This week’s Photographic Excellence Award goes to the amazing Robin Chavez, one of my personal favorites. Her work with composites is nothing short of inspired.
Each image she shares evokes so much emotion. This is what photography is truly about, conjuring emotion and capturing powerful feelings.
Robin was gracious enough to take a few moments to let us interview her.
1. Where ya from?
I am from Spokane, Washington. I love living in the Northwest. We often travel to the Washington and Oregon coasts and enjoy spending our time there. The beaches, waterfalls and forests here are stunning and I’m grateful for the opportunity to photograph them.
2. What first drew you to photography?
I was first drawn to photography when my youngest son was born. I wasn’t pleased with the typical studio images I was receiving and they seemed so cliche. I researched a photographer somewhat local to me and looked into a booking a custom session with her. That same day I discovered a Canon Rebel on Craigslist for the same price as the session. I made a list of pros and cons and opted for the camera. I knew my images wouldn’t be professional looking right away, but I was determined to learn and give it an attempt. Since then I have been self taught and have enjoyed the journey of learning photography.
3. What makes a photograph powerful to you?
I think several elements make an image powerful. I prefer an image that tells a story or shows emotion. Those are the types of works that speak most to me.
4. When people look at your work, what do you want them to feel from it?
I often do a mix of lifestyle and fantasy. My goal in capturing children is attempting to show the viewer the world from the child’s eyes. In photographing them in nature, I often show their size in a big, wide world. When doing composites, I try and tell a story from a child’s imaginative perspective.
5. Is there anything that you’ve done in your photography that you look back and think “What was I thinking?”
Yes! I used to have two obsessions. One was selective coloring, which I do enjoy now, but I used it incorrectly… a lot. I would get so excited to turn an image into black and white, while making bright yellow or red clothing. I also had an obsession with photographing people holding up frames as props… only it was the same frame I used over and again. I have several images of family members and friends holding up the same gold frame during one year. It’s pretty funny to look back on now.
6. Do you have any advice for those who are just starting out, or for all of us who admire your work?
I just think that when starting out, it’s important to try and find your own style and even when it can get frustrating learning something new, it’s so rewarding and can be quite fun. I’d also suggest to shut out the negativity in the industry and just focus on the positive. Only one person can determine your outcome and your future of where you’re headed, not anyone else.
7. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve encountered in your photography?
Sometimes it is discouraging having a low income and trying to grow in such an expensive field. I’m unable to purchase workshops and it’s taken me a lot of time and work to be able to afford the gear I do have. At the same time, it’s helped me even more to form my own style being self taught and it’s made the journey much more rewarding. It’s been a little over three years now since I purchased my first used camera and I’ve come a long way since then, so I use that to help drive me forward when I get discouraged and I try and re-focus in being grateful for what I do have.
8. We gotta know: Who are your favorite photographers?
I love Leszek Paradowski for the way he tells a story in every one of his images. I find myself getting lost in his images. I also love Leszek Bujnowski for his incredible imagination. He produces work that pushes new limits and makes you think outside of the box and it has such a fairy tale quality to it. My favorite portrait artists are Hunter Leone and Magdalena Berny. Both artists capture emotion beautifully and they do it with their own remarkable style and flair.
9. You have amazing composites! Do you plan them out, or is it all just spur of the moment?
Thank you! Yes, every composite is planned out ahead of time with sketches. Because I usually do composites with children, it helps to show them before-hand what the vision is so they understand why I need them posed in a certain way. Most of my composites come from the ideas of my boys. I interact in their pretend play with them a lot and when something they say strikes a chord with me, I sketch it out in my notebook with notes. Some ideas have also come from dreams and I jot them down first thing in the morning then.
10. Are there any special projects you are working on that you wouldn’t mind telling us a little about?
I’d love to get into doing children’s books. That is my ultimate goal. I actually enjoy writing even more, but combining both passions is a dream for me. I have one I’m in the middle of finishing and it has been my baby. I’d be thrilled to see it published someday.
11. Show us your favorite picture!
My favorite image changes daily, but the one of my son pasting clouds into the sky is one of my favorites mostly because of the story behind it. He noted that God had a lot of work putting all the clouds in the sky and he asked if maybe the angels helped Him put them up there. I told him that that may be the case and I asked him how he thought the angels might do that. He said, “Well they prolly just glue the cotton up there.” I love the image because when I look at it, I’ll always remember my son’s innocence at this age.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to join us next week to see who we wow you with next!
– Shannon Chad
The Blogtogs 