© Marshall Williams

Meet San Diego-based commercial photographer and APA member, Marshall Williams. Marshall specializes in beautiful lifestyle, food, spa, and destination photography along with digital video as well.

What inspires you? 
Wow, where to begin? I do get inspired by reading biographical stories. I just finished Robert Irwin’s Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees. Pretty influential.

What 3 words describe your photography style?
For my commercial work, I would say Slice Of Life.

Do you have a favorite podcast?
I do not — but I do enjoy listening to Hidden Brain on NPR.

What are you most proud of in your career up to this point?
I think it would be that I’m still in business after 30 years, it’s a crazy ride.

What do you listen to when you’re shooting? 
Good question. We always have music playing on set. It is essential to creating a collaborative environment and the conduit that connects everyone together. Plus when things go sideways — which they sometimes do, it fills in the awkward moments. I have several playlists. My personal go to though is Dave Matthews.

What’s your favorite thing about being a photographer?
The places I’ve experienced and the people that I’ve met. I’m pretty sure most photographers would say the same. The camera is a front-row ticket to the world.

When you aren’t making photographs, what other pastimes do you have?
My wife and I thought it would be fun to raise our children in a big old house… so I’ve become pretty good at painting molding and restoring 100-year-old wood windows, among other things. We pretty much love anything involving food and wine… probably the happiest when grilling on the BBQ in the backyard with friends and family.

What photographers have inspired you or your work? Why?
There are so many. Gregory Heisler, Matthew Rolston, Herb Ritts, Annie Leibovitz, Peggy Sirota, Mark Seliger — these were the powerhouse editorial shooters of the 1990s when I was beginning my career. Their images have a strong narrative component, masterfully composed and lit, and perhaps the most important element — gesture. Other photographers whose work has been influential are Hiroshi Sugimoto, Richard Misrach, Max Yavno, Julius Schulman, and a bunch more.

What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out?
I apprenticed in Dean Collins’ studio out of Brooks. He generously allowed the interns and assistants to shoot in his space. He would walk up behind you while you were shooting, slap you on the back, and say “Talk to her!”. By that, he meant to keep a continuous chatter so your subject stays engaged. I don’t know if it was the best advice ever, but I use it today.

What are the current challenges that you face as a photographer?
The fourteen-hour shoot days feel like they’re getting longer… or I’m getting older.

What have been some of the highlights and challenges of your career so far?
By far the highlight for me would be the studio that Tim Mantoani and I built and worked out of together for 25 years and the community and friendships it fostered. Of course, his passing in 2016 was devastating.

What were you doing before you became a Photographer?
It has always been the center of my life. I did work at a Safeway through high school and college.

If you weren’t a Photographer, what would you be doing?
If I weren’t a photographer I’m sure I would be doing something that involves creativity.  I really thrive off of visualizing an end result and working through the creative process to get there.

What do you do when you get stuck?
When shooting, if I’m feeling like things aren’t working, I’ll often remove the camera from the tripod and take a 360-degree walk around the area I’m working in. Another good trick is to turn off all of the lights and start from black or with only the ambient environment and begin building it back up again, one light at a time. That was advice courtesy of Gregory Heisler.

What is your best advice for your peers?
Be generous and be professional. Word of mouth is your best friend.

What advice would you give to yourself if you could go back 10 years? 20 years?
It’s hard to understand when you’re young in your career, everything builds on everything else, it’s a long slow simmer.  Keep working hard and keep moving in a forward direction. (That was actually advice from the dad, which probably IS the best advice I ever received…)

How has your work evolved over time? Why?
It has evolved so much with the technology available now and the demands of the marketplace.  Back in the film days we were making judgment calls on lighting and image construction based on a two and one quarter inch or 4×5 inch polaroid. That seems crazy,  particularly now that we have 27-inch monitors on set. DSLRs have allowed me to shoot more loosely but more precisely,  it has definitely driven the style of my work.

What is a photographer’s role now that technology has made it so much more accessible to the masses?
I believe a photographer’s role transcends technology. It is still and has always been to cultivate a unique and passionate perspective of life. If you find inspiration in music, art, literature, food, culture, sports, nature, urban decay, whatever it is, use those influences to form your rich and unique perspective of the world. Find the beauty that lies in the most unassuming of people, places and objects. It’s that unique perspective that will become evident in the pictures you make and the value that a client receives when they hire you.

