Raw Glass - Darnell McAdams Multimedia Specialist

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1. 0:01Welcome, welcome, welcome
2. 0:04to Alienize Photos Industry Talk
3. 0:07with your host, photographer Jackson, Steve Jackson.
4. 0:12And I got a special guest with me tonight
5. 0:14or this evening, this afternoon,
6. 0:16wherever you're at in the world.
7. 0:19Mr. Darnell McAdams of Raw Glass Photography.
8. 0:23Special, special multimedia entrepreneur,
9. 0:28teacher, mentor, just doing the thing.
10. 0:33But you could do better justice introducing yourself.
11. 0:37So introduce yourself to the people.
12. 0:39My brother, yeah, my name is Darnell McAdams,
13. 0:42AKA Raw Glass, AKA Raw, AKA Glass,
14. 0:44depending on who you're talking to.
15. 0:47Yeah, man, I guess I would consider myself
16. 0:51a entrepreneur, community advocate,
17. 0:56multimedia specialist.
18. 0:57I guess it's a good way to put it
19. 0:58because I do a lot of different things
20. 1:00with the media content creation,
21. 1:02photography, videography.
22. 1:06I teach arts and health practitioners
23. 1:08is what I'm leaning into now.
24. 1:12I'm basically being able to bring arts
25. 1:15as a tool for healing into the community.
26. 1:20So yeah, that's pretty much me right now
27. 1:22in a nutshell, man.
28. 1:24Now let's stick with that arts and healing.
29. 1:27What is arts and healing the combination of that to you?
30. 1:31Well, I mean, for me, man,
31. 1:33I think I tell people all the time.
32. 1:35For me, the camera saved my life.
33. 1:38So I'm my only child.
34. 1:39I'm 45 now, but I'm my only child.
35. 1:41My dad died three days after my 22nd birthday.
36. 1:45My mom died in 2015 on Halloween.
37. 1:49And I was really close with my parents.
38. 1:54And a lot of my earlier 20s
39. 1:56and when I was really young like that,
40. 1:59that really defined me
41. 2:00because it was really the first time I dealt with death
42. 2:04in that close to me.
43. 2:06So I had some grandparents,
44. 2:10like my mother's parents died while I was young
45. 2:12and stuff like that,
46. 2:12but there was never anybody close enough
47. 2:13and needed to hit home.
48. 2:14And the first time it hit me was with that.
49. 2:16So it really kind of defined me
50. 2:17and I talk about it a lot because it sent me, man.
51. 2:22I was, it was my sophomore year in college.
52. 2:26I ended up having to come home
53. 2:28and then my dad ended up getting cancer
54. 2:30and ended up dying.
55. 2:31So I ended up not going back to school.
56. 2:33And it kind of just put me on a road of anger
57. 2:37and that type of thing, man.
58. 2:38I've always been into art,
59. 2:40but I got really angry for a long time.
60. 2:43Took me a while to go to therapy.
61. 2:44And then after my mom died,
62. 2:47I was just like, you know what, man,
63. 2:48I can't chase money anymore.
64. 2:51I have to do what I'm passionate about.
65. 2:54And I picked up a camera and thank God I picked up a camera
66. 2:57because I think I was really going down the wrong path,
67. 3:00man.
68. 3:00I was really doing a lot of things that I probably,
69. 3:03that I don't, you know, I don't,
70. 3:04I'm not proud of and I don't feel good about,
71. 3:06but I was, you know,
72. 3:07I got really depressed and didn't know what to do, man.
73. 3:10So when I found the camera and realized that, you know,
74. 3:12art has always been my path, it kind of,
75. 3:14not kind of, but it saved my life.
76. 3:16And I just, I dove into the camera
77. 3:18and started realizing that, you know,
78. 3:20I'm pretty good at this and just kind of went from there.
79. 3:24Yeah. Wow. Amazing.
80. 3:26My heart doesn't go off for you.
81. 3:28I appreciate that, man.
82. 3:29You know, to lose both, nobody would ever even know.
83. 3:32And that's, that's definitely all right.
84. 3:33Yeah, man. It was, like I said,
85. 3:35it was one of the defining things of who I am
86. 3:37and why I'm here today.
87. 3:39Cause I don't, you know, honestly,
88. 3:40if they were still here,
89. 3:41I don't know if I'd be doing this.
90. 3:43Photography.
91. 3:44Yeah. I don't know if I'd be doing art at all.
92. 3:46I'd probably be,
93. 3:47probably would have got some kind of science degree
94. 3:49and, you know, been working some job
95. 3:50that I probably ended up hating.
96. 3:52You know what I mean?
97. 3:53But, you know, I don't, who knows?
98. 3:55Who knows?
99. 3:56It's hard to say it's the butterfly effect, right?
100. 3:58Like, you know, I say I'd go give everything,
101. 4:00anything to have my parents back,
102. 4:02but then I don't know
103. 4:02how my life would've went from there.
104. 4:04Not sure I oughta got married,
105. 4:05not sure I would've had kids.
106. 4:06Right. Any of that.
107. 4:08So, life happened how it happened, man.
108. 4:10I don't, I don't subscribe to the,
109. 4:15when people say, you know,
110. 4:18it's all a part of God's plan.
111. 4:20I don't, I don't, I don't like saying that
112. 4:22because when people lose somebody
113. 4:23and the first thing you tell them is,
114. 4:24oh yeah, man, well, God, you know,
115. 4:26it's because of God.
116. 4:27Like, no, God is not out here
117. 4:30trying to make me an orphan at 33.
118. 4:33You know what I mean?
119. 4:34Yeah.
120. 4:34However, God did give me the strength
121. 4:38to know how to, to learn how to deal with it
122. 4:40because God wasn't always there for me.
123. 4:42My dad died, man.
124. 4:44I lost all religion.
125. 4:45I lost all spirituality.
126. 4:47I hated God.
127. 4:49And so, I'm really careful
128. 4:52when it comes to talking about people
129. 4:54and losing people.
130. 4:54Cause also, you know, I've lost both my parents.
131. 4:57Yeah.
132. 4:57I didn't lose them.
133. 4:58Both my parents died.
134. 5:00And therapy, transition died.
135. 5:03I think it's final.
136. 5:04And I think for me, therapy taught me like,
137. 5:06trying to say they passed
138. 5:07or any of those more passive ways of talking about it,
139. 5:10it makes it less final.
140. 5:11It makes it as if it's not something
141. 5:13that didn't really happen.
142. 5:14It's final.
143. 5:14It happened.
144. 5:16It's over with nothing.
145. 5:16And that's how I've been approaching it.
146. 5:18That's how I've had to approach it
147. 5:20because the other ways have gotten me, you know,
148. 5:23gotten me kind of off.
149. 5:25But it's just learning how to deal
150. 5:27with the new reality of, you know,
151. 5:29I'm my only child, man.
152. 5:29That's all I knew.
153. 5:31You know, my dad, I was,
154. 5:32like I said, I was 22 when my dad died.
155. 5:34So, I didn't get a chance to have
156. 5:36a lot of those man conversations
157. 5:37that I would love to have had with my dad.
158. 5:39Cause I wasn't a street kid, man.
159. 5:42I was a bird boy.
160. 5:44And 22, I was still kind of young, man.
161. 5:46I mean, I had lived on my own
162. 5:47for a couple of years in college,
163. 5:48but I didn't.
164. 5:49Yeah.
165. 5:50You know, there was still things
166. 5:51that I wish I could talk to my father about, you know.
167. 5:53And luckily, you know, I had good, you know,
168. 5:56figures, male figures in my life after the fact.
169. 5:58But, you know, ain't nobody like your parents, man.
170. 6:02Let's go back to college.
171. 6:04When did you study in college?
172. 6:06That's funny, man.
173. 6:07So, my major was gonna be mathematics.
174. 6:09Yeah, man.
175. 6:11So, I used to love math.
176. 6:12I still love math.
177. 6:14Yeah, yeah.
178. 6:14I mean, because it's the only thing
179. 6:16that doesn't change for real.
