Georgia has some great photographers.  Despite being competitors, we all can learn a great deal from each other in one aspect or another. This is the first in a series of interviews with Atlanta area photographers.

Before I get into the meat and guts here, I wanted to say that I barely know Trent, the first photographer selected to be interviewed.  We have only met once.  I have followed his work online and always been intrigued by his ability to capture people as well as he does.  It is clear that Trent possesses the technical know-how to execute exceptional photography, but he also has an eye for what looks good.  Combine the two and in my opinion, you have a very talented photographer. His body of work is enough to cause envy, so the desire to interview him was an easy choice.

For the readers out there who do not know you, how about a little introduction?

Hello, my name is Trent Chau, photographer in the Atlanta area.  My website is trentchau.com (Flickr).

If I had to say what my niche is photography wise it would be people portraits and weddings.  My style is more artistic with a heavy concentration of low depth of field, heavy contrast/saturation, and strong posture of my “model”.

How long have you been involved with photography?  Give a little bit of your background, such as how you got started, any education, etc.

My father giving me his AE-1 in the mid 90′s is when I first was interested in photography.  Mind you I didn’t know a thing about it…Aperture, Shutter Speed, Focus, all of that was pretty much Greek to me.  You would think the AE-1 would be my starting point, but nope..I treated it like a point and shoot camera and after a few years put it up while I was in my late teens chasing girls and playing video games.  In the early 2000′s I grew back into interest in photography with the advent of affordable digital cameras.  I started with a base point and shoot (Kodak) and did the stead upgrade process.  Eventually I thought I was big stuff when I got a Olympus C-5050 that had all these big dials and things like ISO and 320×240 movie mode. Taking lucky snap shots here and there, I got these pretty cool photos that actually had DOF on it (the Olympus had a 1.8 zoom lens that actually allowed that tiny sensor to get a little bokeh) and I was instantly hooked with what expensive cameras could do.  Long story short, I got my 20d in 2004 and never looked back.  Now 15 Canon cameras later (No lie), a boat load of self education, trial and error, I’m here giving an interview to an email. :)

I know you as a Canon guy.  What were some deciding factors for you going with a Canon outfit as opposed to Nikon or another brand?

Well nostalgia was the forerunner.  When my father was in the Navy he purchased an AE-1 from   the PX and years later gave that camera to me.  Canon has been in my family for a long time,   and while I don’t support people being blind to one brand, sometimes it is fun being a hypocrite.  I’m a firm believer that it’s the artist that shapes the tools, and not the other way around and the Canon system has been the perfect set of “Tools” for my style and what I need.  Canon’s heavy   investment into quality prime lenses gives me an unprecedented choice of options and quality that all the other companies are hard pressed to even compare too.  The EOS lens system is only 23 years old though, so in 23 more years if another manufacturer decides to make a lens system that compliments my shooting style well, I will not hesitate to switch systems.

This would be a great time to pick on Nikon though :).  While I support Nikon’s choice to go CMOS in their new camera, I really wish they upgrade their prime line.  They finally are able to   match Canon’s visual quality and high iso performance, yet they need to also up that prime line.

Come on Nikon, $3200 for an out dated 28 1.4?  Really.  And what’s with charging $250 more for a tiny motor in your 50 1.4.

Many photographers feel that post-processing taints the field and warps the craft into something that no longer can be labeled as photography.  How important is post-processing and image manipulation in your own workflow and where do you draw the line between digital art and photography?

Ah fun.  This is something that has gone back as far as art has been done.  You look at the great works from Artist such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and even as recent as photographers such as Ansell Adams and you will constantly see manipulation.  People like the idea of being “Pure” so much that they may forget that art is pretty much propaganda.  The artist’s purpose is to capture, record, and show people what he saw.  It’s their choice than to manipulate the subject as much to their desire.  It’s our choice as the viewer to decide if we like it or not.  Simple as that.

My work flow is pretty biased towards small touch up’s digitally.  I shoot for about 85%~90% of what I need done is done on my camera.  This includes correct crop and layout, correct exposure, white balance, and most importantly pose of subject.  There are things like composites, airbrushing, and so on that sometimes is expected after the shutter clicks, but it’s not what I shoot for.  I plan to limit my post production.

