Workshop 2 Crew

Feature 1

AJ Teiger

Home: California, USA

Gear: Sony a6300 with sigma 18-35, 16, canon 100, Mavic pro

Experience: I have been shooting for exactly two years to this date. First time I made a drone video and posted it on instagram was today. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BMDE5aOhiIJ/?hl=en&taken-by=ajteiger) (different date because I switched accounts)

Best Work: I traveled to Kyoto Japan, and after watching many of Beautiful Destinations very cinematic, and more cultural videos I was inspired to make this one and believe it is still one of my best works of art. 

https://ajteiger.myportfolio.com/kyoto

Greatest Strength: I would say my eye for shots and knowing what I think will look really good and what will work with the rest of the sequence and what won’t. 

Improvement Points: How to really use natural lighting to ones advantage and how to work with it. How to set up certain shots involving lighting as well as the settings on camera necessary to get a better shot. 

Inspiration: Probably the most generic answer but this man is incredible: Sam Kolder. I know, please don’t judge me. Along with him, Rory Kramer has really influenced my speed ramping among other things, Nainoa Langer and Matt Komo are also huge inspirations. Gibson Hazard is an amazing visual effects editor as well. Sam Dameshek is also an amazing photographer. The list goes on. 

Learns by: I like to watch what someone does, try it myself, then ask for help/advice if I am struggling. I find that learning through experience is the way that techniques and concepts are really ingrained in me. 

Struggles: The biggest struggle would be the presence on social media. I truly believe I have the talent to create amazing content for companies, but I lack the other half that also matters a lot: an audience, and a very big one at that. It has to do with me being a student and not fully committing to being on social media every day.

2

Spencer Duke

Home: Vancouver, BC

Gear: 1DX Mark ii, RX100 Mark V, GoPro Hero 6, Canon 100mm Macro 2.8, Canon 16-35 2.8 ii, Rokinon 14mm, DJI Mavic Pro 

Experience: Just over 1 year!  

Best Work: I have attached a few photos I am really proud of. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v80KrUpRAI-vwaec6u867gLZv2TW1i2k 

Greatest Strength: I think my greatest strength is my ability to be run & gun. What I mean by that is I don't need a lot of planning and thinking before shooting photos and video, I tend to just go right into it and adapt as I go. 

Improvement Points: I want to improve my video editing & workflow. I feel pretty comfortable when it comes to photography but I am still learning a lot as far as video goes. I want to be able to edit fast but produce quality content on a consistent basis. 

Inspirations: Jon Olsson, I love his outlook on life and the way he manages to put out so much content and keep it creative, unique, and engaging. 

Learns By: I am a very visual learner so after I see someone do it, I generally get the hang of it pretty quick. I'm totally cool with jumping in and going for it but having that visual aspect of seeing someone really helps. 

Struggles: My first struggle is finding ways to monetize it. I haven't quite yet figured out what the best way to make money through content creation is. 

Especially when traveling... I've been traveling the past two months and am going to continue into the next year and making money through content has been a struggle since I am still pretty new to it. 

My other struggle is deciding what kind of content to focus on, I know shooting concerts is a lot different from shooting travel videos which are different from commercials. 

I want to find a focus that I can put more effort into and get a lot better at. 

Alex Peterson

Home: Wisconsin, USA

Gear: 5D Mark IV, a 6D, Phantom 4, Glidecam, GoPro 5, GoPro Gimbal, Gear backpacks

Experience: 3 years - 1 as a hobby, 2 doing freelance work

Work: https://www.alexpetersonmedia.com/

Greatest Strength: I would say my greatest strength is turning around my work quickly. Even though I have a lot I want to learn another one of my strengths would be editing and editing flow.

Improvement Points: 

Communicating with brands, finding work with artists, finding and doing work in more than just the music field

Finding/Utilizing a mentor 

Editing - masking (A$AP Forever music video)

Inspirations: Rory Kramer, Sam Kolder, Taylor Williams, Matt Komo, Yoder, Spencer Taylor

Learns By: Having someone challenge me and give me goals/ideas to execute pushes me to keep learning; then by jumping and doing/practicing it. I also learn a lot from asking questions once I start something new. 

Struggles: I’ve been in a debate about whether or not I want to take a year off of school. This school year was my first year living in Chicago and I feel like I’ve made a good amount of progress and connections but haven’t had the exposure or opportunity to shoot anything bigger than artists that come through the clubs I work at. I feel like I could always be taking on more work but choose not to because I have to take care of school. Because of that I feel sort of stagnant being in school. I also don’t have a steady mentor or friends around me that also do photo/film to push me. I got an internship with a company in summer to hopefully shoot Spring Awakening and Lolla. I’m really looking forward to going on this trip to level up my work, networking, and outreach so I can push myself further this summer.