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Felix Kunze Interview

And next up we have Felix Kunze and Felix is Ah, He grew up in the UK He grew up in Berlin, actually moved to New York. And this guy has worked with some of the the top companies commercial companies in the world that are including Yahoo, Adidas, three m v tra and the BBC does fascist stuff. Just a super super super talented guy on guy. I think we have feel What's up? Hi. Good to see you. Nice to meet you on here. I know. Nice to meet you as well. This is our first time working together. Yeah, we'll have to make it happen in person at some point. Yeah, I look forward to that. Your based out of New York, right? I am. And you've told my Berlin London New York story that confound so many. Uh, tell us more about that. Eso I was born in Berlin, and at the age of 10 my family moved to London just outside of London. Okay, Andi, um, I moved to New York a couple of years ago, so I've just been making my way west. Yep. Who knows what I'll end up in 25 years I'll be living in Turkey. I love it. J...

ust as long as you get some time in Seattle. Will be good. Good point. Yeah. Yeah. Well, fantastic. So what? At what point in that process did you did you pick up a camera start shooting? That was in London. I mean, I was at 10 when I was in Berlin. That was in London at some point. Um, about nine years ago now? Yeah. Fantastic. What? What was that process? Were you doing something else? And then you saw somebody shooting? You got interested. How did that happen? I had a 9 to 5 job and like so many people, kind of photography became that little hobby. And I am quite obsessive. So it turned into more than that. And it was actually in the just before the financial crash, as I should try to get a job in Dubai on, I got the job, and then the company I was gonna work for went under. So then I was left. I was left with no job in England, and I thought right, I'm not just travel around with my camera. And, um, that's kind of how everything started. Wow, What was the industry we're going to go into? I'm just curious. I'm shipping. Shipping. Wow. Yes, just that's when I was in. I was doing logistic management. Wow. So glad you became a photographer, man. Thank you. Yeah, that's fantastic. Your creativity has an outlet, and it is exactly Yeah, it's changed a lot of lives. I know who knows what be without it. Oh, I know, right? It's amazing to think about that. So you've done a bunch of creativelive classes here? Ah, lot of with soup. Rice, fashion photography posing the lighting, lighting natural versus neutral in the studio. Tell us a little bit about those courses, right? Well, the main, the main one really is. I think it gets the biggest draws. The lighting challenge I did with soup Rice. And I know Sue talked about this on Monday. I think it was she raped. She raved about you on Monday. I think she raved about the class. Yeah, and what I had wanted to do, You know, so many new photographers they come into during artificial light. And there's such a huge separation between what their studio light looks like. And what their natural light looks like. And this kind of this fight, Andi, based on my kind of history, you can look at my bio on my Web site if you want to know more about that. I had worked with photographers who'd obsessed then tired, you know, for 40 years to create light that looks natural. That looks pleasing. That doesn't look like it was shot in the studio, you know? And, um, my pursuit had been How do I get light to not look like it was shot in the studio? How do I You know, photography shouldn't be about the conversation. It shouldn't be about lighting. Photography is for consumption by people who do not have that language in that kind of, you know, that they're not talking about lighting on dumb. So you want to take the focus away from that? I want to create natural looking images on. Then when I met Soo, I'm through large aid. Actually, we you know, we started the same kind of she was here and I was here on and I thought, no, I can I can bring us together. I can merge those two things. I can show you how you can create natural looking light without official light. It just gives you, you know, that gives you more. It gives you more control. You can shoot at night. It can shoot in a solar eclipse. You can shoot in them. You know when your kids allow you to shoot because they've finally going to bed at night. This is a big deal for a lot of people. Yeah, so one of the things that the lighting challenge, really, I feel the biggest take away for me is when people wrote me and said, I've been shooting studio and I've been shooting natural light and they were here on. We finally done this and connected them together. We're just it's and it's very simple. It doesn't cost a lot of money on. I think it's been great to see people kind of really evolve their style because of that. Yeah, that's fantastic. So would you say that that that is your signature? Look, I'm not really actually that blended. What's what's your signature? Look, my I made a joke. I did this shoot at the Explorer's Club annual dinner at the Museum of Natural History last month, and someone commented, saying OK, What was your light set up for? This was it one light to lights and I said, You know, it's a Felix shoot. It's never simple. Is that Andi Hikind? I really I obsess very much about lighting, and, um, and it's usually quite an elaborate set up. Become trying to kind of add that commercial feel always. I'm trying