To answer the question that ended with “between digital art and photography?”…

Dude…as soon as I press that button all the light in front of my lens gets converted to 0′s and 1′s….it’s already digital as soon as I pressed the button.  No use fretting between the two.

The reason why some people complain about digital art and photography though is because there are some people who depend too much on the camera doing the magic for them.  I firmly believe that you should know your tool, and how to use it.  You define your art, not the tools you use.

If you had to go to a shoot, any shoot, and could only take 2 lenses with you, which ones would you take and why?

Yay! good question.  This is currently how I shoot.  I use 2 5d Mark II’s in tandem with an 85 1.2L IIand a 35 1.4L.  So if the choice was suppose to be made, easy!  The reason being is because those two lenses are supremely sharp when needed, but also quite magical when it comes to bokeh, contrast, saturation, and just performance.  The 85 1.2L II is slow in comparison to other lenses, but anything that comes out of it just pure bliss.  The 35, it’s a perfect lens for me.  It’s a little wider than the 50mm standard that has been so popular for years as a photojournalistic lens, so it shows a little more environment around the subject.  It’s great to capture not only a strong subject, but just the world around them too, which can dramatically add to the story of the shot.

What preparation do you do before a shoot? (Not as in charging batteries, checking your gear, etc., but more mental and creative prepping).

I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to shooting, so when I’m preparing…it’s just making sure I have a camera and a memory card.  There have been times when I’ve forgotten a lens that would be great, but really as long as there’s a camera and medium to capture the photographs on I’m game.  Saying that to prep up for a shoot the first thing I do is analyze the scene for opportunities.  While I may have an idea for one location, another location just may pop up that offers something more unique.  I get ready to shoot that location and quickly do what I need to do.  To prep for that I just make sure to always shoot RAW + JPG just in case, preset my white balance to the conditions of the set, and most of the time shoot aperture value so that my camera does exposure for me.  Pretty simple really and I get away with a lot of 1 hour or less shoots and fully content with what I get.

I have seen on your Flickr stream many DIY projects and strobist kits.  But a large amount (or at least from what I can see) of your work appears to be available light.  Do you prefer natural light to artificial?  If and when you take the strobist route, what type of setup are you sporting?

I’m a firm believer that you should understand alternatives, or at least have a working knowledge of alternatives, before you concentrate heavily on any single source.  In the sense of artificial and natural light, I immensely enjoy both but easily admit that Natural light is faster to employ and works well with my spontaneous photographic style.   Shooting at a low DOF can also be a pain as ND filters and so forth have to be introduced, and also light contamination can cause a headache when it comes to balancing a scene and also white balance due to low levels of light and picking up stray light.  Another factor is that I do not currently have a studio at this moment, and ease of setup at a remote site is important to me.  While I have 6 Norman ML600 strobes at the ready….they are quite a burden to completely setup and I feel effect the fluidity of my shoot.

Mind you if it’s a commercial shoot…those lights are coming out, I’m shooting F8, White balance at 5500 and the Sekonic 758DR comes out…there’s no “Artistic Frou Frou Integrity” there.  Deliver a great  product to a client, and make them happy….bar none.

Strobist kit eh?  You know strobistC is copyrighted to David Hobby :).  You mean “Portable light kit” right?   My portable light kit would be 3 580 EX II’s with 3 pocket wizards and if needed a ST-E2.  I find the 580 EX II’s very handy, and put out a great bit of power.  I was impressed with a friends Last O Lite kit that he had for his sb-900′s so I would definitely entertain the use of those soft boxes in a portable kit.  If asked to be economical though I would be perfectly happy with 1 580ex II, a ream of white paper, a cardboard box, and box cutters.  All you need is a flash unit, some translucent material, and your creativity to shape the light around you.

