Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luke McDonald. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Luke, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I’ve taken would be my decision to pursue photography. Back in 2019, I was a computer science student, with a semester left before graduation. I was unhappy in school and my performance. I knew deep down that I didn’t want to become a software engineer. At the time, I was a hobbyist photographer, shooting mainly on my phone. I knew that I wanted to push my art, but for years I had been terrified of failing. Something in me clicked, and I decided to take a year off from school to pursue the things I was interested in. I told myself, if I didn’t gain traction outside of programming, I would go back to school and get my degree. Starting in January 2020, I went all in on photography. By March, the world had shut down, and I was without a job. I didn’t know what to do or where to go, so I used all my free time to learn about photography, shooting and editing every day. By the end of 2020, I had secured an internship at a local creative coworking space, I’d gotten a few paid assignments and was firmly convinced that this was the path for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am photographer based in Dallas, Texas. I specialize in what the film industry calls Unit Stills. The essence of Unit Still photography is capturing the process of what goes into the making of a film or a short. The beginning of my unit stills journey can be traced back to my interest in the filmmaking process as a kid. I had always gotten books about how movies were made, and what always struck me were the images from set. Fast forward to my start in photography, and I was on the streets of Dallas, New York, Oklahoma, documenting the lives of strangers in the city. At the time, I had set my sights on being a street photographer. I loved the spontaneity of capturing unscripted, unmodelled moments. But a career in street photography is near impossible. So for work I began taking assignments for events, weddings, and parties. After a chance encounter with a local Director who worked on film sets, I found myself on my first Unit Stills assignment, and the rest is history.

As a unit still photographer, I take candid and posed photographs of a set to be used for marketing and publication. I focus on capturing how the director works with their team, as well as working with actors to provide quality images for things such as promotional posters. I use lighting in an artful and intriguing way to help the viewer build anticipation for an upcoming project. What sets me apart is my understanding of images being the best way to market a film before it’s released.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience is necessary for anyone pursuing a creative career. For every opportunity you land, there are ten others that won’t pan out. I started my full-time freelance career half-way through 2023. To say the start was rough would be an understatement. My first two months on my own were the worst two months I’d had ever. I got almost no work, I was stubborn though, and my pride wouldn’t let me walk away. I do not recommend what I did, but I think I learned a valuable lesson along the way. Because of my persistence, I found much more success in the latter half of the year. There was a point I had almost walked away from it all, and if I had, I wouldn’t have made the connections or had the experiences I did. If you truly love something, don’t ever walk away from it. Do what you can to survive, but don’t lose yourself over a hard month.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known more about online communities and directories. Find your niche(it might take time), and find online forums, and boards. Most big cities have a film and creative commission and a directory for that kind of work. Reach out to people you are scared to talk to. So much work has come from me just expressing interest. You might not start off in the biggest role, but continually being around the people you want to work with will make an impression. Network, network, network.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lukemcdonald.photography
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dallasunitstills/ and http://www.instagram.com/streetboxd
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-mcdonald-b7b462179/

Image Credits
Luke McDonald