We were lucky to catch up with Shasta McBride recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shasta, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

How did you learn to do what you do?

I started to learn about art and color from my art teachers and the artists I was around. I started learning about photography in school and by being a model for my friends. All the photo apps that mimicked real cameras helped by making it easy to try all kinds of things. I interned for artist Adi Da Samraj and became inspired by how he could do multiple exposure images in a film camera underwater to create this completely new image. I sat for artist Roxanne Prescott as she did wet plate photography and learned a lot about texture from watching her work. She had done salt prints of the ocean and it was one of the softest textural images I’d ever seen and it was very captivating. She taught me about digital pinhole.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?

I’d get to know my camera and lens and how it works in different light as much as possible. Same for underwater and double exposure.

What skills do you think were most essential?

Feeling. Those are the images I love most; those that emote. Patience. Waiting for the “thing” to present itself. Technical skill. Comfort in any kind of environment.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more? Being too rigid in my thought process. Taking the full time it needs to develop an idea. Not rushing. My own fears and limitations preventing a more beautiful image to emerge.

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

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself:

I am an artist based in California. My work is about the feeling of quiet beauty I see in the natural world. I study the softness found in the nighttime sky, the ocean, women, water, and flowers. Growing up in Hawaii, these were my main influences.

I taught myself how to use a camera. Before that, I’d write what I see. I’d like to combine these two artforms.

what type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others.

I sell limited-edition prints of my work.

What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.

I’m discovering that my photography and writing are a conversation I am having about life. The focal point is the feeling behind it.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I don’t think this exists yet, but from my UX Design work I did a research study on how there’s no existing site between the artsy and the etsy for artists. Ideally, this platform would be a cooperative so that the owners were the artists themselves. There are existing models for this with Stocksy and Ampled.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I’d had a more innate knowledge of freedom from the beginning; the ability to get outside of what you think you’re supposed to do, how you’re supposed to do it, and any ulterior motive to do something other than the pure desire to do it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shastamcbrideartist.com
• Instagram: @shastamcbride
• Facebook: shastamcbrideartist
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/shastamcbride
• Twitter: shastamcbride

Image Credits
All images by me, Shasta McBride