04.17.09
fstop beyond interview
How did I get into photography?
Is Slumdog Millionaire the best movie ever?
Do I still make mix tapes for crushes?
Is Fred Egan my real name?
Get the answers to these questions and more in my interview with Ron from F-Stop Beyond.
Ryan Li:
Great interview! Ron is a good guy~
(01.26.10 06:35 PM)
Stephanie O:
Dude, how old are you?
(05.01.09 12:15 AM)
Daniel Jacobs:
Funny. I can still remember you running up to the teacher in class.
(04.29.09 03:39 PM)
Daniel Lateulade:
Great discussion -- I was crazy excited to listen, and it was well worth the time.
(04.20.09 08:47 PM)
Greer Rivera:
The most inspiring thing about you is that your simply REAL! Awesome interview.
(04.20.09 04:53 PM)
Will Duris:
great stuff...very open discussion, thanks for taking the time.
(04.17.09 03:08 PM)
FRED EGAN:
Ron <<< It was my pleasure sir...great program you've created.
(04.17.09 02:07 PM)
FRED EGAN:
Kenny <<< Thanks bro...don't lie–you're the stud my man!
(04.17.09 02:05 PM)
Ron Dawson:
Thanks for such an entertaining and inspiring interview. Much continued success. Looking forward to hooking up with you in person.
(04.17.09 01:53 PM)
Kenny Kim:
I heard the interview this morning. great job. You're a stud!
(04.17.09 01:51 PM)
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03.13.09
sledding bffs
I met up with Stephanie McBride in Salt Lake City last Saturday for her full day consultation. Together, we produced a mini-shoot while our models played like champions in the bitter Salt Lake City air. Stephanie rocks...go check out her blog and peruse her images from the shoot.
mike Larson:
love this stuff man, LOVE the images, I'ts been days since i've been to anyones blog, its a surprise i even edit my own! Your work always kills it, and inspires me.
(05.08.09 04:58 AM)
Last Forty Percent:
I've really enjoyed looking through your blog - you do great work!
- bri
(04.21.09 11:09 AM)
stephanie McBride:
still in awe of your work Fred Egan and I was standing there right next to you. the images are everything and more than i ever thought they would be. ridiculous talent.... :)
(03.13.09 06:23 PM)
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01.26.09
consulting
Last quarter I offered a limited number of phone consultations and the response was surprising. Presently, I've also been sharing morsels of information regarding how I got started in the photography biz, what gear I use and how I work with my clients on location via "Business Socks" segments every Wednesday. Whether you just picked up your first DSLR or are running your own photography shop, it can be a daunting task. My consultations will build on that but go much deeper and cover a much wider expanse. Check out my Consulting Look Book for more information about what's offered and how it works.
I'll be accepting consultations within the next three months in:
I'll be accepting consultations within the next three months in:Dallas/Fort Worth (Monday-Thursday)
Las Vegas (02/16)
Charlotte (2/21-22; 04/23)
Atlanta (03/20, 03/23)
Send an email to consulting@fredegan.com with the name of the city in the subject line if you're interested in booking a consultation or have additional questions.
Shan:
No San Diego? You should do a mini half day workshop out here:)
(05.05.09 12:22 PM)
Joanna Wilcox:
I agree - Come to Toronto! Id's love to spend the day learning from you!
(03.16.09 01:18 PM)
Mark Galligan:
Im sorry to say that i haven't checked out your blog in quite a wile, but this is a rad idea bro! Looks like things are going well for ya man. Im glad, you are great behind the glass! If you do make it up to Portland again hit me up. It would be nice to catch up. Ciao
(02.09.09 05:17 AM)
Amancay:
dude, if you come out to Portland, you HAVE to make it out to the 'Hood... we'[ve got to at least have coffee, Fred.
(01.27.09 05:28 PM)
heather:
SLC, UT could use your love... (cheap flights out of Vegas...hint, hint).
(01.26.09 07:16 PM)
missphom:
no, but seriously- we need MAJOR, MAJOR help here in JACKSONVILLE, FL! MAJOR!
(01.26.09 03:03 PM)
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01.21.09
business socks
For those of you who don't know, Wednesday is business time. I'm down to just my socks, and you know when I'm down to just my socks what time it is, it's time for business. It's business time. So let's get to Greer's question.
Greer asks,
"Do you have any advice on submitting work to magazines?"
Getting a wedding you've photographed published for the first time instills a sense of pride inside of you. It can legitimize the work you are creating while serving as an effective way to get your photography in front of a captive audience. Wedding publications are designed to provide gorgeous inspiration for brides-to-be during the planning process for their own wedding. With that being said, most publications are interested in featuring real weddings with a great sense of style, beautiful details or a unique wedding story.
