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

Hi Shane, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

I’m about 15 years into my career holding a camera and finding the right light. My number one thing I’d do differently looking back is take more risks. I’d film more. I’d shoot the things I want to work on. I’d write more. I’d shoot short films. I’d shoot documentaries. Things that I thought could be really good and inspiring, and just see how it turned out. I’d try things that I wasn’t sure about so I could figure out once and for all if it’s for me. Instead of wondering. I spent so much time wondering and wishing and honestly staying stuck. And to be totally frank, I need to take this advice and apply it to my life now!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi! My name is Shane Faye, and I’m a Director of Photography aka cinematographer. I use cinema cameras and setup lighting to visually shoot and tell stories that hopefully impact people in a good way. I grew up loving films and cameras, but didn’t realize I could make it a career until I was in the middle of my college education at the University of Washington. After graduating, I started filming weddings and did that for a long time. A few years later I started working as a promotions producer at a new station in northern California. A few years after that, my wife and I moved to San Diego, where I went full time into being a freelance cinematographer. I offer my clients the expertise to craft beautiful cinematic moving pictures in many different contexts. I accomplish this through my knowledge of cameras, lensing, lighting, and movement. I am most proud of the content I’ve given my clients that has matched the exact feeling they were going for, and that I didn’t give into using gimmicks or other hype-y filmmaking cliches that look cool but don’t match the story that’s being told. I’d want any potential client to know that that is what I do: I craft visuals that visually tell the story that’s being communicated in an organic and documentary-style that feels real. Of course I love doing the extravagant, exciting, and colorful stuff too, but my passion is in crafting something that feels appropriate to the energy and message of the content.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I really want to make the world a better place by inspiring people through my films that I create. I believe videos and films are the most powerful forms of communication on the planet. They can be used to inspire such hope and change. There’s nothing like leaving the cinema (or your TV room) mulling over the last thing you watched and wondering about what truth you learned from it. That’s what I want to do: leave the audience pondering the meaning of their lives in a way that is encouraging and uplifting, even if the content is hard to watch.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My passion is the film documentaries and make narrative films. I’d love to do what Roger Deakins and Greig Fraser do: make movies. But that lifestyle is really hard on families. I’ve got a wife and two kids at home. For a long time I had two careers going on: Shane the DP who wanted to make movies (and didn’t make very much money), and Shane the videographer who worked corporate and business video gigs to help pay the bills. About a year ago I made the decision that I need to focus on the business side of things for now and build that up until our finances get to a place where I’m able to bring the family along with the long narrative shoots. If I prioritize the business now, it will (hopefully) pay off in a way where I can eventually reinvest into my creative career as a movie-making DP. At least, here’s to hoping it will!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shanefaye.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/srfaye/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shanefayedp
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-faye-908787150/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Shanefaye