Chris – EbonyEye Photography

GlamModelz Magazine: Let’s get started interviewing Chris of Ebony Eye Photography!  Tell me about your background…how did you get started in Photography? EbonyEye : Well, my name is Chris, I’ve been doing Photography for years, but I decided to do it professionally, about 5 years ago. My educational background is in Audio and Video, but I’ve classes and seminars to fine tune, my photography skills.

GlamModelz Magazine: Why Glamour /Beauty?  What other genre’s and styles interest you? EbonyEye: It’s a lot more fun and it allows you to be creative and plus in
Urban glamour, it provides an outlet for certain models who are too curvy or not tall enough to be more mainstream and glamour photography is hot right now., but I don’t
Limit myself, I try to be versatile and by doing family, kids and more fashion forward photography, just to show range and get more jobs.

GlamModelz Magazine: What or who inspires you as a photographer? EbonyEye: -Im inspired by other people in the industry, especially the haters, you get a lot of people trying To rain on your parade and the sad part is you got people who buy in to the lies and deception especially if they see you got just as much talent, so i work even harder to give them something else to talk about, but  on a positive note, I’m inspired by all the models and photographers who are already in print on a daily basis. These individuals
are where I’m striving to be.

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GlamModelz Magazine: What challenges do you face in this industry?  What would you change about it, if you could? EbonyEye: Well the challenge is being able to compete with photographers who have that name and all the models want to work with them, which is what any photographer wants in this business and also all the shady people you meet, both models, photographers and agencies you come in contact with.  If I could change anything, it would be to allow everyone an equal opportunity to shine, There’s enough room for everyone if you good enough.

GlamModelz Magazine: What equipment is essential for you as a glamour photographer, to capture your “best shot”? EbonyEye: I wouldn’t say any particular Piece of equipment, other than my Sony digital SLR Alpha series camera, it would be  A great location and Hot model that knows how to pose and work the camera, to me that’s the hot shoot!

GlamModelz Magazine: Paid vs. TF* shoots – What are your views and preferences? EbonyEye: Well, like most I prefer to get paid, equipment is not cheap, I don’t mind paying a model to do a project, if she’s seasoned, I’m not gonna pay someone just because one day she or he was told they should model and now they want to get paid, I would pay if I need an experience model that fits my budget or if a budget is provided by a third party. I would like to get paid if a model is trying to build a portfolio, of course, but if we share a similar idea and interest, I WILL do TF, otherwise, as photographers, we can shoot well into old age, so our equipment will outlast most people modeling careers,  but you can’t maintain it doing TF all the time.

GlamModelz Magazine: How would you best describe your personal style? EbonyEye: My style is more old school, that’s how I was taught, I don’t have a lot of tricks and crazy graphics, that takes away from the image, I like the days of old, where you didn’t have to depend so much on photoshop to compensate for a picture, I like to have a more natural, not over airbrushed photos, with the pictures of models Looking like plastic or fake. Now, don’t get me wrong, if that’s your thing, then that’s Your thing, but I like to mix up and change backgrounds, but the key is to be the Quincy Jones of photography, Quincy does all types of music, so I want to be able to Just do great photography, no matter the style.

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GlamModelz Magazine: What are your goals for your photography?  Other goals? EbonyEye: Well, right now I’m looking for individuals to build my own website, at a reasonable budget of course, to further expand my business and get more exposure. I also want to do more print work, I’m good a t what I do and I can do it for a reasonable Price(laughing), last but not least, I am working on researching to do my own online magazine one day, to help provide an outlet for others and actually live up to helping People to get that exposure as well as get paid doing it, me too of course.

GlamModelz Magazine: What qualities should  Models/MUA’s/Stylists, etc have to work with you? EbonyEye: Be Professional, Be On Time, Love what they do, be able to improvise and oh did I say Be On Time!

GlamModelz Magazine: Tell us about your biggest accomplishment to date or what makes you most proud. EbonyEye: I got my first opportunity to have a full Issue dedicated to my work and that I’m now beginning to get more variety of models to work with, whereas before, all my  models were black models and working on getting my own website.

GlamModelz Magazine: What advice do you have for new/amateur photographers who want to shoot glamour?   EbonyEye: Choose your models carefully especially after you have fine tuned your craft, before I use to shoot just to shoot, but quality models are the key, but always have a RELEASE FORM .

GlamModelz Magazine: Any advice for models? EbonyEye: Make sure this is what you want to do, its very competitive and you’re only as hot as the week is long, other words, the next pretty face is literally around the corner.

GlamModelz Magazine: In addition to photography, do you have other skills/interests/talents in which you excel? EbnyEye: Im a saxophone player, Im a self taught piano player as well, got my college education in Media Production, with emphasis on entertainment management, in which I will use to start my own Model Management company .

GlamModelz Magazine: What other interesting facts would you like GlamModelz readers to know about you ? EbonyEye: I think I said all in the previous question.

GlamModelz Magazine: Where can we see more of your work?  How can models who wish to shoot with you contact you? EbonyEye: Well they can see more on ModelMayhem/ebonyeyephotography, on My Myspace.com/eboneyeyephoto page, also on Modelcoast, look out for my personal website Coming soon. To contact me by e-mail; I can be reached at ebonyeyephotography@comcast.net