Many wedding publications are regional in nature. Obviously, you'd only want to submit weddings you've shot in that region to said regional wedding publication. For example, Pacific Weddings magazine consistently looks to feature real weddings in Hawaii, the West coast and Fiji. On the flip-side, Southern Weddings magazine (who just launched their premier issue) features Southeastern weddings. Send approximately 75 images to them on CD, with the majority of them being detail shots. After all, they need images of vendors in order to write about them.
Lastly, when you do arrive on location at a "publishable" wedding, you have to shoot it a certain way. But that's for another time.
If you have a question about the wedding/portrait photography business you'd like to see answered in business socks, email it to fred@fredegan.com.
melissapepin:
oh a little FOTC makes EVERYTHING better... :) Love the reference and your picture is awe-some! hahhahaha love it!
(03.09.09 09:21 AM)
Dominoe Imus:
I had no idea you could just send it in, I thought there would be a lot of talking to salespeople, managers, blah, blah, blah. This sounds great, thank you so much!
(01.28.09 07:11 PM)
Kallie Walker:
Next thing you know we`re in the bathroom brushing our teeth. That`s all part of it, that`s foreplay. Then you go sort out the recycling. That`s not part of it but it`s still very important.
(01.26.09 12:42 PM)
Jamie Delaine:
I was published in just a small local wedding directory last year, but this year I'm definitely trying to submit to way more magazines and really get a submission system down. I'd love to hear how you shoot a publishable wedding!
(01.22.09 03:54 PM)
Greer Rivera:
Thanks for posting this Fred! I actually just got interviewed for the Cape Air Magazine last week! They will be using a lot of my photos and possibly one for the cover! They also took a lot of interest in the commercial shoot I just did for a local bikini company. I'm going to take your advice though and submit full weddings to destination or Caribbean wedding magazines. Wish me luck!
(01.21.09 05:43 PM)
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12.10.08
business socks
Katie asks,
"I remember you saying that you might start outsourcing your processing. You have a great eye and are probably super picky. Can you recommend a good outsourcing company?"
At one point I was hoping to be able to do this with my weddings. For me, it comes down to compatibility. I shoot RAW files. I want to send off those RAW files and re-import them back into my photography workflow software of choice, Apple's Aperture. Most of the outsourcing companies I am aware of use Adobe Lightroom. I refuse to work with the JPEG format before export, my super pickiness prevents me from doing so ;-) I have not sent off any samples to the various companies out there (ShootDotEdit, Photographer's Edit and Lavalu to name a few). If you are OK with JPEG or you do use Lightroom, the rates for these services are very reasonable and can give you more time in other areas of your business.
I have retained my image processing in house for the time being. If a company does start using Aperture to process RAW files, I will definitely check into them.
Leon (from Colorati):
Wow, I showed up late to this party! Yo, Jeff- thanks for the shout! Fred- We use Adobe Camera Raw and understand you may be locked into Aperture. If there's any way we can help, let me know- we're super flexible!
(03.09.09 07:11 PM)
ricki ford:
Here is another really cool company that I recommend www.greatretouching.com
(12.11.08 06:46 AM)
Jeff Youngren:
Fred, check with Colorati. Leon will totally be able to help you out - I was in your same shoes, and he dialed me in with a sick solution. Rock on!
(12.10.08 05:57 PM)
Jesse Knight:
Another vote for Lightroom, but have you tried processing in one and re-importing the files to the other? A RAW file has too parts (glued together if you use DNG): the sensor data + the processing. Do these two programs interpret each other's processing?
(12.10.08 04:10 PM)
stikman:
When is the last time you tried LR?
I was back and forth between c1, aperture and LR...with each having their strengths. But with the most recent LR update and color profiles for canon and nikon, its a winner now. Still could use some work, but it beats the other 2 now, I think anyways.
Nice post, thanks
Stikman
(12.10.08 01:04 PM)
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11.05.08
business socks
Julie asks,
"Approximately how many total images do you shoot? How many do you edit down to?"
Depending on the shoot, my total image count varies. I may shoot 3,000 images during a wedding and 600 during a portrait shoot but the math is always the same...I edit down to approximately 15% of what I shot.
Darla asks,
"Why did you use your name "Fred Egan" as your brand name?"
This is a great question because it could go either way; however, I knew from the beginning I wanted to use my namesake to create a brand. It never crossed my mind to employ an impersonal name. There was something about having my name on my company that made me proud.