to add something that clients would really you know. High end clients would really respond to Andi. So what I teach on creative life is kind of the steps that would lead someone into it. You know, for most photographers, portrait photographers, the things I've been teaching have been, um, my introductory steps that I learned from big photographers back in the day. And we did have all of those processes off. You know, you should just learn to light with one light first and then see what you're adding and see, You know where your taste is that at that point, that's fantastic. So what? What is your go to lighting rig when you pack your bags to go off on a shoot? What's in your bags? Okay. Well, I've been using the same. That's the lighting Modify. I recommend it to sue as well. The Ellen Crume. Deep dish roadblocks. Okay, and I actually have two of those is a 59 inch model. It's the large one. There's a medium one, and there's a small one. I don't actually have a small one, but I tend to use the medium one, so uses the large one a lot. Okay, Um, so I used the medium Ellen from little exits. It's a pain in the Austin put together. But boy, great, like, yeah, And do you always travel and shoot with an assistant when you're doing that? So they can help you with some of that? Or do you usually travel by yourself? I try to I try to get local people. Actually, you know, I have one advantage to a lot of people. Um, I know a lot of people in love places around the world. So I was just in Florida and I have I've kind of got someone, Paul who I've been training up and he knows my set up, so it's really nice. The other day, I went on the set and I said, Let's set up the set up we used on this street last time, and then I direct how he puts it all up. And, you know, I am shoot with them assistant because it makes it faster for the client. Yeah, especially when they're using artificial light. It's not an absolute necessity, but I think it just adds a bit of professionalism. Yeah, absolutely. So are you the type of guy that when the new piece of gear comes out, you got by it and you implement it, Read in your process, or are you more? You stick with what you got and you slowly introduce new things. Um, I I worked with a lot of other photographers, and I've really put a focus on networking with other photographers. And that's where a lot of like the new little tips and tricks or things that I learned come from because I'm, you know, always discussing these kind of options. But, um, would talk on my my I have a little group on Facebook called the Lighting Challenge with Felix Coon's. OK, um, Andi in there, someone talked about. So why do you use this Deep Dish Row Deluxe? Is it because the Ellipse seizes wide and blah, blah, blah? Yes, I understand what you're talking about, but that's not why I use it. I had used a different modifier, tried this one, and I liked what it did. Pretty much that's that's really it. You know, I'm not. I'm not trying. I'm not obsessing over equipment. I mean, it's It's so not important. Yeah. Now, that's fantastic to hear, though. What? Ah, what's the equipment that you can't live without? If you somebody gave you a camera and, like, one or two pieces of equipment and set you set you free on a desert island? What? Lighting things on a piece of equipment? Yeah. Um, I think I have this. Ah, we used to use a thing called a scrim. Jim. The onset on its I got a version of it. That's by last light. It's called the I'm Looking over it Now, the last Elect skylight rapid Okay, folds up into a little. It's a two by two meter one. It folds up into little bag, and I travel with that a lot because it's very versatile. If I'm on location, I can create a little roof to block the harsh sunlight I can use like a silk in like a shoot through diffusion clock on it. So I would use that and probably my medium road deluxe and see where we go with that. I could do a lot with that. And because there's the big that's suit called The God Light in the Sky. You know, I've I should teach that one day, actually, how to shoot properly on location because a lot of people haven't managed it yet. Yeah, that's fantastic. So when you're shooting to use a light meter or do you just use your I At this point, um, I use a light meter just because I'm using multiple lights. Um, and so I want to know what each light is doing, but, um, yeah, yeah, that's why I think I like meat. It is. Some people should be able to use it, but it's not a news on every shoot. Okay, Fantastic. So you have a slide that you wanted to show? Well, yeah, Let me. Yeah, it is. That's it's my go to kind of one light set up, I think. Right. Okay. Yeah, we're showing it. So it's usually thanks. Yeah, right s So that's actually the same backdrop. I'm sitting on right now. Okay, that's my road. Relax. And I showed this on creative life before a little segment called Getting it Right in camera on. The purpose of that title was more about how to make it look good on set without needing to go into Photoshopped and doing a bunch of stuff with lighting. Um, and you'll see the skylight. Last delight, Skylight rapid there on the right, on the teeth on the side, the big white things on. And I'll point the Road Deluxe into that. And then it's bouncing back at the subject. So you're not him. You're not hitting the subject at all directly with the Red Alexe. It is hitting a little bit, okay? And that's called feathered light. So it's not directly on the subject, and that's a new photographers make this mistake a