kenna klosterman

Seth Miranda's career in photography has been as unique as his images. In addition to his own YouTube channel featuring live demos and product reviews, you may know him from his numerous series for AdoramaTV including LiveView, Rewind (weekly industry news in review), and AdoramaXP on Twitch. Seth loves to share knowledge and as you’ll hear, is full of life and passion for everything he sets his mind to. For over 15 years Seth has specialized in photographing SFX, collaborating with Special Effects Makeup artists for MakeUp Designory, MakeUp Artist Magazine and many more facets of the industry. In this episode, Seth takes us along for a wild ride of his life’s journey, from a teenage BMX skater already getting images published to the wins and struggles of being a creative freelancer to his work today as non-stop content creator for AdoramaTV. 

This is We Are Photographers with Seth Miranda and this is his story.

Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, speaker, and educator. She's a contributing editor to Audubon magazine, a bimonthly columnist on wildlife photography for Outdoor Photographer magazine, an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and an Ambassador for Project Coyote. She speaks and writes extensively on issues of ethics and conservation in wildlife photography, and leads workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Melissa’s work has been published in numerous books and magazines, such as Smithsonian, Audubon, National Wildlife, and Natural History. Her work is represented by National Geographic Image Collection. 

In this episode we talk about Melissa’s love and empathy for wild animals from an early age. She poetically describes swimming with humpback whales, studying acoustic communications of forest elephants, and the moment she created her favorite image of all time. She explains why she’s dedicated to conservation photography and how you too can create stories that impact the causes you care about most.

This is We Are Photographers with Melissa Groo and this is her story.

Mariangela Abeo is a photographer, producer, writer and public speaker. She’s the creator of Faces of Fortitude, a movement in portraits that strives to lay a foundation for healing for those affected by suicide. Faces of Fortitude provides a safe, stigma-free space, virtually through social media, and in-person with appearances and gallery events, for mental health and suicide to be discussed. Mariangela recently stood on the TEDx stage for the first time in Youngstown, Ohio to deliver her talk entitled Celebrate the Survivor: Creating a Safe Space around Suicide. Her goal is to combat the mental health stigma at a grassroots level, where it all begins.

In this episode Mariangela returns to the CreativeLive studios where Faces of Fortitude was conceived and describes the moment when the lightbulb went off during a class by Stacy Pearsall. We talk about her personal transformation in the past two years since she began Faces as a personal project on the weekends. Being self-taught, she explains what it took to push through imposter syndrome and call herself a photographer. We talk about how words that are whispered can create shame and she gives us a sneak peek into writing her next TEDx talk. 

This is We Are Photographers with Mariangela Abeo and this is her story.

Elena S. Blair is a Seattle-based photographer, mother of three, and owns a thriving lifestyle family and newborn photography business. She is also passionate about building community and encouraging other photographers to find depth and purpose in their work and business through both online and in-person education.  

In this episode, Elena and I talk about her photography and life journey over the past eleven years since she followed her intuition and against all logic bought a camera with insurance money after her house was broken into. We explore how she’s boldly turned traumatic life experiences into opportunity. Hear how being vulnerable allowed her to build a community and give people a space to express and share their own struggles. Find out where Elena repeatedly heard the phrase as a child, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ You’ll learn why an abundance mindset isn’t just about money.

This is We Are Photographers with Elena S. Blair and this is her story. 

Ian Shive is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer whose work documents some of the world’s most pristine environments and brings to the public important conservation stories from around the globe. In 2015, he led a team of filmmakers and scientists on a groundbreaking mission in Cuba for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” and over the past few years he has launched several expeditions to document for the first time some of the Pacific Ocean’s most remote marine national monuments for two films, Midway: Edge of Tomorrow and Hidden Pacific. Ian is the founder of Tandem Stills + Motion, a leading outdoor photography and film production company.

In this episode, Ian takes us on an exploration from filming great white sharks in Cuba to albatross on Midway Island to the vibrant underwater life surrounding several protected atolls in the Pacific. In a time of extreme environmental threats to our planet, Ian explains why he’s chosen to primarily focus on stories of hope. We go back to 8-year old inquisitive Ian who felt connected to nature from a young age and how the immersive experience of viewing Hidden Pacific in IMAX theaters will hopefully gift youth across the world that same connection to nature. Hear about partnering with organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and all about the latest inspiring work of Tandem Stills + Motion.