The short version goes like this: Frederick Egan Castleberry was too long. Even just Frederick Castleberry was too long...and imagine tagging the suffix "photography" to that! After sketching out different variations of my name + "photography", the "Fred Egan" scrawl in the corner of that creased and wrinkled white paper just clicked. Because it boasted the characteristics of several high end fashion designers (i.e. Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren), I immediately owned it. It was short, easy to say and sophisticated...yet still me.
Nick%20Onken:
You know what I find funny? Is your hair now in person actually looks like your above yearbook photo. Fantastic.
(11.17.08 01:20 PM)
Adrianna:
I love the name "Castleberry"... you should have just used that! =) makes me laugh when I say it.. in a good way
(11.05.08 08:14 PM)
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10.29.08
business socks
Richard asks,
"What magazines do you view to provide you the inspiration for your lifestyle shooting?"
-W
-Teen Vogue
-Interview
-Rolling Stone
-J.Crew
-Jack Wills
-ROXY
-Vanity Fair
Why do I have a entire wall collage from magazine tears? Because flipping through them is not enough. I want the emotion, feeling and vibe of these images engrained into my subconscious on a daily basis.
Bradley asks,
"What are some of your favorite photography blogs that continue to inspire and teach you new things?"
Well...I don't really scour blogs anymore for the imagery. I've relied mostly on the publications above and some of my favorite photographers' websites (Ben Watts, Stephanie Rausser, Kate Powers, Michael Muller and Peggy Sirota to name a few). Another avenue of inspiration worthy of mentioning is my study of how movies are filmed. Lately, I've been paying close attention to why the Director of Photography chooses certain angles/pans/lenses when filming sequences. It's really opened my eyes in broadening how I see the world.
BOTTOM LINE: It helps to start experiencing art that is way out of your league if you ever want to get into that league.
brandy:
omg fred I love you! this is an awesome idea. I've been meaning to subscribe to a whole plethora of magazines ever since I laid eyes on Nate and Jac's ever expanding magazine pile at their shootshop last june... and I happen to have a certain wall in our home office with nasty floral wallpaper that I um, started tearing off and didn't finish for, uh, photography reasons and now tomorrow I'm going to finally get my stack of magazines and get inspiration CRAZY!!!!! :)
p.s. hope all you peeps are having a blast in vegas. wish we were there. - brandy
(02.16.09 11:20 PM)
Lesley:
I always tell myself to make one of these but for some reason never do. I think I'm going to sit down and actually do it - I need to put my magazines to work instead of just laying around in boxes! :)
(11.26.08 03:37 PM)
David Burke:
Great stuff here Fred. The photogs you mentioned in this post are incredible. Thanks for the inspiration!
(10.31.08 08:12 PM)
Julie Birdseye:
Hey Fred, I have a question fer ya: For your graduate portrait sessions - approximately how many total images do you shoot, and then after editing down, how many is your goal to show your client in their gallery?
Thanks!
(10.31.08 05:11 PM)
Jackie:
I kid you not, I have a pile of tearouts waiting to be put up on a wall. I'm looking at less blogs too. I always bring a stack of my own mags when I get my hair done because there is no time otherwise! How was hsm3? Is it worth bringing a 3 year old to?
(10.29.08 11:45 PM)
FRED EGAN:
Janet <<< I don't know too many females that can pull off the unibrow. On second thought, I don't know anyone who can for that matter.
(10.29.08 06:07 PM)
Janet Munoz:
I meant Frida Kahlo unibrow, you have lovely eyebrows.
(10.29.08 04:51 PM)
Janet Munoz:
Sorry Fred I can pull off that amazing unibrow, I probably end up looking like Bert. (Sesame Street)
(10.29.08 04:37 PM)
jenniferL:
if you haven't already seen "visions of light" you must... the DPs in there are awesome! first time i saw it was in film school and it was very inspirational! love that you have a inspirational wall of images.
(10.29.08 02:33 PM)
Janet Munoz:
OMG Fred you comment on"Bottom Line" is the best advice you will ever give. Thats why I'm looking at your blog because when I grow up I want to be Fred Egan . (OK maybe a female
version of Fred Egan)
(10.29.08 02:07 PM)
amy t schubert:
awesome.
I'm a big fan of movies for inspiration. Big big fan.
Not only for the camera angles/composition/etc, but some movies just inspire me to create ANYTHING.
ex: I can watch the Lord of the Rings special features OVER and OVER again -- and it always makes be feel creative.
(10.29.08 01:28 PM)
Jamie Delaine:
Awesome--thanks for the post. Always so inspired. I need to start subscribing to more mags--it's just sometimes I don't like a lot of the crap the media throws in there in these ads...even though they are beautiful photographs. I totally agree with the movie thing though! Just lately in the last year I'll be watching movies and feel totally inspired. I say totally too much. :)
(10.29.08 12:30 PM)
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