We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristina Sherk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristina, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Photographers should exert as much energy into learning Photoshop as they do into lighting, and composition. In actuality, learning Lightroom and Photoshop is just as important as all of the other pillars of learning for photographers. Ansel Adams told his students that half of what they learn to become a good photographer is learned not behind the camera, but in the darkroom. I agree with him whole heartedly. Too many photographers consider photo development an afterthought. I’m hoping to change that.

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 got my start in photography through different methods than 99% of other photographers. I started as a digital art major in college. So I spent 4 years learning photoshop full time. This is how I got started in photography. I picked up a computer long before I picked up a camera. But I hope this doesn’t make any of the readers thing I’m not a true photographer. I just may use different tools than they do in my process. I’m a working headshot photographer, underwater photographer and photoshop artist. I love what I do and I’m here to make my point that it doesnt matter how you became a professional photographer, and that all paths are not the same.
Over the past 20 years, I have also grown my retouching education business SharkPixel which trains photographers globally on how to use Photoshop and Lightroom to improve their images. With over 1 million views on my youtube channel and countless success stories from my students, it heartens me to know I’m adding important training to our community. I’ve been honored to speak for Adobe, Canon and at many photo conferences around the world on the topic of photo editing and retouching.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

When it comes to my headshot business, search engine optimization is the most important thing for me. Even more important than learning to be good at taking photos in some cases. Whatever avenue helps you get your clients is the skill you should obsess about. Try to learn every aspect and detail about that element of your job. Without clients, you won’t be able to work, and without work, there wont be any money sustaining your career. So, you can see why client acquisition (whatever your alley) should be a top priority for you.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Although I’ve taught photoshop and Lightroom for some time now on my site www.Sharkpixel.com, I never felt comfortable teaching photoshop composites. I felt like I never had enough experience with creating them in order to teach them, so I avoided teaching that topic incessantly. Until the pandemic gave me the time I needed to start learning that skill. I started creating creative composites of my kids. Hoping creating these fantastical images would give me the skills I needed to learn in order to teach compositing to other photographers. At present, I’m about half way through an ABC book I’m creating for them. The completed images include J is for Jellyfish, U is for umbrella and H is for Hijack. The experiences of creating these composites has allowed me to recently release a compositing masterclass where I guide photographers through how to make creative composites. I never would have been able to release this course had it not been for this personal project.

Contact Info:

• Website: see below
• Instagram: /shark_pixel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharkpixel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-sherk-a7901060/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sharkpixel
• Other: I have two websites: www.KristinaSherk.com (photography including underwater) www.SharkPixel.com (retouching and photoshop training)