This is We Are Photographers with Ian Shive and this is his story.

Felix Kunze is a portrait photographer and studio lighting educator living in New York City. Born in East Germany and raised in England, he now spends his time highlighting the grace, strength, enthusiasm, and beauty of people through his impeccably lit photographs. His recent projects are centered around scientists, explorers, and environmentalists, to elevate their standing in society through photographs. 

In this episode, we discuss why Felix is focusing his photography on issues that will have more of an impact in fifty years than they do now. He tells the story of what it took to get a portrait of Greta Thunberg with direct eye contact and why access is the biggest challenge for any photographer. Felix shares what it felt like to photograph an image of eight of the surviving Apollo astronauts at The Explorers Club. We journey to the remote Gobi desert in Mongolia on an expedition of geologists to study a mass extinction from 365 million years ago and he reveals his formula for getting paid work through personal projects. 

This is We Are Photographers with Felix Kunze and this is his story.

Vanessa Joy has been photographing couples and educating pros worldwide since 2002. She focuses her business in the NJ and NYC area, and alongside her partnerships with Canon and Adorama she helps pros take their businesses to the next level. Her hit show Breathe Your Passion on AdoramaTV covers everything from photography skills, marketing, workflow and how to live and breathe your passion. 

Vanessa is the ultimate life-long learner and life-long teacher. In this episode we learn how she falls in love with photography over and over again to not get burned out. We hear why she has the coolest dad in the world who taught her a strong work ethic. Find out what motivated Vanessa to write her first book, The Off-Camera Flash Handbook. We discuss learning to walk away from the expectations of others and of herself as she continually pivots her career, including what she has in store for us all in 2020. 

This is We Are Photographers with Vanessa Joy and this is her story.

Daniel Dart is an artist, activist, filmmaker and photographer. In 2015 he launched DEC Projects, an impact focused strategic communications and international development firm whose tagline is aptly, 'Creating Global Campaigns & Content That Raise Awareness + Change Culture'.

In this jam-packed episode Daniel takes us on a journey from being a punk rocker in the band Time Again to being incarcerated, appealing & having his sentence reduced by two years. We talk about his experiencing homelessness and doing criminal justice work with the White House. We explore a number of his projects including Rich City Poor Man, The Fight: Tunisia’s Battle For Democracy, and a partnership with Leica and the United Nations to bring Sofort cameras to refugee camps in Algeria. He takes us to remote places in the Middle East and explains why he created the global event series Future Changemakers. You’ll understand why Daniel’s work is centered around giving a voice to the voiceless and find out why he believes everyone has a capacity for good.

This is We Are Photographers with Daniel Dart and this is his story.

Grace Chon is a commercial and editorial animal photographer, acclaimed for her highly expressive portraits of animals and authentic photos of people and their pets. Her clients include ad agencies, pet brands, magazines, publishing companies, celebrities, and TV shows. Grace is also the author of 2 dog photography books - Waggish: Dogs Smiling for Dog Reasons and Puppy Styled: Japanese Dog Grooming Before and After. 

In this episode Grace shares the secret to being an amazing animal photographer. We talk about the making of her book Puppy Styled after a series of images that will make you laugh and smile went viral. Grace explores her mission for her podcast Creativity School and why people thought she was crazy (including herself) when she left the advertising world as an award-winning creative director to be a pet photographer. Graces takes us on her journey learning to see fear as an opportunity for growth. She explains how she built a name for herself as an LA celebrity pet photographer and gives us a sneak peek of her new portrait series exploring the healing power of dogs. 

This is We Are Photographers with Grace Chon and this is her story.

Connect with Grace at www.gracechon.com, on IG @thegracechon and subscribe to her podcast Creativity School.

Listen to all of our We Are Photographers podcast episodes and find show notes on CreativeLive. Subscribe, rate & review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Thanks for listening!

