Tuesday, August 16, 2011

BEHIND THE LENS: Modchik Photography, Orange County, CA

We are thrilled to be featuring the work of Lindsey Garrett from Modchik Photography today.  Kristina, had the opportunity to meet Lindsey at BlogHer earlier this month and was not only inspired by her enthusiasm for photography but also her ability to get her groove on  in a flash mob.  Read her interview below to find out not only what her favorite lens is but where else you might find her rocking out.  You'll also find a link to her Operation Glory--flash mob debut.  

Your Name: Lindsey Garrett
Your studio/business name: modchik photography
Location: Orange County, CA           
Twitter/Facebook: @modchik -- http://www.facebook.com/modchik
Other: Instagram @modchik



Your Style:

In 50 words or less, how would your clients describe your photography?  Colorful, artistic, beautiful, mouth watering, engaging, cheerful, inspiring and fun.

Are you self-taught or classroom trained?  I started in high school with a black and white photography course, took another in college and then didn’t pick up a camera until years later when I had my first child. I self-taught myself how to use the DSLR camera when they first came out, at the time my sister happened to be working for Canon.

How many years have you been a professional photographer?  I have been shooting/operating as a business for a year.

Where do you want to take your photography business in 5 years?  I would like to develop a specialty and focus on doing one thing extremely well. Along with that I would like to see my photos in print, maybe a journal or coffee table book.

Is there a photographer who inspires your style?  Yes there are a couple. Who would that be? Jasmine Star for the details and the crisp clean lines and POP of color. Penny De Los Santos – plating food so well it makes your mouth water.

Favorite location to take photos?  My kitchen.

Favorite vacation spot?  Kona on the big Island of Hawaii


Your Business:

What was the pivotal moment when you decided to become a photographer? When the only other option was to return to a desk job, I had enough people telling me this is something I should be doing for the rest of my life.

What’s the best marketing tip that has worked for you?  Take the small jobs you never know where they will lead to, this mean pro bono stuff when you feel that its right for you.

What’s the most surprising thing a customer has asked you?  Not to overshoot her at her wedding, she didn’t want like we were paparazzi  

Favorite print lab?  Mine, I have an Epson 3880 and I could print photos all day long its amazing. 



Your Gear:

Are you Canon or Nikon (or –other): Canon and Polaroid

If you could only have one lens on a photo shoot, what would it be? Canon 50 1.2

What brand bag do you carry your camera in? Kata

What gear would we find in your camera bag?  430 EX Flash, Gary Fong diffuser, 24-105 L, 50 2.5 compact macro, 90 Tamron Macro. Various reflectors, EXPOdisc.

Are you a natural light fan or strobe fan? Natural

Are you PC or Mac? Both PC – desktop & MacBook Pro



Your Tips and Tricks:

What post processing tools do you use?  Lightroom and some PS.

Do you shoot in Raw or Jpeg? RAW always

Best advice you would give your 20-year old self?  You are a lot stronger and smarter then you give yourself credit for.

Best advice you would give a new photographer?  Practice practice practice! And Overshoot you can always delete them later.

What site do you use for your photography and why?  My site was created and hosted on SHOWIT, I loved the ability to create a site from templates that looked like it was custom built, they also have an amazing sharing program called PASS that lets me share galleries via facebook so as my clients share their photos it stays in a nice looking gallery format with my studio name attached.



What Else Should We Know?

What was your worst photography experience?  I haven’t had any awful experiences, I think every time I go in shooting something for the first time (most recently newborns) it feels pretty awful, like stage fright and I just want to run away but I always say ‘fake it till’ you make it’ and I usually end up by the grace of God pulling something good out.

What would surprise people most about you, whether it is photography related or not?  That I still rock out in the front row to some of my favorite bands like Foo Fighters and Duran Duran.

Tell us something else you’d like us to know:  Shoot as if it is a $5000 wedding or a $1000 portrait session, eventually you will be well versed in handling that type of client situation if you have prepared for that moment.

And just because we want to know you better, fill in the blanks......

Three things I can’t live without…. Espresso, my cat and dark chocolate
I wish I had more….. TIME!!!!!
The best thing about being a photographer is… being able to hide behind the camera.
The most important lesson I ever learned was…. make time for yourself.
My favorite time of day is… when I make my coffee in the morning.



To see the fash mob fun be sure to visit Lindsey's blog The Modchik! 

1 comment:

  1. thanks again for the feature - happy to be a part of Moms Who Click!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your kind words. We appreciate and read each and every one.