lot. They're just pointing all the modifiers directly at the subject, and you can actually get such nice effects by just feathering it off a little bit. That means instead of having it come directly the subject, just move it forward so it's and skimming past him at the front, and you can elect to bounce that light back from the other side and kind of get a very even spread of, like, you know, if I wanted really flattering light so much you can do with one modify. This is where I would start and then mess around from there, you know, to change it up. Fantastic. So how did a two part question for you? I'm curious. How did you learn to see, um, the light and and how can young photographers, um, learn to see light? I think a lot of it comes down to kind of, um our role models in the industry that people follow. Yeah, I think they could be. There's a lot of really good people, but like Su said, you should follow the people whose light you like. Yeah, there's no point learning from someone, no matter how good they are if you don't like their work because it's a matter of taste. Andi, um, I really started off following the photographers that I worked for and Richard Avedon, Irving Penn You know, those old classic photographers and looking at what they did on looking at, what did they photograph? And you'll find that sometimes it's very low fi and not very complicated lighting, but they worked on what's in the frame more than the lighting. Andi, if you look at actually all the great photographers, they started their careers with bad lighting, a great content, and then they moved the lighting slowly to be more more beautiful on, and content always was good. And so I think people shouldn't really obsess about the lighting when they start, make the content really good. And and that's I think that's if you have a shot where your subject is in a great pose and you've got that great connection and everything is great. Apart from the light, that's when you learn. Okay, I should take the next step with the light, but you should focus on your subject first and then find out. How do you make the subject looked the best, right? I think that's experience. I think that's there's no people obsess so much about getting it right and the perfection, and they shouldn't try to be so perfect. Just shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and sweets the more yeah, just learn. Yeah, shoot and learn. Yeah, that's why Creativelive is so good. You know, you get you get on and That's what I said on the lighting child as well. The worst thing you could do is not try. Yeah, Wow, that's why, right? Like, say that again. The worst thing you can do is not try. That's fantastic, right? Yeah, that's a one other thing. We, the way I really learned. Studio lighting is obviously from had some great mentors. But if you re added this the other day, you know, same Shoot Explorer's club. I had a friend of mine here and in my little studio apartment in New York, which is, you know, anyone that lives in New York, he notes. Everything is really small time on. We literally had a light onda. We moved it an inch at a time to see what it would do. And then we changed the bounce on the other side and then share the time to see what it would do. That's what it takes, you know, if you really want to learn and you can do so much with one light. So what's the biggest challenge that you faced on a shoot? The biggest channel. Biggest challenge. Yeah, I want to say right away. It's always the weather. If you're on location. Yeah, that's boring on. So because anything flies, I I can't say who the client waas should. I had a very prickly subject, okay? And, um, so I think this was, like, a personality. It wasn't. You weren't working for a big company. It was It was a personality as photographing for a big company. Okay, Got it. Onda. We had the most beautiful set up. Everything was tested to the degree. It was great. I'm when the subject turned up, it started to pour down with rain, and they had five minutes, and they just No, we're going to shoot now, and that's it. So I had them covered with umbrellas that I had to photo shop out of the picture. Um, but you know, one of those things where everything was difficult, the subject was difficult. The lighting was different. Everything, and then just nature throws this curveball at you. What do you do, Teoh? To stay calm and cool and collected in those. So my assistant says I usually have game face on some really good, but my nostrils flare. Yeah, a little bit. So he says That's how I can tell. Because even the client came up in late. I was like, This was amazing. You didn't freak out at all. And I said, What, Inside I was screaming. Yeah. So if I got when I got creative live next, if people should just look out for the little watch. Yeah, but it's a harrowing experience, you know. Yeah. You know, you're right that people are probably scrolling through your photos on your web site right now trying to figure out who that was. Oh, that's what we crashed it by now. Yeah, probably. So what's the biggest take away you got from from suing you when you guys did the lighting battle? The lighting trump challenging. We soon moves the subject to fit the light. Yeah, and I moved the light to fit the subject. S o andi. I think Sue mentioned this that she's now doing the opposite a little bit and I'm actually doing the opposite a little bit as well. On one of the big things that happened for me personally is I would set up the lights and then I would be very