I would agree with you completely regarding breaking out the lights as well as the need for delivering quality product.  Related to that I was reading some comments online from another photographer regarding lighting, specifically the Alien Bee product line.  The comment, and I am paraphrasing here, said that the Alien Bee product line is not a professional line and that they have even laughed at other photographers when they see the colored AB light heads on a shoot location.  When it comes to lighting equipment, what is your opinion on the brands available and what you need to use in order to deliver that quality product?  Does the brand even matter?

Ah you get this question a lot on forums, and it always dumb down to brand loyal shouting heads completely ignoring the 3 or 4 very rational and intelligent post about lighting products.  Since I’m in the fortunate position here of this being a one way street, this is how I feel.

First off the Alien bee not being a professional line…who gives a care about what other photographers think.  They aren’t the ones giving you the check at the end of the day if you are a professional, your clients are.  If you can deliver a great product that the client wants, and you use a flashlight and piece of rope to get it…more power to you.  People who complain about type of gear normally just read about what gear is supposedly best (Elinchroms, Profoto) and automatically say you “Have to have these!” to be professional.  Meh…not really.

Saying that yes the high end lights are very nice.  They do promise faster refresh, lower sync speed, and various other tidbits that if I need to mess around with they can provide.  Obviously at a cost though.  But you know, I don’t need to drive a Ferrari to school and work every day, my Camry does just fine… and in this case Alien Bee’s, Normans, White lightning’s…they are your Civics, Camry’s and Accords.  If you can afford it, and you want the best, buy the best.  Doesn’t automatically make you the best photographer on the block, but it does allow you to do that much more if you want to experiment.  Example, want to shoot 1/8000th of a second flash, well enjoy a Elinchrom Ranger AS Speed.

For anyone new to it here’s the advice I can give.  Buy the best you can, and also check out more than just the light itself.  Check out the recorded quality of the line, the level of service, the customer service, and pretty much the general happiness level of the people who own the equipment.   In no way is Paul Buff paying me, but I fully  endorse their product for any photographers located in the south eastern united states.  They are located in Nashville so we get a super quick response if anything goes wrong, and every time I called into their office they have been nothing but professional with me.  Unfortunately I own no more Paul Buff products, but that amazing customer service I received still resides deeply in me today.

In knowing your work, I see you have shot your fair of nudes.  Many new photographers would like to shoot something similar, but might not be aware of the best method for approaching the topic with a potential client.  How would you recommend landing more of these shoots?

Hmm, fun question that I hear a lot.  Really just don’t think much of it.  If you love your art, and you can believe in it.  It shows.  I wouldn’t suggest having “Naked Naked Naked” stuck in your head all the time, just shoot and have fun..practice on random type of shooting and eventually nude work will come.  I can share this advice      though.  You’re asking a subject to get naked in front of you, fully exposed, and lacking the security they are comfortable with.  Make them     comfortable (lol  get your sick mind out of the gutter).  You being comfortable with your work is a source of comfort to your subject, it shows professionalism and also belief in yourself.  You’re asking them to look good for your camera, so why not look good for them?  You don’t have to dress to the nines, but at least groom yourself well enough to be presentable.  I’ve actually had  plenty of my models tell me that’s the biggest turn off they have with shooting with some Atlanta photographers….hygiene and how they look.  Also be sure to make the model physically comfortable.  Be considerate to their conditions and supply drinks, a heater, and various other stuff…this really affects the quality of your end product and also how the model interacts with you.

Finally ask yourself what nude work means to you.  If you can define it to yourself, rehearse it,    say it out loud, then explain it to anyone casually without sounding like a creep…that you will get an influx of people interested in shooting with you because then it sounds like pure art (as it should be).

Although I have seen a steady stream of work, and a consistently steady stream at that, you most certainly have come across a time where you felt uninspired or unmotivated.  Do you have any tips on how to break out of a creative rut?

Stay humble about it.  Sometimes we hit bumps and walls in our path to become a better photographer because we feel like we are stagnant at our current level of work.  Well there’s always something we’ve missed, something that we could of approached differently.  When I hit a bump, I analyze my work and keep an open mind about it.  Then I circle back and try something different or new, and most of the time that inspires me to do my current work even better.

