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Tony Corbell Interview

thank you for joining us today. This is this is our first time meeting. We're talking about lighting today. Um, and I want to just dive in because I want people to hear from you and not from me. Eso What are what? Lighting in lights Do you use to try to get your signature look? Well, my response would be a little different from Susan. Anybody? Yeah. So you talked to I don't have a signature. Look, um, I'm a guy that I was sort of thought of myself as a blue collar photographer. I've got to shoot so many different things. Um, you know, I might be photographing the CEO of a company for an annual report one day, and the next day I'm doing a five year old dance, so I've got to be pretty versatile s so I don't have a signature look other than I do. Try to make sure that I've got great, like, quality that is in keeping with whatever the So the aphorism for photographing. So So for me, I have to understand all the tools you know, My students always say, you know, do I need to buy a soft box t...

rying to buy a number l or do I need a small reflector? And my answer is always, yes, you do, you know, there's not There's not for me there's not one said answer, you know, Gotcha. I mean, I know certainly for suit sues work with her natural life stuff is exceptional. Uh, and that's it's it's really greatness. And it's very difficult to master like she has, obviously, for me, I've got to be a little bit more versatile in terms of being able to do a lot of different things. OK, you were talking a little bit about your signature Look in the fact that you don't have a signature look and you just go with go with what you got in your work with where you're at and the people Vitter there. Yeah, I think I in in retrospect, in fact, could recreate my career all over again. I would have a look and I would have a style. I would have ah feel for what I do, uh, and sort of dial into that and stay on that and let clients find me for that specific work work. But I've also about must have been pretty blessed that I've been able to work in such a way that I get asked to do very unique things. Specifically difficult things. Toe light. Okay. And I get, like, challenges thrown at me all the time. Shiny pianos and, you know, 185 you know, world leaders or whatever it is, I get thrown into situations that most people would scratch your head and go. I don't have a clue that approach this. Yeah, And I have a natural way and natural feel of how to approach that. So fantastic. So what? What do you What's your go to lighting? Set up? I guess when you're when you're traveling, when you're leaving Texas, you're flying somewhere to shoot. Ah, World Leader. You don't know where your going necessarily or where you're actually gonna get the shot. What equipment do you bring? What's your go to like? You wouldn't leave home without it. I'm gonna always take I'm always gonna take Samana lights with me, and I'm gonna use I'm always gonna take. And this is new for me in the last two or three years. Uh, finally, I finally understand Octa banks, and I'm I'm using him a lot. But I'll take a goodbye again, a couple of medium soft box and I'm gonna almost always take along with me. My 600 units, my flash units from Ken in those little radio controlled guys with a small speed lights type of soft box works brilliantly and and the set up with their new eat detail with the radios are absolutely quick and fast. Brilliant. No fuss, no muss, not a lot of stuff. Toe plug in and you can move really quickly. And for me, that's pretty huge. Being able to move fast for me is often the name of the game. You know, sometimes you get five minutes with some clients. Sometimes you have six hours, but sometimes you have five minutes and still out of come out. You have to still come back with the goods. Yep. Wow, that sounds super challenging. So when you're when you're in that moment working and you have, let's say five minutes, which is no time, Teoh set up lighting and get a shot. What what do you find? Are the are the pieces of gear? Is it the speed light flashes? One of the pieces of gear that you're just, like five minutes with this guy. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna blow it. I'm gonna nail it. My response is it depends on the environment. And it depends on what the environment has to look like. And s o that will dictate what I'm gonna what I'm gonna use if I've got time to set up the mono lights. Those are my Those are my favorite likes to use because of their Because every individual head is 1/10 of an f stop controllable. So for that reason, I can I can never fail. But they are slow. And the slowness of that will make some photographers cringe. And and in some cases, it makes me cringe. But guys gotta do what you guys gotta do, you know? So So, what do you think? The biggest Letty mistakes that you see, people just starting out maybe lets people starting out shooting like your style. You know, you don't have a style. Maybe you're like they're trying to shoot world leaders. Maybe they're shooting where they don't have a lot of time to set up. What do you see them making? The biggest mistakes that you see them commonly making, I think, I think the one thing that sort of repeats itself every time open a magazine o r Look at work are look a portfolio or someone's website eyes. They're overloading things and over lighting, meaning they're They're putting too much light on subjects and generally not from a great direction. OK, in other words. In other words, I see so many maternity photographs these days where people just way over light those poor women's tummies that that that are not flattering and they just make it look bigger than they really look. And I see a lot of that kind of stuff, and I think there's a lot more attention that needs to be paid to the size of light source and the direction of the light quality. And I think that those two things ideally controlled will will result in a much, much better picture. And I think that a lot of people just need toe to slow down just a little bit and pay more attention to the light, quality and light direction. Okay, that's that's huge for me. That's great. No, that's great. I think it's, uh, it's awesome to hear ah, different and unique perspective than sues, but so over lighting direction of light. So if pay attention of those