like, stoic, and I have everything exactly right. And I was like, What if I move myself in relation to the lights and the subject and move one way or the other on DA. It kind of brought me this fluency about where I could be because Sue is moving around a lot. She's moving the subjects around a lot on dumb, I think I mean, you know, when you have to. One of the three beautiful things about being instructor on creative life is the process forces you to think through why you shoot the way you do. Yeah, On the lighting child, I think I learned as much as more than what we taught because really, the I was tasked with replicating kind of window light with Sue, and we had never tried it before. We tried it live. Yeah, I kind of had a rudimentary test that didn't really work, so I said, OK, let's just try it Before Andi, it truly was the lighting challenge and that process, I think, was the was how we were able to kind of teach people a lot because we truly were going through it ourselves. Sue and I didn't you know, we would like anyone who watched it. We have this kind of very interesting dynamic on dumb easing Sue into using artificial light was such a long process. But it was truly an easing. And I don't think we could have done it without those insecurities of Is this gonna work? Is it? Is it all gonna come together? And it did. Yeah, that's fantastic. So what's What's more difficult? Shooting a client or teaching on creative life? Um, both a great fund. That's a great answer. That's the same point. It's not related to lighting, but what are the some of techniques for beginners to keep their exposure? So it beginner's want to keep their exposure. Most instructors we have this week have been saying something have been saying continue to shoot in practice. So, um, keeping their exposure while they're shooting and trying to figure it out. Maybe on the shoot, the explosion camera, you know, their their their own. Um, you mean that composure? Yeah. Composure. Sorry. Okay. Um, well, I don't know if you have some tips for that. I would Don't let your nostrils flare. Exactly. Don't just keep those, um, I think you have I mean, it's so much. I hate to say this, but fake it till you make it should be taken with a grain of salt. You know that people tell you that, but, um, how do you keep your composure? I think it's if you connect with your subject and you try to have a human interaction with them. Um, over. You know, people try to impress that clients where they try to, um, kind of be something that they're not and what I see when sues shooting and when large aid is shooting or any other photographers I've worked for. They really connect with the human in front of them on That's so important. It is tricky when you have all the lighting and all the equipment and everything, but yeah, and that's why I have an assistant, because I can. You know, I'll be with the client while they're having their makeup done chatting to them, asking them questions about their lives are make terrible jokes. As many people know I'll, I'll use my assistance to, you know, for kind of banter and to try to try to always bring it back to Well, what is Who is this person? What year It's not about Yeah you can get into is this side better. Is the sight better? What is the light? And I think about all of those things. But in the end, you have to have a connection with another human being. That's if you have that. Yeah. Everything else. You know, if you have. If you really connected with the subject and something goes wrong with the lighting, they won't mind. Yeah, they won't break out of that bubble. You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. I think that's great advice for anybody starting out doing this. It gives you a little bit more grace with them of that leads. Go on. Well, the you know that that tricky shoot I had that I was telling you about where it rained? Um, I had asked the subject to kind of pose with an object on, uh, the subjects that I don't do that I don't connect with things. And I just went over Lee Montoya and said, You do connect with things. I've seen it, and she just goes I like you whispered in my ear. Didn't anyone else see it? She still had this air off, you know, being the big boss. But it was a gamble and it paid off. And I think sometimes you need that human connection. Yeah, that's fantastic. I love that story. Um, So what if you had If you hadn't like looking forward in your career, Felix, what are you looking for to do? You have a dream shoot that If you if you got to shoot this person or for this company or like what? What are you hoping to do? Maybe in the next year, it's that people ask me who is your ideal subject. And I've learned that, you know, if I I fallen into this trap with someone that I think would be so great doesn't photograph so beautifully. And sometimes you have someone. I photographed this girl, Allie, and we used to images on the last creative life. Think during Photo week. Andi. She's like a self admitted nerd in a way, you know, she's great persons off. She's beautiful. And she came on set and she just had this really natural beauty to her that we were very surprised by not because she's not beautiful, but it just translated very unusually on the camera on dso. I've stopped trying to name kind of my dream subjects because that's my dream subject. Someone that comes in and gives you something of themselves that you haven't seen before. Um, and kind of delivers on set. It's such a wonderful process when it's really