180. 6:18You know what I mean?
181. 6:19The dictionary is a whole bunch of made up words
182. 6:21that we all make up every day.
183. 6:23Right.
184. 6:23With numbers, numbers pretty much are solid.
185. 6:26So, I was good with numbers.
186. 6:27I'm always good with numbers.
187. 6:28I'm still pretty good with numbers.
188. 6:30And I was gonna major in math, man.
189. 6:31I had no idea where I was gonna go with that, like.
190. 6:34Well, I could kind of say,
191. 6:36cause we talk about art.
192. 6:38We talk about numbers and math,
193. 6:40which are both universal and like,
194. 6:43been all over the country.
195. 6:45So, as I gotta say that those two take you
196. 6:50or took you many places.
197. 6:52It did.
198. 6:53You know, art took me more places
199. 6:55than math took me for real.
200. 6:57I mean, but you know what?
201. 6:58Photography is math, honestly.
202. 7:00Like, understanding the exposure triangle
203. 7:02and that kind of stuff.
204. 7:03When you start getting into the deep,
205. 7:05deep dark secrets of photography
206. 7:07and understanding it, I mean, you know.
207. 7:10It's a lot of math, man.
208. 7:11It's a lot of math, a lot of understanding.
209. 7:13We don't have to know math that way,
210. 7:15but if you understand math,
211. 7:17it makes it a little easier for you.
212. 7:18It does, definitely.
213. 7:19You know, for the stops and all these other things, man.
214. 7:23When you start understanding that stuff,
215. 7:25and you know math is a part of all of that stuff.
216. 7:27So, it definitely made it easier for me
217. 7:28to understand that and to move with it.
218. 7:31But yeah, man.
219. 7:31Like, yeah, that's one thing that I was.
220. 7:34I mean, I grew up moving around
221. 7:35cause my dad was military.
222. 7:36But I think that's what my love for travel is now,
223. 7:41is like, I can't sit still.
224. 7:44I think that's really what it comes down to.
225. 7:46And I gotta experience other things.
226. 7:49Like, you know, my mom always told me, you know,
227. 7:51that life is too short to be sitting in one place, man.
228. 7:55You know what I mean?
229. 7:56You have to get out and experience other things.
230. 8:00And what I tell, you know, the kids that I teach,
231. 8:02it's like, you know, and what I really believe about
232. 8:05our children, our communities and that kind of stuff,
233. 8:07anybody that's coming up,
234. 8:08the more exposed you are to different things,
235. 8:10the more well-rounded you are,
236. 8:12the more you really know.
237. 8:14You don't have to be overly intelligent.
238. 8:17But if you've been other places and seen other things,
239. 8:20it really, it's a different type of intelligence
240. 8:22and it gives you a different perspective on life.
241. 8:26You know what I mean?
242. 8:26It opens your mind up.
243. 8:28I've never, I haven't met too many people
244. 8:29that have been, you know, a whole lot of places
245. 8:32and they don't have an open mind.
246. 8:33Cause you start understanding that,
247. 8:35oh, this ain't just, it ain't just this.
248. 8:38You know what I mean?
249. 8:39It's like, you talk to family members that,
250. 8:40I have not known family members that
251. 8:41really ain't been outside of Cleveland, this area.
252. 8:44And you understand the closed mindedness
253. 8:47because it's like, well, this is all you know,
254. 8:49not in a bad way and not throwing shade,
255. 8:51but you understand like your perspective is only so big.
256. 8:54I mean, me being a military man growing up
257. 8:55and moving around a lot,
258. 8:57like I can go anywhere really.
259. 8:59I'm used to just picking up and going.
260. 9:01Some people can't just pick up and going.
261. 9:02I get that too, like.
262. 9:07Going to raw glass,
263. 9:08I know raw is a format in photography
264. 9:11and glass is like the lens we look through, see through.
265. 9:16What's your definition of raw glass?
266. 9:17I mean, you're just going to take my thunder like that.
267. 9:20I mean, if that's the definition.
268. 9:23You're just going to take my,
269. 9:24you're just going to take the thunder
270. 9:25by you while you explain it.
271. 9:26You know what I mean?
272. 9:27No, but that's, that's, that's, yeah.
273. 9:29I mean, what you a smart dude,
274. 9:29that's where the name came from, dog.
275. 9:30When I was thinking of a name for a company,
276. 9:33raw is a format and raw also raw is something
277. 9:35we used to say back in the day.
278. 9:36Oh, that's raw.
279. 9:37Right, yeah.
280. 9:38You know what I mean?
281. 9:39Throwback, yeah, wow.
282. 9:39And then, yeah.
283. 9:40And then like, like you said, glass,
284. 9:41glass is another name for lenses.
285. 9:43So that's, that's exactly where the name came from.
286. 9:45You get the nail right on the head.
287. 9:47Yeah, or I could look at it
288. 9:47as you take raw pictures, you know?
289. 9:49That too, like it's definitely that.
290. 9:51You know, or it's the whole conglomerate of things.
291. 9:53Yeah, yeah, yeah.
292. 9:55But that's where it came from.
293. 9:55Like, oh, that's raw.
294. 9:56And then, you know, raw is a format in glass.
295. 9:58You know what I mean?
296. 9:58Raw pictures, raw, you know, raw equipment.
297. 10:01You know what I mean?
298. 10:02Like that's exactly where the name came from.
299. 10:04That's, and I stuck with it.
300. 10:05I wasn't even sure that I was gonna keep that name,
301. 10:07but it just, you know, I started the,
302. 10:10started Raw Glass in 2017,
303. 10:13a couple of years before I moved here.
304. 10:15And it was like two years after my mom died.
305. 10:17And so I was like, okay, after I started doing it,
306. 10:20people were like, you know, you could get paid for this.
307. 10:23I'm like, nah, I can't get paid for this.
308. 10:25Right, right.
309. 10:26I'm just, I'm just, you know,
310. 10:27it was just, it was just healing for me, baby.
311. 10:30You know what I'm saying?
312. 10:30It was just therapy for me.
313. 10:32Photo walks and that kind of stuff, man.
314. 10:33It was just my therapy.
315. 10:35But yeah, people started really saying like,
316. 10:37nah, man, like you really got an eye.
317. 10:39I'm like, okay, well, I started, you know,
318. 10:41leaning into it.
319. 10:41But yeah, came up with the name and was like, okay.
320. 10:44You know what I mean?
321. 10:44Let me, let's go.
322. 10:45Let's go.
323. 10:46And then 2017, that started and it just kind of been,
324. 10:49I'm here now, you know, I guess, what is this?
325. 10:52Nine years later?
326. 10:53Nine years, wow.
327. 10:56Yeah, 2017.
328. 10:58So next year it'll be 10 years.
329. 10:5910 years, wow.
330. 11:00That's crazy.
331. 11:01Wow, yeah.
332. 11:02Gotta do something big.
333. 11:03Nah, nah, I didn't think about it.
334. 11:05It's not even, you know, the funny thing, man,
335. 11:07is I've actually like pulled back on my business.
336. 11:10Like I'm not really,
337. 11:12I'm more focused on community now.
338. 11:15Ever since I've gotten here to Cleveland,
339. 11:18my focus has been trying to make people understand
340. 11:22that it can be healing, because it was healing for me.
341. 11:24So it was like, well, if it can be healing for me,
342. 11:26it's gotta be able to be healing for somebody else.
343. 11:30And that's more so where I'm at now,
344. 11:32where the man is trying to be able to just teach,
345. 11:34get back to the community,
346. 11:35because that's a lot of what I do now,
347. 11:37teach social emotional learning through photography.
348. 11:42And, you know, in workshops and afterschool programming
349. 11:45and like all that kind of stuff
350. 11:47that I've been doing over the last four years?
351. 11:50Four, yeah, about four or five years.
352. 11:54So more so passion and impact over the monetary
353. 11:58and everything else.
354. 11:59Man, that's always been me, man.
355. 12:01Like it's literally never been about the dollar for me,
356. 12:04man, I ain't balling.
