Does he shoot RAW? “Absolutely,” he says. “Is there any other choice?”
Evans processes his RAW fi les in Capture One. Unlike many other
photographers, he edits in-camera fi rst. A typical session with a mother
and child, for example, would produce approximately 150 edited images.
As he explains, “Obviously, I won’t show them that many, only 30, maybe
40. More would be too overwhelming. There’s a subtlety I’m looking for.
I’m very confi dent in my ability, so I do a great deal of in-camera editing,
checking focus, expression, composition, and getting rid of what I don’t
like, on the fl y, so my fi nal edit will be easier. It saves me a lot of time on the
backend. Even though I’m an over-shooter, I’m also an in-camera editor.”
Evans’ somewhat unorthodox approach to shooting extends to his
session philosophy as well. “I want things to go wrong,” he says. “I want
there to be a mistake. Technically, I understand things; I’ve studied them
for years. I want something to go wrong that will challenge me artistically.
For instance, if one of my lights doesn’t function properly I won’t freak out
– I like that because it forces me to do something diff erently, and I have to
adapt and do something new. I invite challenge.”
After a somewhat low-tech session, his clients are often surprised by
Evans’ high-tech presentation. After being seated in what may be the
most comfortable leather couch in the world, clients watch as their
images seemingly materialize in front of them. “I’m using a rear projector
against a screen, called Glassfi re, that’s suspended in the air on aircraft
cable. So the client sits down and watches a presentation, with music,
using a program called ProSelect. Think about it; clients know about
computer monitors, plasma and fl at-screen televisions. I want something
the customer will look at and say, ‘Wow! I’ve never seen this before’ versus
something that’s just too familiar.”
“The projector I’m using is very old, probably 10 years or more, and it’s
only 1200 lumens, but I don’t need a lot of lumens to show images in a
slightly lit room. The whole setup cost about $3000.00, a small price for
the “Wow!”
Even though it’s taken him years to build up his market, he’s not afraid of
competition, and freely off ers advice to new photographers.
“First, if you’re new, you need to learn everything you can learn about this
business, so that you can freely create because you have the technical
expertise and knowledge. That foundation is so incredibly important.”
“Secondly, you have to fi nd out who you are creatively and artistically, so
you know what makes you diff erent from your competition. What angle,
what direction, what artistic vision, do you have. Find out what makes
you excited, takes your breath away and stops you in your tracks. Study
it, understand it, learn as much as you can about it, then apply it to your
own work. As you learn you’ll get even more excited and fascinated about
that subject. Your enthusiasm will only grow.”
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