two things, you know there was Ah, there's, Ah, some papers that were found that belong to Divinci. That said, In order to produce depth and a painting, you have to have you basically saying You have to have how I since shadows You gotta have directional light. Yeah, and so many people. It's just so easier. It's so much easier to have a light near the camera. And yet, if you get the light further away from the camera, your highlights and and shadows appear quicker, the the depth and dimension and shape and true form of subject will come forth and come forward off the page. And that's when the light quality shows up. And that's when you start getting those repeat phone calls because your work looks like no others, you know. Yeah, you can. You can truly establish the mood and of a photograph with how you like someone. And that mood is, you know, enormously important. Yeah, so that no, that's fantastic. Eso What are some techniques beginners can use? Toe toe? Learn to see the light, I guess, Um, it doesn't matter, you know, Ask you the same question. It doesn't matter how much gear you have or how much time or lack of time. How can you? How can people practice learning to see the light and what's good lighting? What's what's not good lining yet? You know, I think there's two different things to different props that you can use. One would be a balloon, get a get a shiny black balloons. Yeah, you'll learn how to highlight control highlights and get a flat Matt dull white balloon and you'll learn how to control shadows. You know, let's get a little face, get a little, gonna get one of those Styrofoam heads. Ah, wig holder or something and start and start lighting, you know? Yeah, grab the neighbor's kid, you know, whatever you do. But I think, but I think truly, uh, especially those that are going to make a living at this and really want to start charging for their work. You gotta learn somewhere along the way to stop practicing on the clients and practice before the client gets in front of the camera. Such good advice you have to, You know pretty well, I think. Yeah, you know that Super good advice, the the two balloons and actually being able to practice in your own environment. And you could take you could take balloons anywhere you take balloons outside. You could take him into your studio. You can, um, you know, and the put the put the key there, but the key there is to learn highlights and shadows, right? And, you know, I often will often have Ah, black shiny. Uh huh. Eight ball? Yeah, from full from a pool set, sitting next to a white Styrofoam cup. Okay. And those two things right there, tell me everything about like, yeah, and if I can learn to understand and read and control those shells and highlights, you know more so about light style. Now I'm learning like theory, and I'm understanding how life's work and how they relax, react and reflect off of a variety of different subjects and topics. And then I've got all the controls available to me, then numb kind of cooking. No. Now I can't get fooled anymore, you know? Yeah. That's what it's all about. Oh, yeah, absolutely. So after extensive career like you've had. Tony, Are there any situations? 30 years is extend. That's extensive. That I mean, just started. Are you kidding? I love it. I love it. So are there any situations that that really still pose a challenge for you? Huh? Um, I don't Yeah, I don't do newborns. No, I, uh you know, I've never been known as a high impact a guy I don't shoot. Wow, photography. I never have Yeah, in my entire career in there, you know, I'm not gonna have I'm not going to be on those dead guys whose work is selling at Sotheby's for 2.3 million. Uh, I'm just I'm just a guy that doesn't miss a shot. I don't I don't get fooled. Are tripped up very off by a situation that needs to be lit. Uh, I I do get tripped up sometimes when I've got to move quicker than I want to move to be ableto do a quality job. And for me, if you know, it really does. It does boil down to Sometimes The quality does take a little bit of time. Yeah, and yeah, and you have to preset your clients to understand this. When you go into a session, I don't know what what you know, such a fan of sues. I'm so thrilled I get to follow her today. Before you and I started live Skype, I was watching on my second screen over. I was keeping track. I've known her for a lot of years and she's She's fantastic and I love what she does. And I love what Scott Robert does. And I love what play Blackmore does and Felix and all the guys that you have coming up here today. Uh, you've got a pretty good mix of us coming up this week. Yep. And, uh and we all are totally different. Yes, and that's the beauty of this thing. We all have our own voice, and I think that's the key toe Been successful at this. You've got to find what it is that you do and get in that group and stay with that. Yeah, I think that's so important, Tony, I think so. Often times Ah, young photographers are aspiring. T shoot exactly like somebody else, or to get that that wow shot. And I think it's it's awesome that you are okay being the guy who doesn't always get the wow shop. But you're always consistent. There needs me back. No, I know. Yeah, I know. And that's just It's like if if we got five minutes to shoot this dignitary, right, they're gonna call you. They're not gonna call the wild guy because you can get They know you can get the shot, you know? Yeah. When the dignitary leaves, he's gonna be laughing. Oh, yeah, for me, that's more important thing I want. I want to be in the will tell you. When I used to shoot weddings, years and years ago, my friend Doug box and I had this conversation. I just want to be on the will. I want everybody to like me and on. I want to do a great job for him, So yeah. So So what's one here? Favorite stories you shot for 35 years ago. I imagine you have some amazing stories. What's one of your favorite stories of of lighting? Oh, are just like you're shooting in something I had had President Bush yell at me one time. What kind of important I have important. Yeah. He had been photographing for a week on a job in South Florida on a fishing tournament at the end of the shoot, and he was getting in the car and Secret Service was taken him away and he just turned around. He stopped and he said, Hey, thanks for thanks for such a great week. And I said, You know President Bush, if