Who are you and what do you do?
My name is James Carlson, and I’m the Executive Director and Founder of the School Factory, a non-profit organization that creates places like Bucketworks and programs like the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival. I’m passionate about community growth and development, and the growth of the individual through the expression of their passions in the world. I’m fascinated by photography because it’s such an accessible medium of expression for nearly all ages; my work with the film festival has shown me what happens when we put cameras in kids hands, for example. I see adults with cameras and they act just a little more kid-like: curious, eyes-open, paying attention. It’s healthy.
Why are you attending PhotoCampMilwaukee?
I’m interested in learning how to frame my photos better; I am striving for the first-shot-right-shot level of skill with my camera, which is difficult because I’ve been used to shooting-and-deleting anything that isn’t quite right. I’d also like to meet other photographers and involve them in a large-scale collaborative project I’ve been working on for the last 6 years, the Eyes of Gaia, which is a 10′ x 20′ map of Earth made of 10,000 human eyes (just the irises) and I have only 3,700 so far. I’m also excited about Camp-style events in general and wouldn’t pass up a chance to attend one–the networking is so terrific, and the learnings have always been useful to me in the past. Finally, I’ll have to be there because the event takes place at Bucketworks!
What’s in your camera bag?
Currently I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel XSi, having grown up from my original Powershot G2.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens
Canon SpeedLite 430EX Flash
If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I’d lead a session about iris photography, because I want to compile more eyes for my collection (currently, I have 3,700 eyes.) I’d spend time focusing on macro photo techniques as well, as I’ve had lots of experience with this type of photography. I’d also enjoy leading a session about photograph management–not the taking of the pictures, but the rest of the process after the picture is taken. Finally, I’d enjoy leading a photo session for kids, where they set up and shoot portraits of their parents. We’ll see if we get enough kids for this!
If you were to attend your dream session, what would it be about?
I’d like to learn more about action photography. There are always events at Bucketworks and they frequently happen in low light. How do you capture movement and action in low light?
Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I’m a father of two daughters, age 6 and 12.
Where can we find you?
Twitter: twitter.com/hypnagogic
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/jamescarlson/
Website: www.bucketworks.org
Here’s a few photos from James Carlson
