 The
Photographer – David Beeler
Thanks
for your interest and taking the time to view my photography work.
As a photographer, I'm self-taught. Around the age of eight, I
would sneak my Mom's 126 camera out of the house and shoot pictures
around the Texas country side. When a birthday or other holiday
rolled around, my Mom would be baffled that she was out of film.
She’d be even more baffled when the pictures came back from
the lab… I fessed up and was rewarded with my own little
camera when Christmas came.
When I was 15, I spent the summer working to buy my first 35mm
and shortly after that I landed a job in the local camera store.
By the time I was 17, I was running their professional lab, assisting
several photographers, shooting stills on film sets, shooting
for the school paper and yearbook and having success in several
gallery showings.
I've never had a class in photography. Everything I know, I learned
on the job, from someone I worked with or from reading. When my
personal work led me to a point where I was being asked to shoot,
I started shooting.... and the fact that people were offering
money for this seemed, well, incredible.
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My
photography Approach
Instead
of trying to impose “my style” on the “subject”,
I try to find the qualities of the individual, group or product
and let that inform how we shoot: outdoor or studio, composition,
ward-robe, all of it. To that end, I’ve developed a client
worksheet to help us figure out what to do with the shoot. This
will help you (and me) define your unique stories or essences.
Unless I am given free reign to “play” and then it
just depends on the variables going into the shot. Some magazines
that I shoot for just let me loose with the subject – great
fun.
I shoot digitally these days. There are a number of advantages
to digital photography: every shot is like a Polaroid, we can
see how we’re doing as we go along. Because there is no
limit to how many photos we shoot (there is no film), and because
we can edit, we’re free to play around and try things out
-- which is often when we get the best shots. I can be more spontaneous
and so can the subject.
Also check out Beeler
Greetings - there are a lot of conceptual shots which give
a feel for my creativity and sense of fun.
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On
People Photography (General)
My gifts, I believe, are several: I am good with people, eliciting
a brief and a really good eye -- the stuff that's more ethereal,
maybe can't be taught, maybe it can.
I specialize in people and do editorial, headshots, bands, fashion/beauty,
DVD and CD cover art.
People
are naturally fascinating. I can go to the mall or a coffee shop
and watch people for hours. When we are in our own skin, thinking
our thoughts, we humans are fascinating. The art of shooting people
is getting them to that place where they can be relaxed and in
their skin, thinking their own thoughts. The art of doing that
involves psychology, creativity, intuition, discipline, acute
attention, understanding and a deep love for people (for which
I thank my Mother whose heart was, indeed, the size of Texas).
The topography of the human landscape is always changing, so even
if I shot you on Monday, I'd be dealing with a potentially very
different person by Wednesday -- there's the challenge; there's
the fun. Some tribes in Africa used to think a photograph would
take a person's soul -- that's what you want to aim for in shooting
people. If you can catch a person's soul, then you're good-- very
good. It's what I aspire to.
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Headshot
Photography in Los Angeles
Here’s the problem: the market place known as LA is over-saturated.
If a breakdown is put out describing you to a ‘T’,
hundreds -- if not thousands -- of people will show up, fitting
the same description, just like you. How do you compete with that?
You don’t. There are tons of actors and/or models in your
‘type’, there is only one ‘you’. The thing
that makes stars ‘stars’ is that they understand their
personal uniqueness; that’s what builds their careers.
There are many good photographers in Los Angeles who will take
great shots of you and you’ll look good, but that’s
not gonna cut it, if it doesn’t tell your personal story,
something about your being. Many of these photographers shoot
everybody the same way; nice shots, but cookie cutter –
next person same as the last.
I try to tailor everything about the shoot to tell the unique
story (or stories) about you. At the end of the day, you need
a marketing tool--your headshot-- that tells the industry not
just what you look like, but something about your being. With
online casting, this process is only speeding up. You need arresting
shots. I hope we can have a blast together creating those.
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Band
Photography in Los Angeles
One
of the things I love about shooting for the music industry, is
that the parameters are looser -- we could be shooting a high
concept CD cover, a straight ahead A&R shot, a high energy
pop band or a soulful jazz singer, etc. But, whatever the brief,
it needs to fit and reflect the tone of the artist's music.
I'm
told that I have a knack for listening to someone's music and
tuning into that creative space where ideas come from. It is a
wonderful process, a creative puzzle for me to find a "visual
peg" to hang the hat on. I guess I should model what I do,
because I'm not sure how I do it (probably somewhat like a songwriter
writing): the ideas come, but you're not quite sure from where.
However, at the end of the day, it's almost always about interpreting
someone's music into compelling visuals that resonate with the
work, the artist and the artist's style.
Very few musicians want pictures just to document their work,
they want pictures that will help tell the story of their music
for some form of promotion. Another way to think of it: I help
create visual marketing tools for a non-visual medium (apparently
a picture's worth a thousand...). It's setting and executing a
visual tone which harmonizes with the music, be it CD covers,
tour posters, website shots, A&R or PR pics.
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Editorial
Photography
The key here is to understand the editor’s brief and the
style of the magazine / publication. I love the fact that there
is (usually) plenty of time to set up the shoot and brainstorm
creatively. The question is: are we shooting a portrait, a concept
or something else? I also love to do “detail” shots
as extras for possible side-bar use.
If it's a editorial portrait, it is part "capture the person's
soul" and part "what are they doing in the world?"
that people would find newsworthy. Part of what is fun about this,
is eliciting what the story is we want to tell, brainstorming
ways to tell it, matching some of those ideas with the right tone
for the publication and then executing it in the timeframe given.
If it's a concept shot, say for example, an editor / art director
wants visuals for an article on pharmaceutical regulations: I
might shoot a camel going through the eye of the needle with a
giant capsule strapped to it's back. Another possibility: a square
pill being forced into a round hole. Unfortunately, the editor
/ art director will often pull a stock shot for this type of imagery
rather than hiring a photographer.
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To
Aspiring Photographers
If I had advice to give to any aspiring photographers, it'd be
to shoot, as much as you can. When you feel you are ready -- jump.
Great rewards come with risk. I started doing it and have found
my way.... and I'm continuing to find my way. That should never
stop -- it's the artist's path. So, get started!!
The root of the word courage is from the Latin "cor",
meaning "heart". The heart is the seat of love; so,
find your bliss and shoot that, shoot what you love, what makes
you happy. As you do, your voice or style will emerge, then you'll
have something to market. At that point, take a marketing and
business class. (I should still do that!) Or you can marry a woman
with a masters degree in marketing. Which is what I did and I
have to recommend it ...highly.
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Beeler
Productions
 Beeler
Photography is part of Beeler Productions, a husband and wife
team. While I'm busy with photo shoots, my lovely wife Marieke
takes care of all post- production, including retouching.
We
recently started a greeting card company (Beeler
Greetings) where creativity and photography are combined to
silly, sexy and sometimes provocative effect. Beeler Greetings
publishes cool, funny, clean designed printed greeting cards that
make you smile – if not laugh – or move you in some
way. We aim to bring humor, beauty or something a little provocative
to people’s personal life, work life, secret life, love
life or “life-life”.
Check
it out at www.beelergreetings.com!
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