Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lucas Ryan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lucas, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
First of all success is subjective. Everyone has their own version of what “success” looks like. To me, success is having happy clients, being proud of my work and having my needs met. I think to achieve this, you have to be able to just keep working towards your goals, no matter what challenges you face. That might mean picking up a side gig to help pay bills or it might mean working late into the night to finish a project. Do what it takes to get what you aim for, even if sometimes you don’t feel like it at the moment.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve always loved cameras. When I was just a little kid, I’d go to garage sales and buy any camera I could afford, then go home and if it worked, I’d shoot photos. If it didn’t work, I’d take it apart to figure out how it works. Fast forward to high school where I took a photography class and ended up getting paid to shoot a band’s photos for a homework assignment, I realized this could be more than a hobby. Then a skateboarding injury left me unable to skate with my friends, so I just focused on shooting their photos whenever there was a sesh. I started school working towards a photography degree but I dropped out because I was skipping class to go to paid photoshoots. What sets me apart from others in my field is that I just look at things and approach things differently than most. For instance, I took my skateboard photo background and applied it to equestrian sports over a decade ago. Now every horse show has someone shooting from a low angle with a wide lens, something that people were shocked when I started doing it way back then. When it comes to video work, I love practical effects. I prefer to do anything any everything on set rather than in post, when applicable. I also offer more than solely camera operations as I do my own work in set building, as a director, production, artist management, and even makeup. Basically, if you’re an artist and you hire me for a shoot, not only will you have a great product in the end, but you’ll have a rollout plan and promotional materials as well.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe that a huge factor in developing my reputation was my eagerness to learn and improve my portfolio, which led to me just being everywhere, sometimes shooting 7 days a week. When I say everywhere, I mean I’ve traveled the country to shoot as my primary source of income since 2013. Then when I’m at home, I’m shooting local bands and models at a discounted price simply because I love what I do and I know most artists at the local level can’t afford my standard pricing but could benefit from my work.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of doing creative work, is definitely seeing clients reactions to my work. With equestrian work, I generally am shooting on speculation, meaning I shoot the photos now and hope someone buys them later. One of the best feelings is when someone walks into the trailer, sees pictures of themself and gets so excited that they order a whole package on the spot. To piggyback on that, even more exciting is when that client sees me shooting at a different show months, maybe years later, and gets excited enough to come tell me they’re looking forward to buying whatever I shoot that day. Basically, seeing a client get super excited about my work is the most rewarding thing about being a creative to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: DreadPiratePhoto.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/dreadpiratephoto?utm_medium=copy_link