I If I knew you were gonna be this nice a guy, I probably would have voted for you. Oh, he didn't think that was very funny. But, you know, I mean, stuff happens and our careers and and we all have great great stories and ah, far more and better war stories than than most people that have long running careers. You know, we have things that happened to us all the time, where you described your head and guy. I can't believe that just happened, you know, you know something that falls over our you know, stuff just happens, Yeah, you know, But it's fun. It's always fun. Wow. So the relational aspect sounds like it's really of paramount importance to you. It sure is to me, I really I really need I really need Teoh. I really need to know my client and and, uh, you know, it's funny. Ah, good friend of mine. Arthur Rainville always said that. Ah, photo is off someone and a portrait is about someone. If you're going to a portrait of someone, then you really need to spend a few minutes to know a little bit about, um, yeah. Say that would say that one more time for us. That that a photo is of someone and a portrait is about someone. Yeah. Wow. And I think that you you know, you have to spend some time like like, uh, you know, like, uh, in wedding photography. You know, Dennis Rader used away stay. I want to know what? My bride's last four songs downloaded work. And I wonder what kind of car she drives. And I want to know that tells him everything about the reception or everything about how to photograph her. Is she formal? Is she a little more stuffy if she loses a little more casual, is she? You know, you gotta find out a little bit about your client. Then you can cater to that that type or style of work to fit the needs for the client for the overall, you know, end result. And I think that's that's symptom that photographers don't spend enough time doing. Yeah, so that's that's great. So, what advice you have for, uh, new photographers? Uh, like if somebody is just starting out and they're watching this right now, Um, who should they study? Who should they look up to? Obviously, it's There's some preference in there, but what's a good way to toe Learn from good food are clearly me. No, you're already doing the right thing. If you're watching this right now, I do think that, um I think that not enough new photographers air learning the foundational skills of the craft of photography I'll do it. I'll do a workshop, are teach a class somewhere and and and I'll spit out some sort of known camera technique or technical foundational information toe. Have a lot of blank looks at me like What do you mean? I didn't know that, you know, like five sixes is two stops below 11 and they were like, Wait a minute, you have to. You just have to know the skills on the foundation and the craft. It's none, I guess. I guess what I'm saying? Drugs. It's not enough to have a good vision. I know a lot of people that have a great I and they're taking great photography. They're really doing some great work. They don't have a clue how they got it, though. And that frustrates me to pieces. Yeah, I just want to see them know how to do it. If you know your your don't, you're in the most important job of your life. You've got one frame left on that CF card. Your battery just died in your meter. Everything is going wrong and you got one shot at this. Can you pull it off? And not very many of the new photographers can. I'm afraid. Yeah, because it's gonna require so much photo shop and post production that they I might have failed to get it right when they pull the trigger. And I think that, for me is is paramount in terms of of, of understanding, the craft. And I think that's it. It's it's it's maybe getting a better handle on the craft and whoever is teaching that in your area or with you can travel to somebody to learn the craft. I think you'll do well to do that for sure. That's great advice. Eso You talked a little bit about Post. I was processing. What? What is your post process? Like my post processes to always take a good picture and make it better Try to save a bad picture. I've got a picture that's gonna have to be saved. Then I screwed up this shoot. Um, my color balance and my densities never get adjusted in post production. I do all that. I had a time, okay. When At the time of capture, My, my, my densities or dead on my exposures were perfect. My color balance is perfect so that when I do go into post, that's when I can give him a little a little secret sauce, a little something, something toe to make something look better. But I don't have to fix anything that I screwed up, so to speak, you know, that's that's for fixing straight hair and for taking something out of a background or, you know, things like that to make the picture better. But But I don't have to don't have to fix anything, and I think that's important for me and most people that study with me. They get that about me. They don't know how I feel about that. So cool, man, you're truly master Tony. I don't know this now. I just There's a group. There's a group here in the Dallas area, and I'm sure they're all watching right now. The Tonys happy our group and they'll tell you he's not a master. He's a knucklehead that just gets lucky every once in a while. Yeah, but But that's not That's not the case. You know your stuff. You do your homework, and I think it's great you're encouraging people to know their craft. It's just like it's like jazz or anything else. You study, study, study, study so that when you're in that moment, you could just trust your trust. Nothing could be more more true than what you just stated. I know musicians that practice their scales every day, you know? Do we, as photographers practice our skills? Do We can't do it. Practice our craft, right? You know, we need to Yeah, I need I need more study with wide angle lenses. I don't shoot enough one right angle. I need to learn my wide angle better. And I need to go practice it before I have to do it in front of a client. Absolutely. So I think that's great advice. Well, thanks so much. We're running out of time, Tony. But thank you so much for joining us. Really Appreciate it. You're You're fantastic. I hope we get toe work together sometime soon. I'm looking covered to come back to Seattle. I'll do it. Give my best. Everybody in the building. I will. I certainly will. Take care. Take care to do thanks.