Get to Know Artist Steven Schulz!

Steven Schulz is a Washington, DC based photographer that has dedicated his time to capture Washington from his personal and unique point of view. His work mostly consists of applying creative concepts to DC’s urban landscape. You can find more of his work on his Instagram.

What inspires an image for you?

That is a great question. For me personally it can be several things. It could be a scene or situation that is happening in front of my eyes. Something about the situation which just pops out, highlights itself and tells a unique and sincere story that I feel I just need to capture. It also could be a certain angle I haven’t seen before that makes me see an object in a way I haven’t seen it before. Sometimes it is even something somebody says that triggers an idea which I then incorporate into a photo. A lot of times I am just going on with my day and an idea pops up in my head. I then immediately have to take out my phone and write it into my notes so I can play with the idea later and make further plans like location, equipment needed, weather, time of the day etc. 

What are things you are looking for when composing a shot?

I always try to fill the frame. Sometimes it is as simple as just have a foreground mid-ground and background in your shot. Other times I am isolating an object in the foreground and then work to build a natural frame around it. A natural frame could, for example, be leaves or anything you can find around you to fill the corners of your shot. 

Are you self-taught or classically trained, or a little bit of both?

I am entirely self-taught. It took me quite a while to learn these skills but that is just how it is. Everything needs time. Learning your camera settings takes time, training your eye to find compositions takes time, learning how to edit and creating your personal style takes time. It took me about 3 years to learn everything I know now and I am still learning things every day. It is important to be patient and learn from every experience.

The main sources I used to educate myself in regards to photography are YouTube, Instagram and talking to other artists. I was watching tutorial after tutorial to learn a certain technique that I was interested at that time. It is important to have the knowledge but it’s even more important to know how to actually execute the vision. The biggest thing that helped me was to just go out and shoot.

What is your favorite photo that you’ve taken?

That is a tough one. I would say my favorite photo as of now is a shot of a puddle that reflects me and the US Capitol in it. The reason why is because this composite photo took a lot of planning and brought a lot detail editing work with it. I really enjoyed working on this shot even though it was probably one of my most time consuming photos.

What does photography mean to you? Has it helped you overcome adversity?

I would say photography gives me a little break from the crazy regular life and I get to just relax and look at the world with a different set of eyes. It gives me time to think and process what happened that day and is definitely an outlet that helps me reset my mind. It provides an escape and an opportunity to recharge so I am prepared to tackle another day.

What is your biggest strength and weakness as a photographer?

I would say my biggest strength is my creativity. I am blessed to be able to think of concepts and then actually bring them to life. My biggest weakness on the other hand is probably shooting portraits. I never really shoot them and it is definitely something outside of my comfort zone. I want to get more comfortable with them.

Do you prefer shooting individually or as a group of people?

Both have their benefits but I have to say that I like to shoot by myself a little more. I feel like I can be more productive and efficient when I am out on my own.

It is still great to shoot with other like-minded people, you can feed off each other and help each other out. I would say I definitely have a better time when I am around people but I can get more done when I shoot by myself.

If you were to give advice to a rising photographer, what would you say? What wouldn’t you say?

My advice would be, to be patient, go out and shoot as much as you can, and keep learning. Success won’t come overnight and you will not take an amazing photo every time you go out and shoot. It is important to make mistakes or have a bad day out shooting because you will learn from it.

What I wouldn’t say would be that you need a specific camera to be able to take great photos. I for example don’t own a full frame camera myself. It is just a big myth that only great cameras can take great photos. You are the one that is going to create a great photo. Your eye, your creativity, and your skill does it for you . The kind of camera you have can only enhance what you create to a certain extent but it starts and ends with you!

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