Name: Kelcey Lynn Olson
Age: 19
Equipment: Canon 5D, Rebel XSi, 50mm 1.4, Argus C3, and various film p&s cameras from Goodwill.
Experience: Cinco anos
What kind of lighting do you use?
I use a Westcott 40” 5-in-1 reflector once in awhile, usually when the lighting is harsh. It’s easier to just find a shady spot than take out a ginormous reflector though. I also have a cheap ringflash that I use for self-portraits mostly.
Do you REALLY just shoot with one lens?
Yes, yes I do. Life is hard in the ghetto.
RAW or JPEG?
RAAAAAAAW
How did you get into photography?
When I was a wee child (about 6 or 7) my dad came home with an Argus C3, still have/use it, that he picked up from a garage sale. I didn’t know ANYTHING about photography, but I liked learning how the camera worked. Before that I bought a little film Barbie camera with my birthday money and took photos of the TV on Animal Planet because I wanted to take photos like in National Geographic. They looked terrible, but it was still fun. After that I forgot all about photography and went through my life up until the 8th grade no knowing what to do with my life. Then I used my foster mom’s digital p&s at the zoo one day and it was just like love at first sight. After that I learned everything I could about photography and worked my ass off to get better.
Why did you get into photography?
Because I absolutely love it! Everyone constantly tells me, “You won’t ever be rich.” Or, “Anyone can take a photo!” I went into this knowing I was going to be broke, at least for the first decade or so. It takes a LOT of work to make a living off of any career in the creative field and I went into this because any other career wouldn’t make me a happy. It is true that anyone can take a photo, but I’m trying to tell a story. I don’t see too many people taking pictures of flowers and being successful, but if you can create a story of a wedding or a child’s birthday with your photos than you will be successful.
Have you had any formal training?
The only training that I guess you could categorize as formal would be two years of high school photography. Of course the toughest thing in that class was printing photos the correct color because our monitors weren’t calibrated, so I didn’t learn anything new really. The rest of my knowledge was all self-taught.
What do you use to edit photos?
I use Lightroom 2 paired up with Alien Skin Exposure 3 for 95% of my editing. I also use Photoshop 7 but that’s usually just to resize, add my watermark, and for messing around with different editing styles when I’m bored.