357. 12:06You know what I mean?
358. 12:07I can confidently tell the kids
359. 12:09that I go do like career days and stuff like that.
360. 12:11Yeah, I bought a house with a camera
361. 12:14and that's the truth.
362. 12:15Like, I mean, it's not like the fortunes.
363. 12:17No, when I first got here,
364. 12:18I had to get a job to show income
365. 12:20and that kind of thing,
366. 12:21because my business wasn't making enough money
367. 12:22to get a house.
368. 12:23But soon as I was able to, I quit that job
369. 12:25and everything else has just been with a camera.
370. 12:27Everything else is, everything I do now
371. 12:29is surrounded by the camera.
372. 12:30I told myself, if I'm going to do this
373. 12:33and I'm going to go like, even if I get,
374. 12:34because I have a pretty much part-time
375. 12:38or part-time slash full-time job,
376. 12:40but it's surrounded by the camera.
377. 12:42You know what I mean?
378. 12:42Everything I do now,
379. 12:43if it's not surrounded by the camera,
380. 12:45I really don't want to do it.
381. 12:46And I found myself why I couldn't stay
382. 12:47in these other jobs
383. 12:48because it wasn't what I wanted to do, man.
384. 12:50It wasn't, my heart wasn't in it.
385. 12:51So if it's not around visual arts
386. 12:54or something to do with a camera
387. 12:56and that type of thing,
388. 12:57I really don't want to do it.
389. 12:58And I've learned that life is too short
390. 13:01through the loss of my parents
391. 13:02to be doing something you don't want to be doing, man.
392. 13:04So I don't anymore.
393. 13:06No, that's major and I definitely receive it.
394. 13:08Yeah, man, it's just,
395. 13:11yeah, it's one of those things.
396. 13:13I seen like photos and old clips of you
397. 13:16with the rock on the game show.
398. 13:18Oh, wow. Oh, wow.
399. 13:20I didn't know you were going to bring that up.
400. 13:23Man, I had to, Wayne Johnson, Mr. The Rock,
401. 13:27one of my favorite wrestlers.
402. 13:28Oh yeah? Yeah.
403. 13:29Yeah, yeah.
404. 13:30That was, hey man, that was a time.
405. 13:32That was a time.
406. 13:33That was a good time in my life, man.
407. 13:34That was, man, you know what, honestly, that was what?
408. 13:37At this point, it's been 13 years.
409. 13:39Yeah, that was 2013.
410. 13:41So that was even before I started the business.
411. 13:44I was working as a technician.
412. 13:45I was fixing industrial scales at the time.
413. 13:49Yeah, the CDL, like put it rolling around
414. 13:51to like truck scales and that type of stuff
415. 13:53and like plants and stuff like Frito Lay and that was,
416. 13:56they all got scales.
417. 13:56I learned all these things.
418. 13:57So I'm fixing scales at the time.
419. 13:58But yeah, I ended up getting on this game show, man,
420. 14:01on TNT with The Rock called The Hero back in 2013, man.
421. 14:06And it was 10 of us that made the cut on there.
422. 14:09And it was, yeah, it was cool, man.
423. 14:11It was a great experience, I'll say that.
424. 14:14Like I'm not sure I would want to do it again,
425. 14:20but this is me 13 years later saying that.
426. 14:23You know, right after it happened,
427. 14:24I probably would have done something like that again.
428. 14:26But yeah, it was a great experience, man.
429. 14:27It was just, I don't know, it was just lucky.
430. 14:31I tell you that, like it was no,
431. 14:33I didn't do anything to like, to get onto the show.
432. 14:37You know, a lot of people knew about like the cast
433. 14:39and call and all that.
434. 14:40I came in last minute.
435. 14:42Like I wouldn't try it out for MasterChef,
436. 14:44as a matter of fact.
437. 14:45That's how I got on the show.
438. 14:46I don't know if you know that show.
439. 14:47Oh yeah.
440. 14:47Gordon Ramsay, oh yeah.
441. 14:48So I love to cook too, man.
442. 14:49So that's another part of my artistry.
443. 14:51I love to cook.
444. 14:52And so I was like, you know what?
445. 14:54MasterChef is here.
446. 14:55It was in Portland at the time, Portland, Oregon.
447. 14:56I was living in Vancouver, Washington.
448. 14:57I was like, man, I had my boy go down with me
449. 15:00for moral support.
450. 15:00I'm like, man, let's go down here, man.
451. 15:01So I made my little, at the time,
452. 15:03like one of my favorite dishes to make.
453. 15:05I made a shrimp Alfredo from scratch.
454. 15:08So the Alfredo from scratch
455. 15:09and we cooked the shrimp up and all that went down there
456. 15:11and didn't get on the show.
457. 15:13You know what I mean?
458. 15:13But then I got a call from a producer.
459. 15:15I don't know, maybe a few days later,
460. 15:17maybe it was just my personality
461. 15:18or something that they saw in me.
462. 15:20They're like, yeah, so you wanna be on this show
463. 15:22with The Rock?
464. 15:22And I thought it was one of my boys playing with me,
465. 15:24to be completely honest with you.
466. 15:26I'm like, yeah, yeah, sure, whatever.
467. 15:28And so I hang up the phone.
468. 15:29I don't say nothing.
469. 15:30I don't call them back.
470. 15:30They're like, yeah, call me.
471. 15:31Do all this.
472. 15:32I'm like, yeah, okay.
473. 15:33I thought it was somebody.
474. 15:33You know, what am I?
475. 15:34Can my boys play around like that?
476. 15:38So they called me back.
477. 15:40Like, hey man, check this out, man, we serious.
478. 15:42Like, do you wanna be on a show with The Rock or not?
479. 15:44I'm like, oh, oh, you serious.
480. 15:47And so, so yeah, so then I'm like, okay,
481. 15:49well, what do I gotta do?
482. 15:50And so that, I mean, it was interesting.
483. 15:52So they wanted me to,
484. 15:52I had to send in some stuff to,
485. 15:56like stuff of what I do on my regular every day.
486. 15:58And I like try to show who you are type of thing.
487. 16:01You know, I guess they liked that.
488. 16:03And then I had an interview with one of the producers
489. 16:05and they liked me on that.
490. 16:06And then they flew me out to LA,
491. 16:08my first time ever being in LA,
492. 16:11but didn't get to see LA.
493. 16:12Cause when you, what I didn't understand
494. 16:14and what I understand now
495. 16:15is when you're like trying to get on a TV show,
496. 16:17they quarantine.
497. 16:19So I didn't want you going out talking about it.
498. 16:20And I'm like, that's why I keep you.
499. 16:22They drive you from the place, back to the place.
500. 16:23I went down and did like a mock interview,
501. 16:26like a mock on-screen TV interview.
502. 16:29And then you do a,
503. 16:30I did an interview with like a whole bunch of people
504. 16:31that were part of the show,
505. 16:32producers and all that stuff.
506. 16:34And long story short, I ended up getting on.
507. 16:36How long was the full process?
508. 16:38That process, shoot.
509. 16:41From when they called me,
510. 16:42they called me probably two, three weeks later,
511. 16:44or maybe three weeks later.
512. 16:46I found out that I was getting flown.
513. 16:47I was a finalist and got flown to LA.
514. 16:49By the time I got flown to LA,
515. 16:51this is like December.
516. 16:54Yeah, maybe early December,
517. 16:55maybe late November, early December.
518. 16:57And then flew to LA, came back.
519. 16:59And then they called me at the end of December,
520. 17:03before the new year,
521. 17:04and told me that I had made the show.
522. 17:07So it was about three weeks, I would say.
523. 17:09And then we started shooting in February of 2013.
524. 17:16Yeah, wow.
525. 17:18Yeah, February of 2013, yep.
526. 17:20So yeah, it wasn't that long once they got to going.
527. 17:22Come to find out, man,
528. 17:23I was the last one to get selected for the show.
529. 17:25And this is what's crazy about reality TV, man,
530. 17:28as you start realizing how racially driven stuff is.
