Lighting Essentials: Meet Don

So Who is this Guy Who Loves Light so Much?

A former drummer for jazz bands? A composer whose compositions have been played by international chamber orchestras? A dad who loves his kids more than anything in the whole world? A photographer who has kept studios in LA, Chicago and New York and shot for magazines, editorial and advertising for nearly 30 years? A former Creative Director for one of the largest ad agencies in the southwest?

Yep... that's me. Oh, and I am learning the Tenor Sax... but that doesn't have anything to do with lighting, does it?

I fell in love with photography when I was a kid and my dad gave me his cool Brownie. I was coveting his awesome Argus, but was happy to get the Brownie. I shot everything I could see. My dad and I would go into the darkroom and work with the prints under that cool red light. I fell in love with the still image.

My studio in Phoenix has a full cove and lots of room to shoot.

I believe that lighting is the key. It is the basis for great photography.

I have shot for major publications, minor publications, advertising agencies, corporations, modeling agencies and even taught photography during a particularly interesting interlude of life. 35mm, 6x6, 6x7, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 cameras. Still have everything but the 6x6 (lookin' for a great deal on a Hassie...) I love film. I love digital. I jussst picked up a Mamiya Press Camera - 6x9 - and I can't wait to take it out and shoot a few rolls. I have shot still-life, product, big studio sets, fashion and beauty. I love to photograph people now and mostly do what I love.

The studio has a full kitchen and client waiting area.

In 1995 I recognized that the web was a major tool to be harnessed. I started a little company with a guy who ended up being a back-stabbing-cheating-little-bastard... but I digress... ahem, and it grew like crazy to be one of the fastest growing tech/media companies in the region. As creative director, I was actually hiring photographers to do what I loved to do. Most were wonderful. Some sucked. And the ones who sucked couldn't light. Harsh light with silly shadows or boring light when it should have been interesting. After leaving to go it alone, I started shooting again and found that the young shooters coming up were very creative but hadn't learned to light with love and finesse. Oh, they can take a couple of speedlights and bang it out... chimping along the way and get it close enough to sorta fix it in Photoshop... but when it comes to fine light, definitive light, there isn't an understanding of light to make it truly remarkable.

So I started teaching a few at a time. This workshop is the culmination of that work. I still shoot and design and shoot some more. I dabbled in high end weddings, but they take too much time and these days I love teaching, working on the Lighting Essentials site, mentoring younger shooters and shooting for a wide range of clients. These are heady times for photographers. So many choices in cameras, lenses and fun equipment. But in the end, a photograph is of the light that was found or created. Lighting is the key to it

Hey, let's get to work...

Shawn Fonseca, New York