PAST
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: In high school, were you involved in the yearbook ? What sparked your interest for photography? Do you recommend all the weekend photographers out there to initially stick with the subjects they know and build from there? Do you have any suggestions on how to build that progression? How did you progress to where you are today?
CODY JENSEN: Actually, I wasn’t involved in yearbook. But what sparked my interest was a “Videography” class they offered at my Jr. High. It was my absolute favorite class in school. I learned a lot of the basics for photography, although I was learning how to use the skills in video, it still applied. I was so enthralled by what I was learning, every night I would go home and shoot, edit, and export a video to VHS. Almost everyday, I would bring a new video to show my teacher and every day I would be frustrated and disappointed because all my teacher would do is tell me what was wrong with my work! At least that’s what I thought at the time. In reality, he was giving me very good constructive criticism that helped me develop that “eye” for photography. I didn’t come to this realization until many years later and now I am very grateful for someone in my life who was willing to give me honest feedback and not just tell me what I wanted to hear. That is why your mom isn’t the best person to ask an opinion, unless you are having a bad day and just need some encouragement.
From my experience, I don’t think I would recommend only sticking with what you know. I started out just photographing objects, places, and candidly shooting people. The reason wasn’t because that’s all I wanted to do, but rather I was scared of portraits; scared of posing people and thinking “portraits” meant being stuck in a studio. Recently however, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and found I love taking portraits now. That doesn’t mean I have lost my original interest for places and things, I have just added to my skills.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you still have photos taken from the early years when it all started? What were your subjects? Are the pictures online to share with everyone to compare with your work today?
CODY JENSEN: I had a Hard Drive crash a few years ago and I lost everything; all of my past and current projects! This was a smack-in-the-face lesson about backing things up. A lot of my early photography was of the the really crappy bands I was in. Unfortunately, I didn’t lose all the songs we recorded in the HD crash. All of my friends in Junior High were really into skateboarding. I sucked at skateboarding, so I took advantage of that and I shot many rolls of film of all my buddies skating. I did find one thing that I did back then that I thought was really humorous. I had taken a sequence of about 5 photos of a friend doing a skateboard trick and I physically cut the photos and taped them together and scanned that into the computer. Very primitive but I thought it was awesome at the time.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What books did you read when you first got into photography? Title of book, author and price of book please…just messing around, the title of the books should be fine thanks to google search. Do you recall any other resources that you referred to heavily to help you grow as an amateur photographer?
CODY JENSEN: I really hate reading! My mind doesn’t learn through books. I learned through a lot of trial and error. I searched the Internet continuously looking for how-to videos. Finding good videos used to be difficult but now with millions of users on YouTube & Vimeo there are a ton of great teaching videos. Some of my favorite videos come from Snap Factory. They are very informative, professional, and easy to understand.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Have you made some money from your photography as an amateur? What was your first photo sale? How long was it after that first sale you sold your next photo? If you haven’t sold a photo, do you have any plans to do so?
CODY JENSEN: I do make money being an amateur photographer. My first job was an hourly position where I was paid to take photos, create ads and flyers for a local water park. Aside from that, I started out taking Senior pictures for friends at a low cost. This was a great jump start to having a portfolio and getting the word out about my services.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What tools do you recommend that are a must have that helped you get to where you are present day?
CODY JENSEN: Find the right camera for you. Look for a nice DSLR that you feel confident with. I’ve found when I have a camera that I feel good carrying, I take better pictures. Something that I have purchased recently is a nice reflector which I would recommend every photographer have on location. Lighting is what sets apart a good photograph from a great one and there is a very noticeable difference in the pictures I took before I had the reflector and after.
PRESENT
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What is your present motivation to continue with your photography?
CODY JENSEN: Love. I am in love with photography. Knowing that I am getting better and better with every photo I take keeps me motivated to keep shooting.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are you doing now to set yourself apart from other photographers? What is your niche?
CODY JENSEN: I’m glad you asked this question because I really don’t know how to answer it. This is something I need to continue to ask myself so I can set myself apart and find that niche for me. I would encourage every photographer to ask themselves this question.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you have a studio? If so, why? What are the benefits of having a studio as a weekend photographer? What is currently in your photography bag? Please be as detailed as possible for those starting out photographers wanted to purchase more equipment. From your photography equipment arsenal, what do you bring most of the time for your photo shoots?