531. 17:32Because what they said about me was like,
532. 17:34oh yeah, we had to, we found the perfect black dude.
533. 17:37And it was like, well, you're black enough
534. 17:40to appeal to the black folks,
535. 17:43but you're also, what's the word?
536. 17:46You're not, you're safe enough to appeal to white folks.
537. 17:51And I was like, that's crazy.
538. 17:53Which, you know, doesn't hurt my feelings
539. 17:54and nothing like that, but it's crazy.
540. 17:55Cause I'm like, man, TV is really like this.
541. 17:57Like they're really trying to make sure
542. 17:59that they're not, that they're doing a certain thing
543. 18:01and then portraying a certain thing on TV, man.
544. 18:03And so, yeah, that was really weird.
545. 18:05Cause I mean, growing up, it was, I had that issue, man.
546. 18:07I was always not black enough for the black kids
547. 18:11and too black for the white kids.
548. 18:13I was in this weird little area,
549. 18:16you know, this weird little gray area.
550. 18:18Then it was like my identity was a weird thing,
551. 18:20you know, especially growing, coming up, you know,
552. 18:23in my early adolescence in the nineties.
553. 18:25It was a weird thing, man.
554. 18:27So hearing that from them, I'm like, man, that's crazy.
555. 18:30That's crazy.
556. 18:31Like that's what, I mean, me being who I am,
557. 18:35it's not like I'm changing who I am,
558. 18:36but like the fact that people are looking at it like that
559. 18:39was wild to me.
560. 18:40But yeah, that show was cool, man.
561. 18:41I ended up getting second place on that joint, man.
562. 18:43I almost won that joint.
563. 18:45It went all the way to the end.
564. 18:46They kicked off a few people.
565. 18:47Still honored, huh?
566. 18:48Man, made a few friends, man.
567. 18:49Meeting The Rock was cool, man.
568. 18:50The Rock is a cool dude.
569. 18:51Like he is just like he would think he would be
570. 18:53in real life.
571. 18:54That's exactly how he is.
572. 18:56That dude is a great dude.
573. 18:58I mean, he literally has to have people around him
574. 19:00to stop him from talking to people
575. 19:01because he has to be places.
576. 19:03And they're the jerk for him because he's not.
577. 19:06He's just a nice guy, man.
578. 19:08He's just a really good dude.
579. 19:11Like that's what I got from him anyway.
580. 19:13And even when he was doing that,
581. 19:13he had a whole bunch of stuff going on.
582. 19:14He was still doing a lot of that stuff with us.
583. 19:17So yeah, man, that was a great time in my life.
584. 19:20I ain't gonna hold you.
585. 19:21Wow.
586. 19:22Yeah, I got a big old poster up that I have to,
587. 19:26I tell myself when I get a house, I'm gonna put it up.
588. 19:28I still have never put it up, but he signed it for me.
589. 19:29So he just signed it for me.
590. 19:32A fan who I'm still friends with to this day,
591. 19:35a fan won it in auction.
592. 19:38It was a picture of me and The Rock
593. 19:39dapping each other up and The Rock signed it.
594. 19:42Fan ended up winning it on some kind of sweepstakes
595. 19:45they did for the show.
596. 19:46He calls me or hits me on like Facebook
597. 19:47or something like that.
598. 19:48And then he says to me, I was like,
599. 19:51hey man, I don't really want this.
600. 19:52You wanna buy it?
601. 19:53I was like, absolutely.
602. 19:54I'll buy it from you.
603. 19:55Guess he needed money or something like that.
604. 19:57And so I can't even remember how much I gave for it.
605. 19:59Can't even remember.
606. 20:00But then I ended up just signing it myself.
607. 20:02And I said, well, when I get a house,
608. 20:04I'm gonna put it up somewhere.
609. 20:05I still ain't put it up.
610. 20:06I've been in this house for six years.
611. 20:07Oh yeah, put it up.
612. 20:08I know, I need to put it up, man.
613. 20:10I'm gonna show it to you before you leave.
614. 20:11I'll show you the picture.
615. 20:13Yeah, I'll show you the picture.
616. 20:15Yeah, it was a trip though.
617. 20:17A master chef to that.
618. 20:18So it was like a prime example of,
619. 20:20they say shoot for the stars, land on the moon.
620. 20:23Land on the moon.
621. 20:24Shoot for stars, land on the moon.
622. 20:25Something like that, yeah, yeah.
623. 20:27That's the prime example of that.
624. 20:28It really was, man.
625. 20:29It kinda was.
626. 20:30It kinda was.
627. 20:31I really wanted to be on the master chef show, man.
628. 20:34I really wanted to get on that joint.
629. 20:35Still count.
630. 20:36Yeah, yeah, no, that's real.
631. 20:38You be doing the thing.
632. 20:39I had a couple dishes, it was fun.
633. 20:41Yeah, yeah, I still can try, but yeah.
634. 20:43But yeah, I didn't expect to get on a show
635. 20:46where I'm doing physical stuff.
636. 20:49All right, that could be tied in
637. 20:52It's the Creative Healing Foundation, cooking.
638. 20:55True.
639. 20:57Because healing through cooking,
640. 20:58like they say food is medicine.
641. 21:00Definitely so.
642. 21:01I mean, cause it is that for me.
643. 21:02Cooking's therapy for me too, man.
644. 21:04I love cooking for people.
645. 21:05I love cooking for, you know,
646. 21:06it's funny cause I don't cook as much for myself.
647. 21:09Same, yeah.
648. 21:10Yeah, like when my kids is around,
649. 21:12I'm Mr. Gourmet Chef.
650. 21:13You know what I mean?
651. 21:14When they not here with me, it's like,
652. 21:15I don't even, what am I gonna do with myself?
653. 21:17I got like all of a sudden I'm not a cook no more.
654. 21:21That's how I act sometimes anyway, not all the time.
655. 21:23Yeah, yeah, yeah.
656. 21:23Sometimes I'll be cooking.
657. 21:24And then you kind of mentioned like the gray area
658. 21:27and then looking at your photography,
659. 21:30I know you guys like the black and white
660. 21:31with the color pop.
661. 21:33Like where do you get that style from?
662. 21:35Like how'd that come about?
663. 21:37My style, so I told you like the camera saved my life.
664. 21:41So a lot of the reason why I was shooting
665. 21:43was because I was in a dark place.
666. 21:45And so, I mean, even if you look at
667. 21:47some of my photography that I have up here
668. 21:49in the house, like it's dark.
669. 21:51Is that, and my base was always very cinematic, right?
670. 21:57Because I grew up going to the movies with my mom.
671. 21:58I feel like I've been training my eye my whole life.
672. 22:00And so I love movies.
673. 22:02And so my eye was always,
674. 22:05I wanted my edits to be dramatic.
675. 22:07I wanted everything to be dramatic.
676. 22:08And I was in a dark place
677. 22:09and I think I was just shooting for that.
678. 22:10But there was always a little bit of hope, right?
679. 22:13So for me, it was like, okay, well now,
680. 22:16but let me just show you this little piece.
681. 22:17Because even in all of this,
682. 22:20there's a little bit of hope.
683. 22:21And so that color was kind of like to signify
684. 22:23that little bit of hope that I had even in the drama.
685. 22:27There's a little something here.
686. 22:30And that's really how my style came about
687. 22:33because I even used to shoot everything
688. 22:34in black and white.
689. 22:35Like I would shoot in raw in black and white.
690. 22:37I didn't care about color.
691. 22:39Because for me, it was really all about the shadows,
692. 22:41the shadows and the depth.
693. 22:42I didn't care about anything else.
694. 22:44And I now shoot in color,
695. 22:46but when I was doing, yeah,
696. 22:47I mean, even when I was shooting for,
697. 22:48cause I shoot for Triumph Magazine too.
698. 22:50Even when I was shooting for them, like I still do.
699. 22:54Still do shoot for them.
700. 22:55I don't shoot in black and white anymore,
701. 22:56but I would shoot all the subjects in black and white.
