The Creative Freelancer: Recent Episodes
David Bracetty
David Bracetty: The Creative Freelancer Podcast - David is a photographer and director based out of Allentown, PA. David began photographing in 2006 and since then has worked with clients such as New Balance, Nike, Puma, Brooks, Adidas and many more.
The Creative Freelancer is meant to inspire, motivate and educate photographers and directors. Our episodes feature directors, photographers, DP's and Producers to help listeners understand what it takes to make it in this industry.
Head over to our website for show notes, links and to see samples of each guest's work : https://www.thecreativefreelancer.com
I'm thrilled to finally get the chance to speak with DP Shannon Palmer. Based out of New York by way of Baltimore (crabs cakes, football and DP's... am I right?) she shares her journey from athlete to DP. In this episode you'll find out her thoughts on film school, having a full time job and what steps she took in her career to make a name for herself as a DP not only in Baltimore but also NYC. If you're an aspiring or even a seasoned DP who feels stuck and not sure what the next step you should take is - this is the episode for you!
Philadelphia based Michelle Gustafson and I met during an assignment cover The Penn Relays. I was amazed at how naturally she struck up a conversation. Watching her work and approach people she had never met seemed to come so effortless to her. After following her on Instagram and seeing her reportage and portraiture, I had to know how she was able to reach out to complete strangers, walk into their house and put them at ease for portraits, especially with the topics she was covering including addiction, epidemics, immigration and other sensitive subjects.
As per the bio on her website:
“Her reportage and portraiture keenly reflects a curiosity and sensitivity towards her subjects, observing the intimate gestures and subtle interactions between them to tell a larger story of human connection and relativity.”
Some of her clients include The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, NPR, CNN and Bloomberg Business.
Our conversation starts in 2004 as she, a New Mexico native, decides on what college to attend. Over the next few years (and a few states later, she makes the jump to the east coast and shares with us in detail each step she took to building the career she has today.
It’s our longest episode of the season but packed with inspiration to anyone looking to start fresh in a photography career or even a seasoned photographer looking to move to another market.
Michelle shares in-depth, step by step how she interacts with the subjects she photographs in their homes. This episode serves as a blueprint to what it takes to create a career in reportage and journalistic photography as well as some amazing gems dropped by Michelle that will light a fire of motivation to any seasoned photog.
If you have been trying to “make it” as a photographer and wonder “Am I on the right path?” this episode is for you!
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A quick shoutout to this episode’s sponsor, Think Tank.
Flashback to 2015, I had just quit my full time job to create content for Gary Vaynerchuk’s personal trainer. I had to travel once a week into NYC with a laptop, lenses, camera, mic and headphones. I knew my current bag wasn’t going to cut it. After doing a ton of research I settled on the Think Thank Airport Essentials bag. I can’t begin to tell you how many miles I’ve walked around NYC with that bag on my back fully loaded with my gear. It’s super reliable, fits into overhead compartments and had been my go to bag for the last 6 years now. See the multiple ways you can arrange your gear by heading over to the Think Tank website.
Play Interview with Michelle Gustafson
Click to listen to full episode
New York City based Stylist Caitlin Dooley keeps Season 2 of The Creative Freelancer going strong. It’s already our 23rd episode of this podcast and like all great things with the number #23, Caitlin delivers. Ever wonder what a photographer should have lined up before dropping into that stylist’s DM and asking them to work […]
The post S2E5: Caitlin Dooley | The Power of a Stylist appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Season 2 continues to roll along with Producer Elizabeth Collins. Elizabeth’s company, CTRL E Content produces branded content and commercials for companies including UPS, Jersey Mike Subs, Nike, L.L. Bean and others. In this conversation, we discuss the top 3 mistakes Directors are making by self producing. We also talk about when is “the right” […]
The post S2E4: Elizabeth Collins | Working with a Producer appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Continuing with our pattern of all female creatives for Season 2, photographer/director Emily Maye is our guest on this episode of The Creative Freelancer Podcast. Based in the US, represented worldwide, Emily’s client roster is amazing and includes Adidas, The North Face, Rapha, Lululemon, Whoop, Trek, Tracksmith and the list goes on and on. One […]
The post S2E3 : Emily Maye | How Personal Projects Can Open Doors appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Our guest on this week’s podcast episode is Hearst Photo Director Amy Wolff. Amy oversees the photo departments for Runner’s World, Bicycling and Popular Mechanics magazines. Last month I put out a question on my Instagram asking everyone “Who do you want to be a guest on The Creative Freelancer?” Amy Wolff was the collective […]
The post S2E2 : Amy Wolff | How to shoot for a magazine appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Welcome back to Season 2 of The Creative Freelancer, I’m your host David Bracetty and on this episode, our guest is D.C. based writer and director Daniel Anastasion. I first discovered Daniele’s work on I am Yupik, a short film about a native Alaskan teenager’s quest to preserve his culture, premiered at the 2016 Sundance […]
The post S2E1 : Daniele Anastasion | Writer + Director appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Welcome fellow photographers to another hot one! On this podcast episode we feature Louisville based commercial and editorial photographer Clay Cook. I was on Instagram an saw that he just recently teamed up with Wonderful Machine and Mullenberg Designs to print and produce his first official looking print portfolio. This obviously leads me to question […]
The post Clay Cook | Building Your First Print Portfolio appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Seattle born Zoe Rain has already accomplished a lot in her young, creative career. By the age of 20, she was touring the world with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis as their official photographer. The list of artists she’s worked with include Lorde, Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus and more. Now based in Chicago, […]
The post Zoe Rain | Hard Work and Getting Lucky appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
Philip Hayes is a UK based commercial and advertising sports + lifestyle photographer… a pretty damn good one. Only 30, Philip somehow managed to compress 20 years worth of assisting, retouching, digi teching for others and signing with an Agency in the span of 10 years. As mentioned in our podcast together, “I was the […]
The post Philip Haynes | Putting in the Work and Staying Positive appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
LA based director/photographer Anthony “Supreme” Thompson sat down with us this week to share his story of how he went from directing and producing music videos in North Carolina, to living out of his car in LA and landing the opportunity to photograph the cover of J. Cole’s newest album “4 Your Eyez Only“. This Anthony […]
The post Anthony Supreme – Taking Chances + Building Relationships appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.
New York based lifestyle photographer Brook Pifer recently sat down on our podcast to talk shop. After meeting her at this year’s PhotoPlus Expo, we linked up and expanded on a few points mentioned during the conference and dug deep… like really deep. Brook was gracious enough to spend an hour with us answering specific […]
The post Brook Pifer – From Personal Project to Client appeared first on The Creative Freelancer.