this is the way i express yourself

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Business card for Chinese Medical Practitioner

2011-02-27

Photo re-touch: skin enhancement, lip smoothing, shine reduction

2011-02-11

Retail store storyboard trypitch. circa July 2009_FIDM assignment

materials: presentation board, black tape, aluminum piping, color images

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Mini-model of John Varvato’s shopping bag. circa July 2009_FIDM assignment

materials: task board, foam core, vinyl, shoelace, grommets

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Mini-model of Ballet Stage Set Design. circa April 2010_FIDM assignment

materials: foam core, styrofoam, paint, dried flowers

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Logo for up-and-coming pizza shop - SOMA Pizzas in San Francisco, CA

2011-02-09

Rebranding of San Francisco late-night grubhouse, Buster’s Cheese Steaks

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Interview With a Photographer

by Eva Javier

I met Graham McBride through his wife, whose cousin is a fellow Carolina Alumni. It turns out Graham and I were both in need of an exchange of services.

McBride Photography is Graham’s very own business, which he single-handedly runs. He primarily photographs weddings and other special events, and also does still life photography, such as high-end jewelry. Graham agreed to photograph a still-life photo shoot needed for a FIDM class of mine, Visual Presentation. He did a great job, and it turned out to be a perfect opportunity for me to observe his work process and photographs. In exchange, he would have more examples of his work for his portfolio.

I have expressed a serious interest in photography to Graham, and he has been encouraging about it. So, he was happy to oblige to an informational interview with me. Once the scheduling kinks were ironed out, Graham and Crissie invited me over to their apartment in Laurel Heights for dinner, and I was free to pick his brain over salmon and garlic fries.

I had five questions ready to ask him, a few of them tough, but all yielding very valuable information. The questions and paraphrased answers are as follows:

How much of your decision for this career path came from chance versus manifesting your dreams into reality?

“I’ve always succeeded in art as a child. I’ve always wanted to be an artist. One morning I woke up at 4:00 A.M. to paint, but it started to rain all of sudden and ruined my scenery. So, I went then and bought a camera! It was like a discovery moment. Before that moment, cameras didn’t really interest me. It wasn’t until I actually used one, and played around with the lighting [did I become interested]. My grandfather had an SLR, but there are no photographers in my family. Most of them are in carpentry. This is in Ireland. My uncle is a chemist. I guess you could say I was determined to follow my interests, always working hard at it, while the moment of discovery [for a career in photography] was by chance. “

What is the one piece of advice you would give to designers/artists starting out in this photography industry today?

“Marketing, marketing, marketing. It took me a while to learn, and I learned on my own. It’s all about who you know and how many doors you knock on. I worked for this company that did jewelry. They were in the same boat, they didn’t know who to market to, where to market. I did the L.A. Weekly, craigslist.. I advertised yelp, facebook, google. Also, trial and error. I did networking groups, but learned ‘word of mouth’ was the best [method]. Most things I discovered was through mistake. That’s another thing, I had too many things going – weddings, family portraits, birthday parties, christenings, you name it. It’s better to focus it down to one thing and be good at that, and market the hell out of it. It took a lot of practice. Family portraits are good ones, where ‘word of mouth’ is effective. Following your mentors too, school buddies, see what kind of creativity they’re working on. Try to stay with someone you can be creative with, you can bounce ideas of each other. And keeping up on the latest information through blogs and magazines [helps too]. There’s a Russian image website [www.truphoto.ru] I like to go to and get inspiration, from other parts of the world. Here it is here, it’s all hand drawings, paintings, photography. I can fish out ideas; here’s a good photographer, Adam Dobrovitz. So, when I find them I can just grab it put it in that folder.”

Is/was there another career path you were debating between? Was it painting, or was there another one?

No, there was another one, it was plumbing. When I finished school, everyone went on to carpentry, brick laying, electronics, or engineering of some sort. The economy was booming for plumbing.My family didn’t agree when I told them I wanted to apprentice for a photographer, “Go on and get yourself a plumbing degree, there are more jobs” [they would all say]. This was in [19]98, in Ireland when all the houses were starting to be built. All my friends have something to do with building. I was an assistant for a photographer in Ireland, but he didn’t tell me much. In Ireland they’re afraid of telling too much for fear of competition. So, I didn’t listen. I stayed the course, and here I am.

How long did it take until you realized this is what you would be doing for a significant amount of your life?

Well, I knew I always loved art- I wanted to be an artist. So, I was determined. I wanted to do what I like doing. And much of it is discovering different markets, you just keep growing that way. The longer you stick with it, the more you learn and find what you’re really good at, and tweak it, and sell it. There was about a three month period where nothing was coming in, this was when the economy was down. But when you get positive feedback on your images, and emails requesting you, it’s good motivation and you keep going. I apprenticed in 1998, so it’s been twelve years. It doesn’t happen overnight, no.

Given your knowledge of the economy and industry, how good are the chances of finding employment with your company?

Since I’ve moved here [to san Francisco], it’s picked up quicker compared to L.A.The economy is only getting better, and I’m the type of chap that could take on the extra work to grow a bigger business. One of my marketing strategies is school photography. First day of school, for your ID, it’s a gauranteed source of income. You get ten to fifteen schools you can get 60-70 grand, and that’s your revenue for the year. Then you can focus on your own personal projects. But there are highs and lows. Christmas is busy, then January, February it’s slow., it’s like seasons. Then it picks up again if you’re into weddings. Similar to the event seasons you work in. My goal is to open a studio, to take pictures, with a window for people to drive by and see – it’s a way to market as well. Yea, sales. You don’t have be good at anything, if you can sell something [you’re golden]. Around October I’ll be knocking around to all the high schools to set something up for next year.

This interview with Graham McBride has been the most insightful career conversation I’ve ever had. Prior to, I was unaware of the many various aspects to photography there are. Graham certainly helped me realize that the life of a photographer entails involving yourself in such an array of environments, with people from so many different markets and backgrounds, while applying the skills of a creative artist and balancing the technical and administrative details of the business. Looking outside of the obvious seems to be very important for a creatively skilled person to do, in order to drum up business, especially starting out.

Throughout the interview, Graham seemed to repeat the fact that many of his discoveries were through trial and error. Similar to Thomas Edison, who made over 10,000 attempts until he perfected the light bulb, said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

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View my FIDM Portfolio

this is the way i express yourself

2011-11-11

2011-04-14

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2011-03-08

2011-02-27

2011-02-11

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2011-02-09

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Interview With a Photographer

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