702. 23:00And Craig will be like, hey man, is it gonna be color?
703. 23:02I'm like, no, it's color, trust me.
704. 23:03But I don't care about the color.
705. 23:05Like it's about the image.
706. 23:06It's about how the shadows hit.
707. 23:07It's about how that is.
708. 23:08That's how I know the image is good.
709. 23:10The color is gonna be the color,
710. 23:11no matter what you do.
711. 23:13So that's, yeah, the drama thing is what it is for me,
712. 23:16but I still love shooting like that.
713. 23:18That's my style.
714. 23:19I feel like that cinematic style.
715. 23:21And depending on the picture,
716. 23:22like I'll go into a picture knowing, okay,
717. 23:24I'll take the picture knowing,
718. 23:25looking at the subject like,
719. 23:26oh, I know what color I'm gonna pop.
720. 23:28And a lot of it started to become a game
721. 23:30to where it would get more and more subtle.
722. 23:34Like, you know, a lot of people will pop color.
723. 23:35I'm not the only one that's ever done that.
724. 23:36You know what I mean?
725. 23:37That's not my style.
726. 23:39A lot of people do it,
727. 23:40but it became a game for me now.
728. 23:42Even I'll do like little landscapes
729. 23:43and I'll have a pop of color in the landscape.
730. 23:45And if you're not looking at it hard enough,
731. 23:46you won't even catch it.
732. 23:48You know what I mean?
733. 23:48But it's something that I like to do.
734. 23:50Still do it.
735. 23:51I just made one the other day, matter of fact.
736. 23:53But it's just, you know.
737. 23:55Yeah.
738. 23:56So I would say,
739. 23:57who was your favorite person to capture at Triumph Magazine?
740. 24:01My favorite capture at Triumph, man.
741. 24:04That's a loaded,
742. 24:05cause it's been a few.
743. 24:06Or top three, top three.
744. 24:07Oh, man.
745. 24:09Let's see.
746. 24:13You know, one of my,
747. 24:14so I'll just go out to my favorite shoots.
748. 24:16One of my favorite shoots was,
749. 24:19one of my top shoots was definitely with Shannon,
750. 24:27Smith, and Jasmine.
751. 24:29They're both news anchors.
752. 24:30You know, city of Cleveland.
753. 24:32And that was a dope shoot because we,
754. 24:36you know, they came together.
755. 24:37It was just like a beautiful thing,
756. 24:38because a lot, you know,
757. 24:39we always selling that black folks
758. 24:40can't do nothing together, man.
759. 24:42And that it's always like a fight,
760. 24:45you know what I mean? Competition.
761. 24:46Competition between, nah, but these, you know,
762. 24:48these black women, both news anchors,
763. 24:49both came together and did a shoot on the same day, man.
764. 24:53And we just had a time.
765. 24:55You know what I'm saying?
766. 24:55It was a time, right?
767. 24:58That was definitely one of my favorite shoots.
768. 25:00Another one of my favorite shoots
769. 25:00is we did this summer issue.
770. 25:02And it was like a fold-out.
771. 25:03It was the only one he did like that.
772. 25:04It was like a fold-out issue.
773. 25:06But matter of fact, Maxwell shot something
774. 25:07for that issue too.
775. 25:09But it was a bunch of people from around the city.
776. 25:11And he just highlighted like a bunch of clothing brands,
777. 25:14a bunch of, just a bunch of different people
778. 25:16that were in the city.
779. 25:17I think that's how I met Mel, who was a model.
780. 25:20That's how I met Hell Vail,
781. 25:21who was a local rapper in the city.
782. 25:23That's how I found out about New Grind,
783. 25:27which is a clothing brand that's in the city.
784. 25:30It was just like a big up to a lot of creators
785. 25:33in the city.
786. 25:35Mike Mathis was a part of that.
787. 25:37And we actually shot him again by himself.
788. 25:39But this was like, that was one of my favorites too.
789. 25:42And then I've got a lot of favorites,
790. 25:44but you know the shoot that I really like,
791. 25:46the images that I really liked that I got from that
792. 25:49was Bashir.
793. 25:51Oh yeah.
794. 25:52I shot Bashir, man.
795. 25:54And like, you know, he's a fellow alpha too, man.
796. 25:57But it was, the images we got from that shoot
797. 26:00were just, you know, it was really,
798. 26:01I really felt like I was in my bag.
799. 26:03You know, kind of creating like a style
800. 26:05of how I wanted to shoot these editorial images.
801. 26:07Cause that's what I've gotten myself into.
802. 26:09It's like, I love that editorial style,
803. 26:11cinematic style of shooting.
804. 26:13And that was definitely one of my favorite shoots too, man.
805. 26:15But I've had a lot of them.
806. 26:20What's his name?
807. 26:21And it's Monte Gaddis, man.
808. 26:23I had a shoot with him, he does.
809. 26:26It's not rugby.
810. 26:27I came thinking of the sport,
811. 26:30but we did a shoot in his gym, man,
812. 26:31where he got some crazy dope images.
813. 26:34I just, I love shooting, man.
814. 26:37Like, I love those one-on-one type shoots.
815. 26:40That's why I don't really like doing parties
816. 26:42and stuff like that anymore.
817. 26:43I like the one-on-one experience
818. 26:44cause I like to get that.
819. 26:45I want your picture,
820. 26:47I want your image to be art when it's done.
821. 26:49That's like my whole aim.
822. 26:51Cause I want it to be something
823. 26:52you can put on your wall.
824. 26:53But it's also like just a portrait shoot.
825. 26:55Like I don't know, I just caught him outside.
826. 26:57That was outside the All-Star game.
827. 26:59Me and Master's coming out.
828. 27:00He's like, man, shoot my picture.
829. 27:02He ended up shooting it.
830. 27:03And now it's on my wall.
831. 27:04And like some of the cats that come in,
832. 27:05like they know him.
833. 27:06Like, you know him?
834. 27:07I'm like, no, I don't know him.
835. 27:08And I just shot it.
836. 27:09And it's, you know, it's dope.
837. 27:11It just represents what I love about Cleveland, man.
838. 27:13Like to me, that heat is Cleveland.
839. 27:16You know what I mean?
840. 27:17Just a cat just doing what he does
841. 27:20out there downtown.
842. 27:22Just being him, man.
843. 27:23Like that's, I mean, the same thing
844. 27:24with that one right there with the, you know,
845. 27:26with the bikes and a lot of the cats
846. 27:28that be in the hood.
847. 27:29I think I was doing what you did.
848. 27:30Yeah, well you doing that one?
849. 27:31Yeah, downtown.
850. 27:31Yeah, because we were shooting Lady Poet.
851. 27:35Yeah, and they just happened to be out there.
852. 27:37Dono Black, because he'd be out there
853. 27:38with the kids on the bikes all the time.
854. 27:39Shout out to him too, because he's one of the,
855. 27:41he's one of the guys that inspired me
856. 27:44when I first got to Cleveland.
857. 27:45Just seeing what he does around the city.
858. 27:47But yeah, he was out with them, man.
859. 27:48We just turned to the side and just, man.
860. 27:51You know what I mean?
861. 27:52That's why you were out there.
862. 27:53That's crazy.
863. 27:54That's crazy, man.
864. 27:55I was like four years ago,
865. 27:58or maybe four and a half years ago.
866. 28:00I've been out, come August, I'll be out here seven years.
867. 28:04Yeah, so I was like four or five years ago,
868. 28:05something like that.
869. 28:06Maybe five.
870. 28:06Four and a half.
871. 28:07Yeah, something like that.
872. 28:08Say four and a half.
873. 28:09Say, yeah, something like that.
874. 28:10Cut it in the middle.
875. 28:13Yeah, that's definitely amazing, like, why?
876. 28:16And definitely got that talent that I,
877. 28:19like you said, like, one of my favorite pictures,
878. 28:21I think I was seeing was, what was it?
879. 28:23Rock, paper, scissors, or rock, paper, cigars.
