even moderately not in the mood, then I just pack it in & head home... because it will show in the photos.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:56 pm

I know that many people develop eyes for differnt forms of photography. Some love portraits while others find wildlife to their liking. Why do you like shooting landscapes? Whats your favorite thing about them?

( I know you shoot other things, but your favorites on your site and my favorites it seems are landscapes! )

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:09 pm

I love trying my hand at new areas.... but in the end I always come back to landscape photography to really fuel the fire. It's that lingering light just after a sunset or just before a sunrise that really gets me going. This is primarily when I shoot the majority of my work lately.... the few golden hours, so to speak.

Honestly, I can't quite explain it. It's the simple beauty of rocks, trees, sky and the sun/moon that I find so fascinating.... perhaps in a few years I might be better able to explain it. :-)

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:27 pm

Here's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, Shaun. Since you do a fair amount of stitching (and it's done quite well), do you do it all manually, or do you have favorite plug-in or piece of software? Any tips for shooting panos?