Editorial and Commercial fashion/lifestyle photographer and educator Clay Cook joins the podcast from his studio in Louisville, KY to talk about how he went from years on the road as a guitar player in a popular hard rock band, to shooting fashion editorials and commercial campaigns across the country. Although Clay was very influenced by movies at an early age and loved trying to create his own short films, at 16 years old he joined a band that would alter the trajectory of his life and send him out chasing the dream of stardom and touring the country for the next 10 years. Music became everything to him during that time and his band put out an album that attracted the attention of some in the music business and became the foundation of so many of the stories he has from the earlier part of his life. During all those years of touring, Clay started doing graphic design work to supplement his income, which led him to finally picking up a camera in an attempt to create his own stock imagery for design purposes. Before long he became more and more fascinated by figuring out photography and his band began to realize that it might be time to move on with their lives. Clay began to put more of his focus on becoming a better shooter and finding clients and the rest is history. During our conversion Clay talks about the personal project and book that helped launch his career, why he's chosen to keep his studio in a smaller market like Louisville, KY when he is shooting national work, what motivates him to keep creating, some of the positive and negative aspects of getting involved in the online education world of photography, and the advice he gives to others coming up.
To Learn More About Clay Cook Visit:
And Follow Him on Instagram At:
https://www.instagram.com/claycookphoto/
To Learn More About Visual Revolutionary Visit:
http://www.visualrevolutionary.com
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Action Sports and Commercial Filmmaker, and one of the co-founders of Anthill Films, Darren McCullough joins the podcast to talk about the crew's latest film "Return to Earth" and how he went from being a kid growing up in the small town of Lions Bay BC to becoming part of a filmmaking team making some of the most cutting edge mountain bike films available. As a kid growing up in a small town with access to both the mountain lifestyle and the ocean, Darren had an early love for skiing and outdoor adventures. So it was only natural that after his older brother started getting him involved in photography and filmmaking in High School, that he had created his first ski film before he even thought about the prospect of college or the future. Because of those early tastes of creative success, and with his older brother's mentorship and encouragement, Darren began to pursue what else could come from what seemed to be a fairly natural eye for shooting. After years of working for others in the commercial realm and continuing his education through a short stint in film school and multiple professional mentorships, Darren realized that he missed being a part of the mountain lifestyle that his first ski film had afforded him. During that time he met a crew of like minded creatives working on a mountain bike film that would soon become the foundation of The Collective, and would go on to produce three full length feature films and after that would form the basis of what makes up Anthill Films and a very impressive list of film titles that are helping to revolutionize what a mountain bike video looks like in today's standards. During our conversation we discuss the amount of time and schedule that goes into making a full length film like "Return to Earth", how they go about juggling commercial work with their passion of making mountain bike movies, how he deals with burnout when it sets in, the democracy of working with a big crew, and the advice he gives to those who dream of one day making their own sports action movies.
To Learn More About Anthill Films or buy the movie Visit:
To Rent or Buy the movie "Return To Earth" Visit
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/return-to-earth/id1470555308
And Follow Them on Instagram At:
https://www.instagram.com/anthillfilms/
To Learn More About Visual Revolutionary Visit:
http://www.visualrevolutionary.com
And Follow On Instagram At:
https://www.instagram.com/visualrevolutionary/