What do you see yourself doing in five years?
I don’t know but I hope it involves a great meal in a hole-in-the-wall cafe somewhere. I would love to do some more traveling and personal photography projects.

Thank you APA | SD!

Check out more work from Marshall Williams.

© Donald Miralle

Today we feature, Donald Miralle, best known for his sports, adventure, and documentary stills and motion work for our ‘Meet’ a member interview.

Do you have a favorite podcast?
Embarrassed to say but I don’t really listen to podcasts. Just read books, newspapers and listen to NPR in the car. I’m a little old school 🙂

Who are your top 5 favorites that you’re following on Instagram?
NatGeo, NatGeoAdventure, NASA for science, NYTimes & LA Times for current events.

What 3 words describe your photography style?
Clean, graphic, and composed.

What do you listen to when you’re shooting? 
Don’t listen to music when shooting as I am usually outdoors focused on what’s in front of me. But I love listening to all types of music when I’m relaxing or working out including classic rock, jazz, reggae, alternative, classical music. When I’m in a studio shooting indoors, I usually ask the model or athlete I’m shooting what playlist they would like to listen to!

What inspires you? 
The form and function in nature, human emotion and connection, and when both are reflected in art.

What’s your favorite thing about being a photographer?
Photography has been my ticket around the world to visit new places and meet new people. No two days are the same, I get to be outside alot of the time and you only have to sit at a desk when editing or doing expenses. Photography is an international language that any person from any country speaking any language can understand and relate to. Being able to use one of the most powerful and universal forms of communication as your job is empowering and important!

When you aren’t making photographs, what other pastimes do you have?
Being in the water every day: swimming, surfing, paddling. The water is my happy place!

Describe your daily or weekly work habits. (Pre-Covid and currently): 
Get myself and kids out of bed, brew pot of coffee, make breakfast and pack their lunches. Lauren and I split school dropoffs, and I have a surf check on the way back; if there are waves I surf, if it’s flat I do a paddle workout. Then I finish my coffee over emails and look over my shooting schedule. Expenses are done and turned into clients before my noon swim, then I pick up kids and drop off to afternoon sports. While they’re at sports I finish off any edits, then after picking them up I get one more workout in or a sunset surf if conditions are good.

Who were your biggest influences?
My first Editor at Allsport / Getty Darrell Ingham, who guided me early on, saw that I had a little talent and drive and fostered it. If I didn’t have a mentor like Darrell, I don’t think I would have made it, and I can say the same about most young photographers. Although he lives in Windsor, England now, we still keep in touch and talk on holidays. Another Englishman who has influenced me in a different way is legendary sports photographer Tony Duffy, one of the founders of Allsport Photography, the first company I worked for. Although he left the company shortly after I joined, he always was supportive of my work and then became a good friend once I moved to Encinitas a couple miles away from him. One of the biggest influences on my career is my friendship with Al Bello. Al started at Allsport several years before me, and was very supportive of my photography, especially when I showed up on the scene specializing in underwater photography, which was a rare skill set in the 90’s. We shot side by side at many Olympic Games, Super Bowls, and other major events, and I love the creative process of bouncing ideas off of each other. He has always been one of my biggest supporters and best friends on my journey.

What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out?
Less is more. Focus on your strengths and your unique vision and figure out a way to get it to an audience or client that fits you.

What are the current challenges that you face as a photographer?
So much has changed in the last 3 decades I’ve been a photographer. When I started there was a very small group that was able to do the craft well: you needed to be able to shoot manual focus as AF didn’t even exist, shoot E-6 chrome film for magazines exposing properly (within 1/3 stop using a light meter), shoot C-41 negative film and develop on-site for newspapers on deadline, and be proficient in all aspects of photography including studio lighting, darkroom, editing, and delivery to clients. You needed a solid portfolio book of commercial work to even get considered for big jobs. Now digital cameras are so good the market has been flooded with hobbyist or part-time photographers taking jobs or lowering the standard rates and the bar that was set years ago. Most of the jobs are not for print but web/social only, and the majority of the photographs are not taken in camera but created in post-production. In general, the world changed once iPhones and smartphones put everything in the palm of your hand including a camera. And although I’m not resistant to chance, I do like the way the old craft of photography was executed and enjoy using the new technology to take that same approach.

