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

CJ, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Life is about Risk. And success is often directly related to the risk you are willing to take on. It is risky photographing lava, surf, sharks, lightning, tornados, inside ice caves and traveling to remote parts of the world to capture unique perspectives. But the risk taken to photograph these things, often in dangerous areas that others will not attempt has great reward. It is also risky to quit your sole source of income and take a second mortgage out on your house to start a gallery but these are all risks I took. And all these risks paid off. I am not saying just go out and do risky things but rather take calculated risks that will at least put the odds in your favor.

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 a professional fine art photographer from Kona Hawaii. I specialize in photographing extreme things from ofter dangerous locations. I have photographed the Kilauea volcano for over 25 years and have owned and sold my art from galleries for around 20 years. I am known for being the first photographic artist to ever photograph Lava down the barrel of a wave while swimming in the surf next to the active volcano. I am well known for my lava photography of the most active volcano in the world but I am also know for photographing many other interesting and extreme subjects like surf, sharks, storms, ice caves, aurora and traveling to remote locations all around the world for unique perspectives. I started my first gallery around 20 years ago with my friend Nick Selway and still operated galleries today with my partners Don and Linda Hurzeler. All my employees are also friends and photographers Phil Waller, Ted Silverberg and Billy Doaner. What I offer as a product used to be quite common but is becoming less and less common every year. I offer true unadulterated photographic art, Created with a camera not with a computer. When I started photography it was all film. You captured what you captured in one frame and while you could work on it to make a better print in the darkroom dodging and burning creatively bring out the best in that image, you were limited to what you captured in that one frame. In todays day and era what people think of as dark room work and what is becoming more and more accepted as part of the photography process is combining the best part of multiple photos into one to make a perfect image, This is just not my process for me i still only count it as a photograph if it is captured in one frame. I will process my image to make it perfect for print much like Ansel Adams would have worked in the dark room dodging and burning a slide to make a perfect print now it is done in the digital darkroom. But still like Ansel Adams just one shot not many combined together. I have no problem with people who choose to take the graphic arts approach to creating an image just to me they are different challenges in the creation of the final print. For me my challenge is to get it the best that I can for print in a single frame. I have to balance my light in old photography ways using graduated filters that are have dark and half clear to darken areas of an image while I take it or adding light to a scene with a constant light or a strobe because i do not have the option to photograph the scene at dusk with available light then combine it with a later image of star, the milkyway or aurora. I have to think of creative ways to capture shots in a single frame rather then creating my image on a computer. It also means that I may have to return to a location many times to get the right conditions and have to do my research to know when things will be in the right locations. If i do not get a good sunrise I have to go back I can not just add a sky, If The milkyway is not visible in my location at that time of year I need to research to be at that location at the right time to capture it not just add it in. Some people will capture many frames in the same location to create a perfect shot not adding from other dates or times just trying to make the scene perfect. If you focus stack many images you do not need to use a tilt shift lens for depth of field you can just combined many shots at different focus points to make the image perfect, A milky way shot will be the clearest and most defined if it is many shots combined and the computer will average everything out to make a perfect milkyway shot then if you want no noise in your foreground you photograph that at dusk before it gets too dark. combined all off these and you have a perfectly lit foreground with a milkyway all takin while the camera was on the same tripod same location and same lens and it will be perfect no noise and very bright. For me to do the same shot I would have to calculate when the moon would be less then half full and just rising behind me to light the scene and when the milkyway would be in the correct position for my composition then show up on that night and hope there were no clouds to interfere with the composition. This moment may only happen a few nights a year. The moon would light my scene while I do a long 20 second exposure on a very fast wide angle lens at high ISO to capture the milkyway. I have to purchase the fastest wide angle lenses and best full frame low light cameras to get this shot so I can keep my ISO lower to avoid as much noise as possible. Even with the best gear money can buy and planing that is done to photograph it under perfect conditions my image will still have more noise and slight imperfections then someone who captured it using cheaper equipment on whatever night they wanted because they did not need moonlight to light the scene using the multiple shot method. That being said my image was still a great challenge and I love my slight imperfections because they tell the viewer it was shot in this way. It is like a piece of wood carved by hand versus one craved by a machine. While the one carved by had took a different skill learned over years the one carved by machinery just need someone who knows how to work the machine. I am most proud that in this would of instant gratification through computers I have been able to stick to and enjoy the challenges of true photography even though my art will not do as well on social media platforms because it is more often between great shots as I can not just make a new one everyday I am at the mercy of the elements and because mine are not photoshopped to pure visual perfection I am not doing it for the gram I am ding it for myself and the love of the challenge of the photographic art. Nowadays with AI the next generation will not even need to use a camera to be popular on social media Ai will make it for them. This to me is truly sad because I did not become a photographic artist to spend my time indoors on a computer I did it o\to get me outdoors on adventures in nature the art is a byproduct of that. I am just glad I got to experience the world the way that I have and share that world that I witness though my lens with others hoping to inspire them to get out and explore.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I had a vision to photograph lava down the barrel of a wave . I had hopped in the water to swim next to it on a bench beach ( a temporary beach that is formed at the end of a lava bench as the lava hits the water and is broken into cinders and sand) as I was body surfing net to the lava I saw the lava through the surf. This shot burned into my mind and became an obsession to capture. I immediately ordered a surf housing for my camera so I could bring it in the water with me to capture this sight. By the time my water housing arrived the the beach i was swimming on dropped off into the ocean as part of a 40 acre bench collapse. These lava benches are land that grows out from new areas that the lava hits the sea. Often they are only supported by loose cinder. When the surf removes the cinder there is nothing holding up the bench so it will unexpectedly break free and drop off in the ocean. After retuning to find the beach gone I started photographing waves in the shore break getting ready for my next opportunity. It took 5 years and many tries swimming with the lava until just the right beach was formed and conditions were all right to capture the shot.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is first being able to be there in that moment but then to be able to share that moment with others and see their reaction. For the reactions I get from people on social media, to the look of amazement I see on their faces when the see the art in my gallery and hear the stories to how proud they are to hang a piece of my art in their home and share the stories with theirs friends, family and loved ones. This is the most rewarding thing I think any artist can experience.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lavalightgalleries.com
• Instagram: @cj_kale_hawaii
• Facebook: Cj Kale
• Twitter: Not gonna do it I have no complaints
• Youtube: Lava Light Galleries
• Yelp: Not gonna do it I have no complaints

Image Credits
CJ Kale Lava Light Galleries