880. 28:26Oh yeah, yeah.
881. 28:28So that's my guy right there, man.
882. 28:31Bake, my man Bake, man.
883. 28:33He, yeah, shout out to my favorite cigars.
884. 28:34Yeah, so we used to work together, matter of fact.
885. 28:38And he ended up telling me,
886. 28:40he ended up telling me,
887. 28:41yeah, man, I'm about to start this business.
888. 28:42And at the time I was like,
889. 28:44well, let me come down and like,
890. 28:45give you some images.
891. 28:46You talking about the one where he's cutting a cigar?
892. 28:48No, that's one of my favorite images.
893. 28:49Yeah, I think he had another one.
894. 28:50I think he was like seated.
895. 28:53I got a few.
896. 28:54I got him with some of him rolling.
897. 28:55I got, yeah, I got a few of him.
898. 28:57That I've posted before,
899. 29:00but I don't think a lot of them,
900. 29:02a lot of them I haven't really put out there,
901. 29:03but yeah, oh man, those are some of my favorite images.
902. 29:06Man, I love doing that, man.
903. 29:08That's my guy too, man.
904. 29:09We still talk, I just talked to him about a week ago.
905. 29:11Yeah, he's still rolling cigars,
906. 29:13still doing his thing.
907. 29:14I'm real Cubans, rolled by a black man.
908. 29:16I love it, I love it.
909. 29:19Man. Yeah.
910. 29:20I never had a cigar, but man, that's-
911. 29:22Oh, no?
912. 29:22All the accomplishments, I may have to pick one up.
913. 29:25So 35th, maybe, on me.
914. 29:27Hey, that might not be a bad time.
915. 29:30I used to like cigars,
916. 29:31but now, man, ever since the health issues,
917. 29:33the blood clot issues, man,
918. 29:35I don't put nothing in my lungs no more, man.
919. 29:36Nothing at all, man.
920. 29:38So I stopped all of that.
921. 29:40I used to smoke weed and all that good stuff, man,
922. 29:43but yeah, I was like, nope.
923. 29:45I say all that good stuff like it's good.
924. 29:46None of that's a good thing.
925. 29:48It's not a good thing.
926. 29:49But it's something that I did.
927. 29:50Let me just say that.
928. 29:51I'm not out here promoting nothing.
929. 29:53People do what they do.
930. 29:54I did what I did, but I just don't anymore, but yeah.
931. 29:58That's good, though, that's good, you know?
932. 30:01It's therapeutic and healing and refreshing.
933. 30:05Indeed, indeed.
934. 30:07So I would say you kind of scaled back
935. 30:09from the business just a little bit.
936. 30:13When you were in business,
937. 30:14what was that process like,
938. 30:16especially in the beginning stages?
939. 30:18Oh, man, rough.
940. 30:19It was rough because you don't-
941. 30:22I'm not a businessman.
942. 30:24And some people are business-minded like that.
943. 30:27I'm still not business-minded like that.
944. 30:30I'm just not.
945. 30:31It's always been about the art for me.
946. 30:33And so it was hard.
947. 30:35It was really hard understanding,
948. 30:37okay, this money is business money
949. 30:38and this money is personal money.
950. 30:40And not, I would just-
951. 30:41It's all my money.
952. 30:42Yeah, it's just all me.
953. 30:44I made it.
954. 30:45Yeah, we know what I mean.
955. 30:46And so I would not, I mean, even to this day,
956. 30:50I still have back taxes that I have to file on myself.
957. 30:53I'm fully transparent, man.
958. 30:54I'm not scared to talk about that kind of stuff.
959. 30:57I'm not business-minded.
960. 30:58I wasn't business-minded enough up front.
961. 31:01And I was, and then being too nice,
962. 31:03being too kind, I wouldn't say nice,
963. 31:05but being just trying to be too kind and trying to-
964. 31:08You gotta know when you're done
965. 31:10getting your name out there
966. 31:10and when it's time to just start charging.
967. 31:13Because people that understand
968. 31:15and appreciate your talent and your expertise
969. 31:18will pay you for it.
970. 31:19That's true.
971. 31:20But that's a hard thing to know.
972. 31:22No one knows it.
973. 31:23No one knows what to charge at first.
974. 31:25Knowing what to charge is the hardest thing in the world.
975. 31:27You know what I mean?
976. 31:27When you're first getting started,
977. 31:28you're not trying to be too low
978. 31:31because you don't want to disrespect the industry,
979. 31:33but you're not trying to go too high
980. 31:35because you don't feel like you have enough expertise.
981. 31:38Like I always tell people that you charge
982. 31:40just a little bit.
983. 31:42You go to that level where it feels like uncomfortable
984. 31:47and take a tiny step back from that.
985. 31:49It shouldn't feel all the way comfortable.
986. 31:52It shouldn't feel like, I don't know.
987. 31:55Then you know you're charging the right amount.
988. 31:57And I heard something good.
989. 31:58You should be closing four out of 10.
990. 32:00If you're closing six out of 10, you're too cheap.
991. 32:03You're not charging enough.
992. 32:04I shouldn't say cheap.
993. 32:05You're not charging enough.
994. 32:05If you're closing six out of 10,
995. 32:06you're not charging enough.
996. 32:07You should only really be closing four out of 10.
997. 32:10When you get to that level
998. 32:11where you know what you're doing,
999. 32:13but you don't know what to charge.
1000. 32:14Four out of 10 should be your number.
1001. 32:1640% of the people that call you
1002. 32:19should only be the ones paying
1003. 32:20what you're charging.
1004. 32:24Because if not, if you're closing more than that,
1005. 32:25everybody's like, oh yeah, well come on.
1006. 32:28Because you start realizing, okay, I'm not charging enough.
1007. 32:30Right, you get burnt out.
1008. 32:32Yeah, you get burnt out doing stuff
1009. 32:33and that happened to me, man.
1010. 32:35And then I'm saying yes to everything
1011. 32:37that I didn't want to say yes to.
1012. 32:39And that's why now when I was able
1013. 32:42to get into the teacher side of stuff
1014. 32:44and I was able to get a part-time job
1015. 32:46and some health insurance.
1016. 32:47And another thing about being an entrepreneur
1017. 32:49is health insurance, man.
1018. 32:50It's like you have to say to yourself,
1019. 32:53I was young at first doing it when I first started.
1020. 32:55Now it's like I'm getting older.
1021. 32:56I'm having some health issues.
1022. 32:58I need health insurance.
1023. 32:59So now that's taking a chunk out of what I'm making.
1024. 33:01And I got to pay for all these things.
1025. 33:03I got to pay for my kids.
1026. 33:04I got to pay for the mortgage.
1027. 33:04I got to pay.
1028. 33:05So you have to make some sacrifices, man.
1029. 33:08And you have to really say to yourself,
1030. 33:10do I really want to keep grinding?
1031. 33:11Because there was times, dog, where it was bad.
1032. 33:13I've had months where I made 15 grand,
1033. 33:17but then I have months where I don't make anything.
1034. 33:20And so it's one of those sine waves that is hard.
1035. 33:24It's really, really hard to wrap your head around
1036. 33:28because you feel real good in those months.
1037. 33:30And then if you spend too much
1038. 33:31and realize the next couple of months
1039. 33:32when you don't do as much revenue,
1040. 33:33now you're like, oh, what am I going to do?
1041. 33:38So it's a grind, man.
1042. 33:40It's not everybody's built for it.
1043. 33:41And I'm starting to realize that
1044. 33:43I didn't want to do it as much anymore.
1045. 33:46So now I've just, I've come back into a niche
1046. 33:50to where I'm like, okay, this is what I'm more so doing.
1047. 33:53Like the one-on-one type shoots, small family shoots,
1048. 33:57the one-on-one, I still shoot for the magazine.
1049. 33:59That's what I want to be doing.
1050. 34:01I do weddings with my partner.
1051. 34:03I shout out to Brian Smith, Brian K. Smith,
1052. 34:08artisan, artisan?
1053. 34:09Artisan. Artisan.
