I have been following Luke Schneider's work for quite some time and it just keeps getting better and better. He has a nack for fashion photography and it clearly shows. I decided to find out a bit about him and what his goals are for the future and current project. He is still in college so he has quite a bit of time ahead of him to achieve his goals. From the looks of it, he is well on his way there.
Also, make sure to check out his website and Facebook page for more of his work!
1. Tell us a little about yourself?
I am a college student at the University of Minnesota and aspiring fashion photographer from the Northern Chicagoland suburbs. Other than photography I love drumming, listening to music, cooking, and cycling.
2. What got you started in photography?
Honestly, I had no idea what to ask for on my birthday about 5 years ago, I asked one of my friends what he thought and he said I should get a camera as he had recently picked up photography. I had tried getting into film photography back when I was about 10 years old but never really got into it and thought I might as well give it another shot (no pun intended), since I legitimately had no idea what else to ask for. At the time I was also getting into theatrical lighting design at my high school and tried applying some of what I had learned in that field to photography.
3. What style do you mainly shoot?
I typically shoot headshots, fashion, editorial, and a little bit of beauty. I dabble in some cityscapes, but that's more for my personal book. With theatrical lighting design I had started looking at light and paying attention to exactly where it fell on the subjects. This lead rather quickly into fashion photography, as all aspects of the photo are more planned out and controlled than other genres of photography, especially the light.
4. What equipment do you use?
I shoot with a Canon 50D and have one of two lenses glued to my camera body at all times when I'm shooting fashion on location, either the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM or the Rokinon 35mm f/1.4, depending what type of look I am going for. I also have a small studio setup where I use an Alien Bees B800 with either a 46" softlighter II, a 22" silver beauty dish, or a small reflector, again, depending on the type of look I am going for, and finally, I edit in Photoshop CS5.
5. How long have you been shooting?
I started getting into photography about 5 years ago, I discovered my love for fashion photography starting about 2 and a half years ago and have been building my book ever since.
6. Who is your biggest inspiration?
I am a big fan of Mark De Roo's work, everything he shoots has the perfect lighting and exposure, he always has great locations, styling, hair, and makeup, and the posing is always top notch on all of his work. I also am a big fan of Russell James, every campaign he shoots is fantastic. Then there's always Mario Testino who's work everyone should be familiar with!
7. Where do you see yourself with photography in the next 5 years?
In 5 years I would love to be shooting ad campaigns, catalogues, and editorials for various magazines and clothing companies. My dream is to shoot a DKNY or Michael Kors ad campaign, as I love the style of their ads, but I think 5 years may be a bit soon for that!
What do you guys think? Would you agree that he is well on his way to being a full on fashion photographer?
Good to see Luke featured...
Attaboy, Luke.
Did he say 50d?
It's as much about vision and execution as it is about equipment. That's why most of us suck no matter how expensive our equipment is.
Amen to that!
Is he using the LCD instead the viewfinder to focus?
Seems so. Think Fstoppers (or another similar site) did a story on someone else who did this a fair while ago.
It would have been a good thing to ask about in the interview.
It depends the lens I'm using, the Rokinon 35 f/1.4 is full manual aperture and focus and the VF on the 50D is definitely not made for that, way easier and quicker to get the sharp shots using the LCD unfortunately! Every other lens I use is standard VF though!
In iso1200.com, there was a photographer who posted how he used Liveview for composing his images. Here's the link. I love Liveview and use it constantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5me5XBqU2o4&feature=player_embedded
What a quick learning curve! Fantastic work, I've been shooting for almost as long as he has and I am nowhere near his abilities and vision. Great work bud, sure are an inspiration to me and yes who doesn't like Russell James, babes and high end photo work for a lifetime.
With the music choice...how do you get to use music like this in a youtube video....isn't it copyrighted???? PLease explain....thanks!