In conversation with the successful Photoshop Professional
„Photography is the more important part – picture editing is the more enjoyable one.“
Calvin Hollywood is a famous photographer and digital artist from Germany. His main subject is people and the focus of his work is on digital image editing with Adobe Photoshop.
Calvin also offers coaching, tutorials and workshops about image manipulation and photography. Read more about it at his homepage calvinhollywood-blog.com!
Our colleagues met him at the PCP tour in Germany and took the chance to ask him a few questions. Read on to find out what he told them:
print24:
Hi Calvin, how did you become so involved with Photoshop and photography?
Calvin:
Photoshop was love at first sight and I just enjoy tweaking things. I can´t draw but Photoshop gives me the chance to create picturesque impressions. I quickly found out that I progress a lot faster when I work with good raw material. That brought me behind the camera, creating my own material.
Photography is the more important part – picture editing is the more enjoyable one.
print24:
It’s safe to say you are a Photoshop-Pro and professional photographer. What was most important to reach this point?
Calvin:
My pictures for sure but I think it helped a lot to show presence. I was very active and tried to spread my name everywhere like a virus. I wanted as many people as possible to know the name Calvin Hollywood. Of course it´ s impossible to realize overnight, but convincing people of you and your talent is very important.
print24:
You won the 2009 „Photoshop World Guru Award“ in the US. How can one participate and which criteria have to be fulfilled to win such an award?
Calvin:
I think you have to be member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). It’s an association founded by Scott Kelby. I didn´t expect that to happen and was really surprised when it did. In general it´ s quite important to participate in this kind of competition as you gain more attention and sometime win great prizes.
print24:
There’s a lot of talk about the Calvin-Hollywood-Look. What is this look and how do you create it?
Calvin:
If I have to describe it, I would say it´ s a mixture of strong contrast, illustrative elements and glancing light. The look includes loads of boring techniques which are rather complicated to explain without showing them. The main aspects are lighting, model, outfit and of course the manipulation afterwards. There’s no real secret behind it …my DVDs contain all tips & tricks.
print24:
Where do you get the inspiration for all these expressive and lifelike pictures?
Calvin:
I take a lot from other artists and create my own version of it. Sometimes when I implement my own ideas I find that someone else beat me to it. Joining communities also provides plenty of inspiration from professionals or even absolute beginners.
print24:
Looking at your website it seems you prefer portraits. Why is that such an important part of your work, and what kinds of person do you like to capture in your photographs?
Calvin:
It’s simply because I absolutely love to work with people. I enjoy shooting men and striking heads. People can be fat and ugly. I like unique faces.
print24:
Is there a shooting which you remember better than others and what was so special about it?
Calvin:
There were too many…I have no special one which I would consider especially memorable. That also changes with almost every new shooting. Spontaneously I would say the shooting with Marc Terenzi was sort of remarkable. We arrived with two cars full of lighting equipment and ended up partly illuminating with electric torches.
print24:
We were happy to follow your presentation during the PCP-Tour and found your tips & tricks really helpful and easy to follow. You also create tutorials about your techniques: Is that your new big passion or do you still rather enjoy being behind the camera and doing shootings?
Calvin:
Both…I planned to cut down on my role as trainer to do more studio work but it is soooo much fun. I’m still not entirely sure which road I’ll take as I really enjoy both roles.
print24:
Your current project is called „Project One“. You take couples and fuse their individual images into a single person portrait. That’s a rather unique idea. What inspired you to do that and what is the message behind the project?
Calvin:
I did something similar for the Docma Award in 2005. I wanted to do that again and as I’m married I found it interesting to give the familiar statement of couples “We are one” a pictorial expression. Since I had a lot of fun at the first shooting I just continued doing it.
print24:
Do you have an advice or maxim which you would like to pass along to young photographers on their way up?
Calvin:
The most important thing is to love what you’re doing. If you loose the passion and drive continuing is going to be tough. Always be yourself. That´s not as simple as it sounds all the time but if you manage to be authentic life and work will be a lot of fun :)
This article is a translation of the German Interview with Calvin Hollywood.
LB, EZ, MO
Photos: © calvinhollywood-blog.de