1054. 34:10But he like gonna laugh and be like, damn, this.
1055. 34:15But I do it with him, you know,
1056. 34:17because I don't mind being the second shooter.
1057. 34:19He knows, he's like,
1058. 34:20I don't like being the first shooter for weddings.
1059. 34:21I do videos for weddings.
1060. 34:22I love doing video.
1061. 34:24Or like just being the shooter for events.
1062. 34:26I just, I don't like it as much anymore.
1063. 34:29I'm good at it.
1064. 34:30Still good at it.
1065. 34:31Just don't like it.
1066. 34:32And I had to be honest with myself about that.
1067. 34:34So that's why I've dialed back from doing it.
1068. 34:36People ask me, I'm like, eh, no, not really.
1069. 34:38I try to give it to somebody else that wants to do it.
1070. 34:40You know, I'm not, it's not my thing.
1071. 34:42Maxwell, great at it.
1072. 34:45Shout out LifeScapes.
1073. 34:46Great at it.
1074. 34:47Yeah, I've seen his growth, yeah.
1075. 34:48Yeah, man.
1076. 34:49Like he's great at doing events.
1077. 34:50Like that's his thing.
1078. 34:52I'm not that.
1079. 34:54You know what I mean?
1080. 34:55So it's learning your lane is one thing
1081. 34:57that I've gotten into.
1082. 34:58You know, going, it's been nine years.
1083. 35:00Now I know my lane.
1084. 35:02Like unequivocally know where I want to be
1085. 35:04with how I shoot photography.
1086. 35:06Yeah.
1087. 35:07And I know we kind of didn't speak on the video side.
1088. 35:11What would you say is your favorite?
1089. 35:12More photography or video?
1090. 35:15I don't have a favorite.
1091. 35:17I don't.
1092. 35:18I love the visuals.
1093. 35:20It just depends on what I'm doing.
1094. 35:22I like them both.
1095. 35:23I really, really do.
1096. 35:25Like I really enjoy doing both.
1097. 35:27It just depends on what I'm doing.
1098. 35:28I really, my goal is to shoot like a full length movie.
1099. 35:32That's why, that's my ultimate goal
1100. 35:34is to get into that.
1101. 35:35Shoot full length movie.
1102. 35:36I don't think I'll ever put down shooting photography.
1103. 35:40Cause the joy I have of going out,
1104. 35:43getting the shot done and getting that shot
1105. 35:44and just being really excited about it.
1106. 35:46That doesn't go anywhere, man.
1107. 35:48Like I just, you started talking about the Triumph shoots.
1108. 35:50That makes me happy because those shoots are like,
1109. 35:53that's when I'm in my bag, man.
1110. 35:55I get into a groove and I'm able to,
1111. 35:57there's no time limit.
1112. 35:58There's no, you know what I mean?
1113. 35:59We're just shooting, trying to get a good shot.
1114. 36:02And then the thought process of getting to that shot,
1115. 36:07like knowing who we're shooting
1116. 36:08and then being like, okay,
1117. 36:10people in the scene, wherever we're at
1118. 36:11and being like, okay, this is the shot we want.
1119. 36:14Like getting these shots out of my head
1120. 36:15is like one of those things.
1121. 36:17It's one of those things I did when I first got here.
1122. 36:19It's like, I did certain shots that I was like,
1123. 36:20oh, I gotta get that shot, get it out of my head.
1124. 36:23I think I got one up here.
1125. 36:24No, it's not that one.
1126. 36:26There's one, there was an abandoned church on 93rd.
1127. 36:31It was 93rd that I went to.
1128. 36:32Like certain shots in my head,
1129. 36:33like I always wanted to get certain shots like that.
1130. 36:35It was the shot on Forest Hills.
1131. 36:37When I first got here and moved up here,
1132. 36:38I'm like, oh, that bridge that goes across
1133. 36:39Forest Hills as you're going up,
1134. 36:41as you're going up, what's that?
1135. 36:43Lee?
1136. 36:44It's not Lee.
1137. 36:47It's, it's the one down,
1138. 36:49ooh, what is the name of that street?
1139. 36:50I can't think of it.
1140. 36:51Lee, Forest, Forest Hills.
1141. 36:52It is probably, I think it is Forest Hills Drive.
1142. 36:54Yeah, it is Forest Hills anyway, but that-
1143. 36:56Because of Lee and then-
1144. 36:56Yeah, then Forest Hills, yeah.
1145. 36:58But that bridge that goes across.
1146. 36:59The first fall I was here and I seen that bridge,
1147. 37:02I was like, ooh, I gotta get that shot.
1148. 37:04I told Jones that.
1149. 37:06And thank God, my man Jones,
1150. 37:08shout out to him man, too.
1151. 37:10Like this doesn't happen without people around me.
1152. 37:13Like this is how I met you, shooting, right?
1153. 37:15Right.
1154. 37:17This is what I'm talking about.
1155. 37:18Like the building of the community,
1156. 37:20the artistic community is what it's all about
1157. 37:23and what makes the juices flow.
1158. 37:25Cause when you get around other people
1159. 37:26and start shooting, man, it makes it,
1160. 37:28it makes it that much more fun.
1161. 37:29It makes you be able to,
1162. 37:31it brings out the best in everybody.
1163. 37:33Cause now everybody is, everybody,
1164. 37:35we're all in the same place,
1165. 37:36we're all getting different shots.
1166. 37:37Right.
1167. 37:38And we're all excited about each other's shots.
1168. 37:39Like it's that, that's a real thing for me, man.
1169. 37:42Like I think that, and I haven't done that in a minute,
1170. 37:46like going out and doing a photo,
1171. 37:48a photo like a city scene like we were doing before.
1172. 37:50Like we need to do that again.
1173. 37:51Cause I need that back.
1174. 37:53I need that feeling again.
1175. 37:54It's been over a year since we done one of those.
1176. 37:56I would say, speaking of like that,
1177. 37:59Photobox, any programs coming up?
1178. 38:02Yeah, we're doing a project, Shifting Energy,
1179. 38:05which I'm a part of.
1180. 38:07I'm actually one of the main facilitators for.
1181. 38:09So I'm doing, I'm doing, teaching photography,
1182. 38:12teaching healing through photography.
1183. 38:14And we're basically using the camera
1184. 38:16to teach our community that you can,
1185. 38:18you can use this as a healing mechanism.
1186. 38:21Art can be healing.
1187. 38:23Like, you know, whatever it is,
1188. 38:24whatever mental history you have going on,
1189. 38:26this can be it for you.
1190. 38:27And showing them how, you know, how,
1191. 38:29how to look at it in a different way, I guess,
1192. 38:32is how I sing.
1193. 38:33We also have creative writing that's going along
1194. 38:35with that, that's being taught by,
1195. 38:38what is Keisha's last name?
1196. 38:39She is a dope poet.
1197. 38:41Keisha Foster.
1198. 38:42Yes.
1199. 38:43Yes, yes, yes.
1200. 38:44Yeah, you already know.
1201. 38:45Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1202. 38:46Been around.
1203. 38:47Yeah, cause you've been in these streets, baby.
1204. 38:50You've been in these streets.
1205. 38:51But yeah, so she's doing the creative,
1206. 38:53she's doing the writing side of it.
1207. 38:54So us together, we're doing, we're doing this.
1208. 38:57So, you know, people that's coming out.
1209. 38:59It's strictly for the Mount Pleasant area.
1210. 39:01And it's free, completely free,
1211. 39:03six week program, once every Saturday, 11,
1212. 39:0711.30 to two, I believe, at a Harvey Rice library.
1213. 39:13Yeah, everybody that comes out gets a free camera
1214. 39:16and some free healing.
1215. 39:18You know what I mean?
1216. 39:19Like, we have some people from the community
1217. 39:21coming out that are going to be taking blood pressure
1218. 39:24and taking vitals.
1219. 39:26And we have somebody that's going to be,
1220. 39:28Brother Sincere is going to be coming out
1221. 39:30at the very beginning of every session
1222. 39:32and doing a meditation and a grounding
1223. 39:35to get everybody in that mindset.
