How do you define yourself as a Photographer?
As I capturer of dimensional light & space
Was it that way ever? When did you first pickup a camera?
Yes, since my early years living in Michigan, I had a darkroom in the basement of my house and experimented with distortions and dodging prints and negatives. I loved the magic of the darkroom, as much as I did capturing.
What made you move to South Florida? What makes it special for the photography business in general?
I’m originally from Nicaragua, studied in Paris and have lived in Louisiana, Michigan and Washington D.C where I came from 21 years ago from, where I was a media consultant/producer for government and private companies.
I arrived January 1st of 1988 and worked for PBS as an independent Director-Producer of a documentary series “Consuming Passions, origins & adaptation of food in America*. That took me 4 years of production and editing.
I was here when the photographers and models from Europe discovered SoBe and it was wonderful, no traffic, just a quiet location with beautiful morning light and vibrant colors.
You do commercial photography, and then there is your work with Photoshop, giving images fluidity. How do you reconcile these? Which one is the real Claudio?
I say that the “real” Claudio is both, since I enjoy them equally. I love the process of shooting the pictures but then I love sitting in my computer with A/C and begin the workflow. Sometimes I see a photo that I feel connected and instead of being commercial it becomes art.
For your fine-art pieces, what is the process that you follow and where do you get your inspiration?
The process involves 10 to 20 layers in Photoshop with a myriad of filters. Many are home made (custom filters). I think that “filters” gives you the “signature”, like in the case of music, when you hear the sound of Carlos Santana playing, the sound of his guitar its unmistakable. Edison said once that his work was “10% inspiration and 90% perspiration” and he’s absolutely right I think of the possibilities and have a concept of my final intention but to get there it might take me 20 hours of work, that’s where you need the inspiration: work. I wish I had that “Muse” all the time!
What is Claudio’s "Secret Sauce”? Can you tell us about your lighting style?
My “secret sauce” has to be my wife, Lisa Mae; she’s my muse and inspiration. She let’s me create and be myself. I think that’s the most important part, to have the freedom to do your thing, like working until 7:00 am and waking up a 5:00 pm to continue working… She takes care of the management/financial affairs and that gives me the freedom that I need to create.
My lighting style hmm? Well I’m obsessed with light as much as I am with shadows. I feel the light, and feed from it too. I spend considerable time playing with it, be it with flashes, bouncers and natural light.
With ubiquitous access to digital cameras and editing software, where do you see professional photography going?
I think that now they’re so many digital photographers that its tough to compete for the younger generation in certain fields, like adventure, extreme sports, etc.
The cameras are getting better and more affordable, this makes it harder to succeed, I have a name and most of my work is from word of mouth and referrals and thank God, keeps me busy.
I think that the key is to find a “niche” in the marketplace and do whatever but do it good and with passion.
Check out Claudio's website, http://www.mysurrealestate.com and more of his selected work.
For more info: Huba Rostonics is a Florida-based Photographer. He is constantly looking for new things to put a frame around. You can check his work at http://www.rostonics.com, you can also follow Huba on twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/rostonics.
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