unexpected. Yeah, yeah, the unexpected. But it sounds like the authentic to right. It's yes, yeah, yeah, that's why I actually I've been enduring really photographing, photographing a lot of my friends here in New York. Yeah, Andi, um, it's because it kind of takes away those precious because they don't mind if the light doesn't work. They'll just wait and chat for five more minutes. That's been kind of one of those things where that it's taught me about that connection that you have to have your subjects. Wow, Do you find Wow, that's awesome. I have two questions about that. Do you? Do you? Ah, do you find that you photographed your friends differently because you know them and you know their personality and you so you may be lightem different or the interaction visually is different because you actually know their personalities, and that changes what you want to capture, right? Well, the research part of every shoot I do, which is learning about the subject. You know, when I said to that subject, like, I know you connect with things, Yeah, it was because I had seen videos off the person. And so I always research every shoot I do. And with friends, you just don't have to do that. Yeah, because you know them already. And I think that's, you know, from a professional aspect, I think I research every subject I have on Duh. You know, it's also why I kind of, um I I aspire to shoot a certain type of passing someone creative, someone very professional. Yeah. No, that's fantastic. I think that's that's something I've not really heard talked about is doing doing your background working, doing your homework on the person that you're going to shoot or the company you're going to shoot for and who you're actually gonna be interacting within, know something about them. And I'm sure that goes a long way in building that relationship. In that report. Yeah. I mean, now we have Facebook. You can Yeah. I mean suit. Just think about Sue. If you watch our behind the scenes, she connects with everyone. Yeah, so it's amazing. It's amazing. and it's deep and she's, you know, she'll do a shoot. I've assisted her several times. She'll do a shoot, and afterwards she's talking so much about things that the person said, or, you know, it's not just this, it's not it. It's not a surface transaction of familiarity that she treats. She really connects with these women. Andi, that's that's really one of the big aspect of officers working. I think anyone can learn to do that because we're all human War capable of communication. Yeah. Fantastic. Felix. Well, where do you have any final thoughts as we wrap this up? Um, the I wanted to say, you know about this idea of perfection and mistakes? Yes, I kind of thought about this a lot and one of the things that I've been. So I've been setting up these beautiful, perfect lighting setups and everything's very commercial and blow block on. I've been turning around and saying, Let's miss, Let's just mess it up a little bit. Let's see if maybe this light doesn't work right. Well, you know when you're shooting, I don't know people who shoot with Strobe in the shooting very fast in that just the light doesn't One of the lights doesn't fire. Um, I want to encourage people to embrace those mistakes. See what you know, the great things happened outside of your comfort zone. It's a cliche, but it is true, you know, to this striving for perfection, I don't think helps anybody. Yeah, um and, yes, there is a professionalism to it. And there is. But when you've achieved something, just take the next step and mess it up a little bit, See what happens. You know, if you have perfect light, see in a suit, Talked about client coming on set without any clothes to wear. And she made whatever 20 different dresses and those kind of situations. I really live for those. Yeah. And so don't. This pursuit of perfection is valid, but it's not the end result, right? Shouldn't be the end goal. Yeah, The perfection is kind of halfway along that path. Having a great portfolio, having great pictures. What do you think is the end goal? Is the creative process in itself? Yeah, for me, this for me it is. I became a photographer not because I wanted to make a lot of money because we all know. That's ridiculous, Andi, that Sue will disagree with me. I mean, she has a B. If you watch these guys to. She's got a Taliban and I but it wasn't my original point. That's what I'm trying to make. I wasn't, um It was about having freedom to do what I wanted to do. Onda, um, the creative process in itself. You know that craft that you're building a set if you're working with subjects and you're just continuously trying to outdo yourself. And that's the beautiful thing. Yeah, that's fantastic. Most photographers can take a better picture of the subject than has ever been taken up the subject. And that's great. But you're really and everyone knows this. You're really trying to make a picture that you've never taken before. You're trying to make the best picture as the photographer, and that's that's a great part of the process, right? That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for being with it with us, Felix. I look forward to your Western migration, and when I moved from New York Teoh to Seattle. But a countdown timer 10 years also. Okay, Sounds good. Don't hold me to it. I won't I won't come back. Very good questions. Yeah, well, thanks for joining us today. I know everybody watching. Really enjoys it a lot. So it's fantastic having you. Great. Thank you. All right, take care.