Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Myles Heidenreich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Myles thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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.
I started in college taking a 35mm black & white darkroom class. That’s where I learned how to process film, the technical aspects of the cameras and how they work, and learned the fundamentals of how to compose a photo. After that I was hooked and decided to follow it as a career focusing on portraiture and live music. I decided not to take it further by going into art school and taking on that school debt. Sometimes I wonder if that would have led me to different paths or connections. I think one of the biggest skills I learned early was how to work with a subject when shooting with someone. I started just shooting my friends and most of them were not comfortable naturally in front of a camera. So I had to learn how to make people comfortable and with that get the best possible photo you can. I also fell in love with the different styles of photography which helped me gain alot of skills within my craft.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After deciding to pursue photography I had a lot of friends who were in metal bands and I so started bringing my camera to their shows. That taught me how to shoot in dark fast paced environments which as a crucial skill to learn early. Then I got asked to shoot with LED who is now FNGRS CRSSD at their club in downtown San Diego called Voyer. There I started to develop my shooting style and etiquette when working in live shows and with teams. At the same time I was always drawn to portraits and showing people candidly which I brought into my music photography. Then I started developing a love for shooting press shots for artist/musicians and trying to bring my style to it, especially playing with concept work. I love building scenes and creating unique sets and individual ideas for each artist I work with. I am currently diving deeper into my studio portrait work and starting to play with some new ideas in that realm.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I am striving to grow level of concepts I create, hoping that will also grow the level of artist I work with . I think there is always mo re to learn and I think I still have a long way to go. But the challenge to keep playing with ideas and trying to make any weakness in my photography a strength. I am lucky to have a solid group of friends who are also incredible photographers/videographers and it always makes me want to work harder. If someone views a portrait I shot and even for a second gets a feeling of who that person is, then I have done something good.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I went to school originally for automotive design but as I was in my classes I realized I didn’t have the passion to get to where I wanted. I then took a 35mm Photography class and my teacher had so much passion and got me excited and I fell in love with self developing and learning more about photography. Now its something that I cant imagine not doing for work anymore.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.2ndnaturephoto,com
- Instagram: @2ndnaturemedia
Image Credits
All photos are shot and owned by me