Yasmeen Turayhi is a first generation Iraqi American who has spent the vast majority of her life caught in between two worlds—one as an American, and one as an Iraqi. She also lives two lives simultaneously as a filmmaker and runs a product marketing advisory service Modern Product with diverse experience in finance, energy, fintech, healthtech, adtech and more. She’s the author of Product Marketing Debunked and serves on the Board of Directors of TechWadi, helping create bridges for entrepreneurs between the greater Middle East and Silicon Valley.

In this episode Yasmeen explains why she was driven to create her short and feature film projects including A Star in the Desert and The Day Everything Changed—to share an under-represented perspective from the Middle East, from families who are on the receiving end of war & conflict, and expand perspectives and global consciousness. We hear about running a 122% funded Kickstarter, what she learned about financing short films while on crutches for four months and the dedication of a group of 30+ people who believed in her mission.

This is We Are Photographers with Yasmeen Turayhi and this is her story.

Be sure to subscribe, rate and review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! 

Benjamin Von Wong's work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution. Von Wong was recently named one of Adweek's 11 content branded masterminds. He is a motivational speaker and educator whose mission is to help make positive impact unforgettable.

In this episode Von Wong explores what the term Artivist means to him and why since 2016 he’s only done social impact work, including the projects Strawpocalypse, Plastikophobia, and Tallest Closet. He explains why he wouldn’t be where he is today if he didn’t openly share his process via behind the scenes videos to a global audience, many of whom now volunteer to help with his big ideas such as gathering 168k straws off the streets. We talk about leaving a career as a hard rock mining engineer, why he resonates so much with unicorns, and the need for creatives to always readapt as the world evolves around us. 

This is We Are Photographers with Benjamin Von Wong and this is his story.

Connect with Von Wong at vonwong.com and unforgettablelabs.com, IG @vonwong, TW @thevonwong, YT @thevonwong    

Listen to all of the We Are Photographers podcast episodes on CreativeLive or subscribe & listen anywhere you get your podcasts!

Chase Jarvis is an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, and named one of the most influential photographers of the past decade. His commercial campaigns included clients such as Apple, Nike, and Red Bull just to name a few. He created Best Camera – the first photo app to share images to social networks. On his podcast Chase Jarvis Live, Chase digs into what makes some of the world’s top creative entrepreneurs, artists, and authors tick. He’s the Founder & CEO of CreativeLive, where more than 10 million of you around the globe learn photography, video, design, music and business from the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.

In this episode we explore Chase’s personal evolution as a creative and entrepreneur culminating in writing his new book Creative Calling. We follow the through line of what he’s learned about the value of creativity from the thousands of leaders and experts he’s spoken with all over the world. Hear what his 2nd grade teacher Ms. Kelly said that jolted his creative identity, and the tragic loss that brought him back to it. We discuss what happens when you begin making decisions with your intuition or gut instead of your rational brain and what Chase means by action over intelligence. Learn about his IDEA framework for the creative process, why the A ‘Amplify’ step is the least understood, and why participating in community, no matter big or small, is the key to success. Chase explains life’s two arcs of acquisition and contribution and we find out why CreativeLive indeed exists.

This is We Are Photographers with Chase Jarvis and this is his story.

Follow all things Chase Jarvis:
chasejarvis.com | creativecalling.com | Chase Jarvis Live Podcast
@chasejarvis on IG TW FB YT

Listen to all We Are Photographers podcast episodes on CreativeLive or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite podcasts!

Tomayia Colvin is a photographer, educator, speaker, author, magazine publisher and conference founder with a PhD in educational leadership. She’s the founder of Tomayia Colvin Education, an online community created to empower Black and photographers of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups. She created The Cookout, one part photography conference and one part family cookout with bomb potato salad. Tomayia authored the best-selling children’s book Mya’s Big Adventures: Career Day and is nationally published High School Senior Portrait (and Wedding) Photographer.

