I’ve got another talented friend for you to meet. Reg Francklyn is a photographer that has consistently done great work for us at Citizen. You can throw him into any situation, and you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to get. He has a great eye for the story, captures all the right moments, and is as flexible as all get out (these kinds of jobs can give you whiplash). Here’s his story, in his own words:
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I have always enjoyed taking photos. I started using a darkroom in the 6th grade thanks to a math teacher who set one up at my elementary school. I did not really know anything about what a good photo was, but I loved the look of a print revealing itself in the developer. I took a few more pictures in High School and worked in the darkroom some more. I really did not take what I considered to be a decent photo until I was in college, when I went to the Sand Dunes and to shoot some 2 ΒΌ black and whites. Kind of hard to take a bad photo there.
While I was at the college I was influenced by Ben Benschneider and Myron Wood. Ben had a long history as a commercial photographer and Myron was well known for his documentary work on Southwest Colorado and New Mexico. Myron made exquisite black and white prints from 35mm copy film and special developer.
I graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Political Science and a minior in photography. After waffling for a few months I decided I really wanted to go to Art School and was accepted at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena , CA (http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/index.jsp)
The program was 8 semesters. After going 4,and needing a break, I decided to work as a photographer’s assistant for a while. I was also out of money. I got to work for some well known LA photographers and saw lot of shooting styles. After a year of doing that, I moved back to Colorado Springs and tried to get some work. I started out doing some freelancing for the now defunct ” Colorado Springs Sun,” a daily paper. I then got a job a KOAA channel 5, working as a part time freelance photographer, and later working full time in the studio, which I did not care for. The pay was lousy, but the access to interesting new stories was great.
I got a big break when I started doing a lot of work for Hewlett-Packard with product photos, environmental user shots, and some travel to HP plants around the US. Many of the photos I took were used as magazine covers for trade magazines. I did in-camera photo composite work using multiple 4″ x 5″ cameras and complicated lighting setups. I went to do a lot of work for different high tech companies form there.
Focus on the Family moved to town around that time, and I helped with a lot of product photos. I shot covers for Focus on the Family magazines and features for many of the other magazines.
Shooting for Citizen magazine has been my favorite assignment, and I even went on a few international trips with writer Steve Adams. Sherri has been a great editor and champion of my work, and I love working with her.
Along the way, I got into aerial photos, construction photos, and Architecture. I still don’t have my license yet, but I do have over 200 hours of flight time at the controls and 400 landings in the Cessna 172 I use.
Of course Digital now rules the roost for photographers. I was a pretty early adapter of Digital, shelling out $6,000 for the Nikon D1 . It was pretty hard to learn to work with the photos because computers were weak and expensive and the internet was not the wonderful place for learning it is now. The learning curve was steep.
Right now I like that the digital SLR can do just about every job, from a 10′x 12′ mural at a tv station to a small illustration. Although I am now pretty good with Photoshop, and even teach it at a community college, I mostly like straight photography. I do like the instant image feedback so I can review pictures with the user when appropriate. I am always looking for that “decisive moment” and the freedom one gets with digital is a big help in capturing it in low light.
I have to say right now I am having a lot of worries about photography as a career. There are many people who want the lifestyle and will do the work. Fees and usage are under pressure as many users expect all rights for the assignment. Photography assignments often can dry up in a recession as well. The key of course is self-promotion, which I am terrible at and need to do a better job with.
So, I am keeping my options open and trying to self assign more work. I am pretty sure that things will improve and get better–there will always be an assignment for photographer with a good eye.
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And Reg is a photographer with a good eye. If you have any photography needs, look him up. You can post to the blog, and I’ll pass on your interest to our friend. Thanks, Reg.