What have been some of the highlights and challenges of your career so far?
Highlights include 10 Olympic Games, 6 World Press Awards, an Emmy Nomination for video work, and seeing my images published for the first time in Sports Illustrated 24 years ago and National Geographic 12 years ago fulfilled a dream of mine. The biggest challenges were walking away from my Senior Staff job at the world’s largest photo agency that I helped grow for 10 years to become a freelancer to do my own thing and expand into other genres of photography. Balancing work/travel with being home with the family is always a challenge. Also, getting in a ski accident where I couldn’t walk or work for four months was a challenge physically and mentally as well. But to be truthfully getting over those challenges were as satisfying as the highlights!

What were you doing before you became a Photographer?
I was always a student / athlete growing up, and competed mostly as a swimmer through high school and into college at UCLA. When I quit swimming because UCLA dropped its program because of Title IX, I had ALOT of extra time on my plate. I worked in local restaurants to make money and assisted photographers on the weekends. This is when my reality of what I wanted to major in and what direction I wanted to take for a career started to change…

If you weren’t a Photographer, what would you be doing?
Working at McDonalds? When I was in high school I thought I wanted to be a doctor or surgeon as I loved biology and had a very steady hand from drawing. After a couple years at UCLA as a Biology major, what I thought I wanted to do drastically changed and I switched to fine art and design. I was mostly interested in painting and sculpture at the time and photography was in the background. But when I graduated I had a couple of job opportunities, one with Disney Studios as a background artist, one with a large sunglass company as a designer, and the other with a sports photography agency. I often wonder where I would be if I took the other two options…

What do you do when you get stuck?
Go outside and workout

What advice would you give to yourself if you could go back 10 years? 20 years?
Don’t be afraid to take more risks. Do more personal projects and stories.

What do you see yourself doing in five years?
Hopefully doing what I’m doing now! I haven’t worked a day in my life because I love what I do and I don’t want to “retire” anytime soon because I’m already doing what I want to do!

Check out more work from Donald Miralle.

Meet Austin-based photographer, humanitarian and APA member, Jelisa Peterson

Photography and Human Communication: For more than two decades, Jelisa has focused on uniting her viewers with her photographic subjects by creating images that resonate the perfect example of love and inspiration. 

Do you have a favorite podcast?
Recently, the podcast I have most enjoyed is Serial by Adnan Syed.

Who are your top 5 favorites that you’re following on Instagram?
@annabella_1008
@coblephotography
@stig1964_
@sistersky55
@bulanbannari

What 3 words describe your photography style?
Documentary, environmental portraiture, black and white

What do you listen to when you’re shooting? 
Children’s laughter

What inspires you? 
People who triumph over poverty and scarcity

What’s your favorite thing about being a photographer?
The ability to travel, meet new people and experience different ways of living

When you aren’t making photographs, what other pastimes do you have?
I read widely (fiction and nonfiction) and watch a lot of films.

Who were your biggest influences?
Sebastião Salgado, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Sally Mann

What are the current challenges that you face as a photographer?
My photography is physically and financially demanding, with travel to remote places. It is not getting easier with age.

What have been some of the highlights and challenges of your career so far? 
On a professional level, validation of my work as something of value in the photography community has been both a challenge and an incredible highlight as many pieces have been shown in a wide variety of venues. Next year will mark 30 years of this adventure, and I am finally getting broader exposure for this work that means so much to me. On a personal level, I love returning to the sites of my shoots and handing out personal photos to the individuals and families of the people I have photographed.  

What were you doing before you became a Photographer?
I was a university student majoring in Anthropology and Women’s Studies.

If you weren’t a Photographer, what would you be doing?
If I hadn’t chosen photography I might have pursued a career in family law or related public service.

What do you do when you get stuck?
I take a break. Clarity usually emerges over time, especially when doing film photography.

What is your best advice for your peers?
I get a lot of messages from aspiring photographers looking for advice about how to proceed to build a career. I advise them to remain determined and to use their photography to share their vision and passion with the world.

What advice would you give to yourself if you could go back 10 years? 20 years?
1. Use sunscreen.
2. Don’t expect to be able to carry more than half your weight in your backpack and camera pack.
3. Don’t bathe in Lake Victoria

What is a photographer’s role now that technology has made it so much more accessible to the masses?
To produce meaningful images of lasting value.

What do you see yourself doing in five years?
I hope to publish the best of my work in book form that will inspire and contribute to the positive portrayal of the African communities I have been privileged to work with.

Check out more work from Jelisa Peterson.