In this episode Tomayia shares the importance of being a living example and mentor for her children. We explore her inner teacher from playing school as a kid, being a middle and high school teacher, launching her own education platform and creating spaces for others to teach, mentor, network and build community. We discuss the need for The Cookout conference with an all Black speaker line up of mostly women filling a void in the industry with a safe and comfortable environment. If you want to know how she balances it all, what she tells herself in the face of fear, this is a must-listen episode.

This is We Are Photographers with Tomayia Colvin and this is her story.

Connect with Tomayia Colvin at
tomayiacolvineducation.com, FB Group, IG @tomayiacolvineducation and tomayiacolvin.com, IG @tomayiacolvin, FB Tomayia Colvin

Listen to all We Are Photographers podcast episodes on CreativeLive or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite podcasts!

Jen Rozenbaum is a boudoir photographer who has dedicated herself to helping women discover their femininity and celebrate it shamelessly. She runs a boutique boudoir studio in New York and is a Nikon Ambassador and on Westcott’s Top Pro Team. She’s an educator, speaker, podcaster and author that helps other photographers build their business and their life.

In this episode, we talk about Jen’s mission for her clients as a boudoir photographer and what it means to be Shamelessly Feminine. Jen shares her journey healing from breast cancer and how cancer changed her life and relationship with fear. We travel to a hole in the ground in Peru where Jen experienced the fertility goddess Pachamama and her tips for setting healthy boundaries in life. We explore her challenges and self-discovery while writing and then rewriting a book about fear, body positivity, shame, loving yourself and relationships. We discuss meditation, trauma and the brain and how Jen has learned to have a lot more grace for herself.

This is We Are Photographers with Jen Rozenbaum and this is her story.

Connect with Jen Rozenbaum on jenrozenbaum.com and @jenrozenbaum on IG, FB, TW and YouTube.

Listen to all We Are Photographers episodes on CreativeLive and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts!

Andrew Scrivani is a photographer, director, writer, educator and producer who has worked on editorial, publishing, advertising, documentary, and feature film projects. One of the most prolific food photographers in the industry, Andrew has been a contributor to The New York Times for over 17 years. His images have been featured in over a dozen cookbooks and his first book, That Photo Makes Me Hungry, is available for pre-order and will be released in the Fall of 2019. He’s an Executive Producer for the film company Boro Five Pictures, the co-founder of Big Machine Films.

In this episode Andrew explores the throughlines of his multifaceted career. We learn how being a competitive baseball catcher evolved into his leadership skills as a film producer and director. We talk about creative ruts and reinvention and the most surprising part of writing his first book. Andrew reveals how he got his break at the NYTimes and describes what it was like to create food photography for a daily column in the health section, Monday-Friday, for over seven years.

This is We Are Photographers with Andrew Scrivani and this is his story.

Follow Andrew Scrivani: andrewscrivani.com, IG @andrewscrivani, FB @ascrivani, TW @andrewscrivani

Find all the We Are Photographers episodes on CreativeLive and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Todd Owyoung is a music photographer specializing in music lifestyle, musician/celebrity portraits, and concert photography and is a Nikon Ambassador. His clients range from bands and festivals to magazines, lifestyle brands and ad agencies. His blog ishootshows.com features over a thousand posts, ranging from articles on technique for concert photography to gear recommendations to advice on breaking into music photography.

We recorded this episode while Todd was in Seattle filming his Getting Started in Music Photography workshop in partnership with Red Bull Photography & CreativeLive. Todd takes us along his journey building a portfolio in St. Louis, moving to NYC to follow the dream, and becoming a Nikon Ambassador. He describes that electrifying feeling of being in the photo pit chasing the iconic image. We talk through the pain points of making money as a music photographer and tips on where to start. He tells us about the one show that changed everything for him. Todd encourages everyone, no matter what genre, to make the images that only you can uniquely make.

This is We Are Photographers with Todd Owyoung and this is his story.