The ultimate inspiration is what we seek to capture every day.  If you’re in a slump, put the camera down and just look at what’s in front of you.  We inspire to capture what’s in front of us, the beauty, the humanity, the emotions that surround and feed our world and conscience.  Just become of student of that for a little, watch it, and then motivate yourself enough to photograph it.

As I look back to where I first started with my own photography and also the direction I would like to take it, sometimes I do not see a clear path, but I am always seeking to move forward and learn.  Do you have any goals for your photography moving forward and what is out there to learn that you have not yet grasped yet?

While photography is fun and dandy, the main thing photography gives me is access to people.  I love the technical and creative side of photography, but most importantly I love teaching it to anyone willing to listen.  Photography is so complicated and has so many details and fine lines in it that I get a pleasure from being able to comprehend all the technicalities and translate it so that a fellow photography student understands the subject.  Have you ever taken a killer portrait of someone smiling?  A great genuine smile that just lifts your spirit and makes you feel elation and joy?  Well that same smile comes out when a person finally understands something about photography after you explain it to them.  Their eyes shine bright, and you just open their perspective to the world of photography.

Teaching is my goal, and in that there is lots I haven’t “grasped” yet.  But instead of being a hurdle in front of me that angers me, it motivates me to understand it, to comprehend it, and ultimate to teach it to anyone who is willing to listen.  That right there to me is the beauty of the whole thing.

You participated in the Atlanta 48 Hour Film Project and assisted in creating a film entitled “Mr. Amazing.”  Can you provide some details about this project, such as how you came to be involved with it and what the results were?

Mr. Amazing…wow.  Well we just won it all recently at the Awards Ceremony for the Atlanta 48 Hour film festival.

For those who don’t know what the 48 Hour Film Festival is, it’s a competition in which teams of film makers compete to write, script, act, direct, film, and edit a short film within 48 hours.  Each team is given a common set of criteria, and then their own random pick out of a hat genre and then proceed to make a film out of it.  You can imagine this is a pretty stressful, unforgiving weekend that requires quite a bit of nerves, constitution and also compromise to actually deliver a product.

Becoming involved with it was a complicated sequence that demands 32 pages…so let me start.  I asked my friend Thom to do it, and he said yes.  We paid the entrance fee and that’s it….the end.

Actually that is pretty much how the story goes.  It was that simple. :)

To add a little more flesh to it though, my friend Helen brought me to the screening for the 2007 48 Hour Film Fest and I fell in love with it.  Fast forward two years, and I heard it’s happening again.  I consider Thom one of the most talented and awesome dude alive so I asked him if he wanted to do it….and it went from there.   We surrounded ourselves with some wonderful talent, and built a stunning team.  The results was us going all the way in our freshman attempt and taking the Best Film award.  The only thing I can compare this too is when Picard won the Star Fleet Academy Marathon thing as a freshman…but that isn’t going to happen for another 300 years.

Do you see yourself moving more and more into video?

Of course.  Well I did video in high school, and I find it an awesome medium to be involved in.  Where a photographer can make photos by himself, a great video is almost always done with a team and I LOVE TEAMWORK.  The new SLR’s give amazing quality filming ability just like they did with still frame shooting, so I’m thoroughly embracing our new HD Video Overlord SLRS.

For someone that just bought their first DSLR and wanting to break into professional photography, what is your advice to them?

Learn the ins and outs of your camera.  I can’t reiterate enough…you define your photography your tools don’t.  When you find your style it’s because of what you know technically and creatively.  If you can consistently reproduce your work in any given scenario, with any given tool….then you are very much ready to be a pro.  Oh…also take a risk.  The thrill of risk can bring out someone or something in you that you never expected….and the results could be amazing.

Where will your photography be 5 years from now?

On my hard drive… :)

Heh.  As a photographer I will constantly be learning, and in 5 years I hope people will say that my passion for photography is still strong and in a sense childlike.  Photography is such a beautiful thing that has both a long and storied history, and also a long and beautiful future.  My photographs in the future I hope will still show a great passion to this wonderful art of ours.