CODY JENSEN: I have converted my spare bedroom into a small home studio. The biggest benefit of having a in-home studio is learning. I get to play and experiment with lighting and how to shoot in a studio environment without the overhead cost of an actual studio space. Another benefit of this is variety. When I take senior pictures I can take a few studio portraits before we cruise around town for on-location shots.
Equipment:
Nikon D90
AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm
2 Promaster SystemPro 10” Reflectors
2 ProMaster SystemPro LS-1 Economy Light Stands
1 Universal Umbrella Holder
1 30” White Umbrella
1 32” Promaster ReflectaDisk – 5 in 1 Kit
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What photography resources do you consistently refer to date ? Can you name at least 5 websites you refer to religiously for your photography? Who are your inspirations in the photography world?
CODY JENSEN: I use Twitter a lot to find awesome resources. I follow a lot of photographers who are constantly posting links to awesome blog posts, product reviews, and lots of other interesting things. Flickr is another great site that I use everyday. I join interesting groups, find photographers that I think I can learn from and make them my contact. Since Flickr has so many members the content is always changing. Some photographer’s blogs that I like to read are Candi Coffman, Joey L, Tec Petaja, and of course Lawrence Atienza.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Do you have any photography projects? If so, what is it and why? If not, why not?
CODY JENSEN: I don’t have any projects planned out at this moment. Most of the time my photography is spur of the moment.
FUTURE
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: What are your immediate goals as a photographer and artist? Are you planning on releasing any how-to books? What are your recommendations to people thinking about starting a photography book as a weekend photographer/ part time photographer?
CODY JENSEN: My immediate goal is to get myself established as a photographer in Tulsa. I am relocating to Tulsa, Oklahoma and have to reestablish myself in a new town. I don’t have any plans of releasing any books. I don’t see myself as a writer at all. The advice I would give to others looking to write would be to start a blog. A blog is a free and safe way to get your writing established and to see if people like it. If your blog blows up and it’s a big success, try to get advertisers. Advertisements will bring in immediate income to help finance writing your book. Knowing that you already have a successful blog will in-turn guarantee a successful book release.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Would you ever consider doing a workshop and share your knowledge on the weekends? If not, how do you plan to contribute to the photography community?
CODY JENSEN: I have thought about teaching workshops at local trade schools in the evenings. I haven’t really seen a need for beginner photography classes, but I have noticed there isn’t anyone teaching advanced Photoshop technique classes, at least in my area. The biggest upside about looking into local trade schools is they already have the facility and computers ready to use. The downside is, you have to share your profits.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: I am sure you’ve read many articles discussing how in the future videography and photography will be one? What are your thoughts on that and how will you evolve to the new morphed medium?
CODY JENSEN: I am a lover of both videography and photography therefore I use the Nikon D90. The D90 brings both photography and video together, and does it well. If you are on the Canon side, look into the Canon Rebel T1i. I think this evolution will be to my advantage in the fact that I already have a videography background and I continue to do both on a weekly basis. I feel I will be ready when the merge becomes the standard.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Where do you plan to take your photography passion? Are you planning on going pro one day? If so, which area of photography are you planning on getting into professionally? If you don’t plan to go professional one day, what are you aspiring to as an amateur photographer?
CODY JENSEN: Well, as I mentioned earlier I am moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma. A city with 500,000 more people than where I used to live. So even though Tulsa is a photographer saturated city, I’m hoping there will still be a market for myself. As far as going pro… I would say yes, I would like to go pro. I would like to leave which area in photography open to wherever I end up. I may think I want to be in one area but over time it may become evident that my strong point is somewhere else. So whichever I end up doing the best and most is the area that I’ll be in. I love all photography, no point in limiting myself.
LAWRENCEATIENZA.COM: Thank you again for your time and giving back to the photography community. What would you like to leave for us photographers to think about when moving forward with photography for the future? If you have any words of wisdom they would be appreciated.
CODY JENSEN: Have fun! Remind yourself everyday that you love what you do. It’s so easy to let it just be your job. This is when you get mediocre and stagnate. Also, don’t fall in the trap of thinking you’re not good enough. It’s easy to do. When Lawrence asked me to do this interview I checked out some of the past interviews and asked myself, “Why in the world did he ask to interview me? I’m nowhere near as good as these people!” When you look at other people’s photography, look at them as a learning experience, not a comparison to your work.
Thank you for reading! Now go out and shoot something…. with your camera.