Follow Todd Owyoung on IG: @toddowyoung, FB: Todd.Owyoung, TW: @toddowyoung

Find all the We Are Photographers episodes on CreativeLive and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Chris McGinnis is a graphic designer and macro photography enthusiast with a passion for photographing anthropods. He currently works as the Senior Manager of Creative Services at Olympus America where he oversees all phases of Olympus’ graphic design, photography, and video production. We recorded this episode when Chris was here filming his Macro Photography class for the Step Outside conference - an Olympus + CreativeLive partnership. Chris takes us back to catching lightning bugs in the summertime as a child and why he thinks so many people are scared of bugs. He shares how easy it is to find macro subjects in your daily life, whether that’s in your backyard or balcony at work, and how best to slowly approach them before they fly or run away. You'll learn why face-to-face portraits of insects might be the trickiest, but are also the most rewarding. By the end of the episode you’ll have a much greater appreciation for insects, spiders, all things creepy crawly and their place in the world.

This is We Are Photographers with Chris McGinnis and this is his story.

Follow Chris McGinnis on Instagram at @innis2winnis.

Find all the We Are Photographers episodes on CreativeLive and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Ami Vitale is an award-winning National Geographic contract photographer, documentary filmmaker and a Nikon Ambassador. Ami has traveled to over 100 countries and focused her early career covering conflict and violence. She’s shifted her work to today’s most compelling wildlife and environmental stories. Ami recently published a best-selling book, Panda Love, on the secret lives of pandas. She lectures for the National Geographic LIVE series, and gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Her photographs have been commissioned by nearly every international publication and exhibited around the world in museums and galleries.

In this episode, Ami takes us behind the scenes on some of her long term projects with elephants in Northern Kenya and last of the world’s northern white rhinos. She explains why she believes the indigenous communities she’s worked with hold the keys to saving what’s left. We talk about how photography helps us understand humanity, the natural world, our environment and universal truths. Ami tells us about being deported from a country where she had been working for five years on a National Geographic story and how what we may call failures can lead to our greatest transformations. We learn about her work with Ripple Effects Images helping tell stories about women who are being impacted by climate change. Ami encourages us to fall in love with the world around us, find long-term stories in our own backyards and that all of us need to use our voice to make a difference.

This is We Are Photographers with Ami Vitale and this is her story.

Peter Read Miller is a legend in sports photography. He worked as both a staff and contract photographer for Sports Illustrated for more than 35 years and his images have appeared on over 100 Sports Illustrated covers. He’s photographed 41 Super Bowls, 9 Olympics and 14 NBA Finals. He photographs for The Associated Press and numerous other publications and commercial clients. He has been teaching Sports Photography Workshops for over 20 years. He hosts the YouTube channel On Sports Photography with Peter Read Miller offering tips for both the craft and business. Peter has been a Canon Explorer of Light since the program started 25 years ago.

In this episode, Peter and I discuss how he got his start photographing with the NFL, how he stays calm within the frenetic energy of photographing Super Bowls and the Olympics. We talk about staying grounded both when he gets “the winning shot” and when he doesn’t. We explore the tight relationship between sports photographer and editor, and how he connects with famous athletes to create their portrait in a short amount of time. We hear the stories behind some of his best known images.

This is We Are Photographers with Peter Read Miller and this is his story.

Connect with Peter Read Miller on peterreadmiller.com, YouTube, and IG @peterreadmiller.

Find all the We Are Photographers episodes on CreativeLive and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Tyler Babin is a photographer, videographer & creative director based out of New York City. He’s currently a 2019-2020 Adobe Creative Resident where he’s paid by Adobe to, simply put, create. No clients, just creating. We recorded this episode in person during CreativeLive’s biggest conference of the year - Photoshop Week - where Tyler’s story came full circle. You’ll find out what led him to landing a spot as an Adobe Creative Resident and the ongoing evolution of Behind the Feed, his year-long documentary project pulling the curtain behind the reality of digital influencer culture. We learn why he quit his dream job working for VanyerMedia, where over 3 years earlier on his last day as an intern he’d talked his way into becoming a personal videographer for Gary Vanyerchuk in a 45-min taxi ride. We discuss how this journey all started when Tyler was 18 years old and flew across the country to be a student in Matthew Jordan Smith’s workshop at CreativeLive.

This is We Are Photographers with Tyler Babin and this is his story.

Follow Tyler Babin on tylerbabin.com, IG @babin, YouTube, TW @tyler_babin