CameraPorn

Alright fellow camera porn addicts, this is a good one. We recently had the great pleasure of getting together with Kris Krug, an up-and-coming Vancouver fashion and editorial photographer. Kris, also known as kk+, is the founder of photography studio Static Photography, an author, technologist, public speaker, designer and all around good guy. Kris is also a major Flickr pimp, whose photographs have appeared in JPG Magazine, ION Magazine, Business Week, Wired Magazine, and more. He has covered events such as SXSW, the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the Consumer Electronics Show. As a speaker, he has been organized his own events and been invited to speak at media and technology events, including SXSW.

Aside from being a technologist and web personality, Kris is a sick photographer with a kit we’d kill him for if he didn’t live all the way up in Vancouver…

How did you get into photography?

I have been working on design projects for 10+ years, and always found it difficult to find images that I liked enough to use. I started shooting photographs primarily for use in these projects and soon realized that i enjoyed photography more than the actual designing. When one of the companies I was working for in California got acquired, I ended up with the camera that was used in the marketing department.

Would you consider yourself a photo pro, wannabe pro, or serious hobbyist and why?

I just love taking pictures.

I own a technology company in Vancouver, and such is my day job, but I am never without my camera and lenses… I shoot all the time, and often land paid gigs that help me to buy new gear and to travel.

At cameraporn, as you know, we’re obsessed with gear. Tell us about your kit - camera, lenses, lighting, accessories etc.

My primary camera is a Canon 5d… but, almost all of my favorite shots come off of my film camera. I bought it 2 years ago at a pawn shop in East Van for $150. I felt guilty having 2 nice lenses and only one body so I went out and got it and ‘reverted’ to film and am so eff’n glad I did.

I also tinker with a few other analog cameras. I have a Mamiya 645, a Lomo LCA, a Lomo Fisheye, and old Mamiya 35mm I got at the flea market with a ton of awesome glass, and about 4 various working Polaroids.

My lenses for the Canons are:

• Canon 24-70mm f2.8L
• Canon 70-200mm f 2.8L IS
• Canon 50mm f1.4

I also carry a Canon 580EX SpeedLite but have to say I barely know how to use it, so it almost never comes out.

My newest purchase and experimentation has been with a pair of Alien Bees strobes. I equipped them with a remote control trigger and one bounce umbrella and one shoot-through umbrella. Next up is softboxes.

Which is your favorite lens?

My favorite lens is my Canon 50mm f1.4. It’s so sharp it’ll cut yer eyeballs out and it’s short enough that it lets me get close enough to the subject to be a factor in the creation of the shot.

What’s your favorite subject?

I like shooting people. Big smile… bright eyes. I like taking photos of my friends and family. Lately I’ve been getting more and more interest in my work from the world of fashion photography which has put me in contact with beautiful people and clothes to shoot on a regular basis and I’m having (much success) and so much fun with it.

What do you use for post processing?

Ok, this is the part where the ‘real photographers’ in the room start throwing tomatoes. 95% of my photos I publish to the internet never go to Photoshop or Lightroom or similar. I use iPhoto on my Mac primarily to keep all my images sorted. I use iPhoto Library Manager to work with several libraries to keep the size down and make things manageable. I use PictureSync to get my photos to the web and Flickr for storage and sharing. My photography site is in Drupal and I’m currently re-working it to clean up the template and add a bunch of cool new features including integration with Flickr.

Formally trained or self taught?

Self-taught. I studied design and art, but never photography. I’ve shot pretty much every day for the past 5 years, looked at lots of other people’s photos to refine my eye, assisted photographers whom I respect, and read everything interesting I can get my hands on. My lack of formal training definitely accounts for my unique style. I think the art of photography has always been with me and the more i meet other photographers and learn, I am finetuning my natural ability.

Film or digital?

Yes please! Both.

Digital is faster and more flexible. And since I just shoot freely without worrying about shots remaining (like with film) I have often captured things that I would have otherwise missed.

Film is more beautiful and artistic. Film is awesome, a lot of my favortie portraits and fashion shots I have shot with film. Using each has its trade offs and it’s about using the right tool at the right time for the right job.

Your work has a darker, more urban feel than run-of-the-mill fashion photography. What’s your inspiration?

I wouldn’t exactly say that my style has been inspired… I feel that my photography is just a product of my surroundings, my eye for the world, and just overall the things that i find interesting and sexy. I live in cracktown gastown, and walk to work, walk around the alleys taking pics. I love all the historic brick buildings, alleys and grafitti. I find these settings cool to shoot in. I guess you could describe my photos as somewhat dark, but I find them more raw and real, and to me that is the beauty of it.

Who inspires you?

• Helmut Newton - amazing portraiture!
• Kevin Meredith - best of the planet with a Lomo-LCA.

• Merkley??? - the naughty Dr. Suess of the photography world.

• Wolfgang Tillmans - gonzo, available-light awesomeness.
• Jeremy Crowle - artist, hoodrat, friend.

Your "dream shoot"?

Music and fashion photography is definitely the stuff I enjoy shooting the most. I have this recurring dream that Bono calls me up on my cell phone in the middle of the work day or while I’m out partying one night and tells me to be at the airport in an hour… I’m going on tour with U2 and going to be their personal photographer. Since I carry almost all my gear with me all the time, I’m just pretty much sitting around waiting for the call.

What are you currently working on?

Oh man… so many things. I’m working on a conceptual creative shoot with my hoodrat buddy Jer Crowle. I’m reworking my Static Photography studio website as well as growing a newly launched photoshoot locations directory. I’m working on building my fashion and music books so I can go after the highest-end clients and projects. I’m trying to create lots of opportunities to travel and see new things. I’m trying to shoot as much as I can and not take it all too seriously.

Can you recommend any resources for people starting out?

There are so many good resources online for aspiring photographers.

ModelMayhem.com - a fashion photography site I spend a lot of time at. It’s a social networking site for models, photographers, stylists, makeup artists, etc. I’ve met a lot of people here that I’ve gone on to do creative shoots with. The functionality kinda sucks but there is an actual community of people working in the fashion industry on the site.

Flickr.com - shooting everyday, sharing your work and getting feedback, and finding other photographers whose work you like and can immitate are all very important factors in growing as a photographer. I do these things for the most part at Flickr. I have about 12,000 photos online there and about 2,000 ‘contacts’. It’s an amazing world of different styles and techniques of photography out there and I find Flickr a great portal into all that stuff.

Any quick and dirty tips for our users?

• Shoot everyday.
• Isolate the variables on your camera when learning to shoot with it
• Share your work and get feedback on it
• Find other photographers work who you like and imitate it