1224. 39:37So like the whole idea behind it is like arts is healing
1225. 39:40and being healing to community.
1226. 39:42And actually, like I said, getting real numbers,
1227. 39:44blood pressure numbers, you know,
1228. 39:46and making sure that people understand
1229. 39:47that their health is wealth.
1230. 39:49Like health is important.
1231. 39:50And so we're going to have food
1232. 39:52and the food is going to be designed
1233. 39:55to be on the healthier side.
1234. 39:57I'm not exactly sure what the menu is just yet.
1235. 39:59But Brother Sincere is also a vegan.
1236. 40:01So we're probably going to try to slide in some vegan stuff.
1237. 40:04You know, it's hard with our community sometimes,
1238. 40:06slide that vegan stuff in there.
1239. 40:07But when you start realizing how good it can be.
1240. 40:09Oh yeah, it's real good, yeah.
1241. 40:10Let me get some of that.
1242. 40:12Let me get some of that.
1243. 40:12You know, I was vegan for six years.
1244. 40:13I'm not anymore, but I can eat vegan in a minute.
1245. 40:16Oh yeah.
1246. 40:17It's not hard.
1247. 40:18I prefer it.
1248. 40:19But like you say, I've been for a few years
1249. 40:21and I kind of cut back and being around family,
1250. 40:24you know, old tradition meals.
1251. 40:26Yeah.
1252. 40:28So I converted back.
1253. 40:30Yeah, man.
1254. 40:30Yeah, I ain't going to hold you.
1255. 40:32I have to, man.
1256. 40:34But you know, I definitely,
1257. 40:36I definitely, it's easier for me to not eat it now.
1258. 40:40You know, it used to be like I have to have it.
1259. 40:41Now I'm like, man, it's easier for me
1260. 40:42to have to make a meal without meat in it.
1261. 40:44Oh yeah.
1262. 40:44It's just, it's real easy.
1263. 40:46And I do it and enjoy it.
1264. 40:47Yeah, I still don't like traditionally buy meat.
1265. 40:50Like if I'm out at a restaurant or, you know,
1266. 40:53family cook, you know I eat it, but I still don't buy it.
1267. 40:57You still don't buy it?
1268. 40:57I still, I never bought a,
1269. 40:59I don't think I,
1270. 41:00last time I bought a pack of meat was
1271. 41:03ribeye steak and I was 19.
1272. 41:06Wow.
1273. 41:07Wow.
1274. 41:08Okay.
1275. 41:09I can't say the same thing with myself, man.
1276. 41:12The kids will eat it, man.
1277. 41:13So I'll definitely buy the meats,
1278. 41:16but I'm definitely trying to,
1279. 41:17I try to be a little bit more cautious
1280. 41:18of where I get my meats from.
1281. 41:21I'd rather get it from better places than the normal.
1282. 41:25You know, the best place to get it is like from a farm,
1283. 41:28obviously.
1284. 41:29If you're going to eat meat,
1285. 41:30like the closer to the farm the better,
1286. 41:32but that's not realistic.
1287. 41:34You know?
1288. 41:34That's true.
1289. 41:35Like even with produce, like it's a lot of GMO
1290. 41:39and going back to the healing,
1291. 41:42like it affects your brains,
1292. 41:43the things you eat affects your brain.
1293. 41:45Like I even see the program
1294. 41:49being tailored to patients
1295. 41:52that's like fresh out the hospital.
1296. 41:54Yes.
1297. 41:55And need that, almost like that extra confidence.
1298. 41:58Cause like when you had that confidence
1299. 41:59and that love around you,
1300. 42:01like the healing accelerates.
1301. 42:03Now that's real.
1302. 42:04That's real.
1303. 42:05That's when the community comes in.
1304. 42:06Now you right, man.
1305. 42:07That's true.
1306. 42:08Yeah, I'm going to have to take,
1307. 42:09that's, I'm using that, brother.
1308. 42:10Oh yeah.
1309. 42:11Yeah, that's because you right
1310. 42:12cause that's exactly where it comes from.
1311. 42:13I mean, when you, you know,
1312. 42:16they say it was like, reach one,
1313. 42:17reach one, teach one, each one, teach one.
1314. 42:19Like, you know, but also like that means that community
1315. 42:21that, that, that having other people around you
1316. 42:23doing the same thing, that energy is real, man.
1317. 42:25I mean, you remember when we did the four of loves,
1318. 42:27man, them things, you know,
1319. 42:28them energies used to be real, man.
1320. 42:29That's a good time, man.
1321. 42:31So, you know.
1322. 42:31I still have people talk about them on the acts.
1323. 42:33I'm like, it's going to happen.
1324. 42:35It's going to happen.
1325. 42:36Yeah, last one we did.
1326. 42:37It was two years ago, the last one we did.
1327. 42:39We tried to do, we did one down at Gordon Park.
1328. 42:41No, not Gordon Park.
1329. 42:42What's the name of the park right there?
1330. 42:44Going to Cleveland Heights?
1331. 42:46Kane.
1332. 42:47Kane Park.
1333. 42:47Kane Park, yep, yep.
1334. 42:50Oh, the Amphitheater.
1335. 42:52Yeah, yep.
1336. 42:53That's the last time we did one.
1337. 42:54That was a while back, a couple of years ago.
1338. 42:56We coming back, man.
1339. 42:57We going to do another one, man.
1340. 42:58We going to do another one.
1341. 42:59Cause we have to, it's, it's, oh yeah.
1342. 43:01It's a must, I think.
1343. 43:03Oh yeah, oh yeah.
1344. 43:04It definitely is.
1345. 43:06It's, I don't know, I've kind of been
1346. 43:07out of the arts community,
1347. 43:09mainly the poetry community for a while now.
1348. 43:12Maybe four years, retired poet, musician.
1349. 43:18Feels good.
1350. 43:19I still get asked to perform, which is an honor.
1351. 43:21It's a blessing.
1352. 43:23But it's not, it's not my current life right now.
1353. 43:27So why?
1354. 43:27I'm curious now, like.
1355. 43:29Like you said, I, you know,
1356. 43:31I used to host, perform, you know,
1357. 43:34do all this stuff on stage.
1358. 43:37Then I get off stage.
1359. 43:39I support others by first starting with
1360. 43:42the iPhone, filming, taking pictures.
1361. 43:45I'm like, huh, why don't I just invest in the camera?
1362. 43:49I finally invested in the camera
1363. 43:50and I kind of shift gears with the art.
1364. 43:53It's still art.
1365. 43:54It's still, it's still me creating,
1366. 43:58but just in a different way.
1367. 43:59And I just, I drove right in.
1368. 44:02It's studying and practicing.
1369. 44:04So it's like once you start something new,
1370. 44:10you want to kind of give it your all.
1371. 44:11And that's what I did.
1372. 44:12And that's how I found myself taking it serious.
1373. 44:15Like I was still right in here and there,
1374. 44:17but not really actively performing.
1375. 44:20So when we first met,
1376. 44:20you had just started really get diving in deep.
1377. 44:23I guess when you really started diving.
1378. 44:25Yep, I met, I met Jones through,
1379. 44:28through Sophie at a networking event.
1380. 44:31He was doing headshots.
1381. 44:32Okay.
1382. 44:33And, you know, I bought the,
1383. 44:36cause it was, it was like a ticket.
1384. 44:37You just, for a mission, then for, you know,
1385. 44:40a few more, you get that free headshot.
1386. 44:43I'm like, I'm going to go get the headshot.
1387. 44:44Yeah.
1388. 44:45And I always talk to him like, man,
1389. 44:48I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to start for Tiger film.
1390. 44:50I'm like, I'm serious.
1391. 44:52Oh yeah.
1392. 44:52I'm like, I'm serious.
1393. 44:54And, and like, you know,
1394. 44:56we've been close ever since.
1395. 44:58I'm like, man, that's, that's when I'm like,
1396. 45:00damn, I really said this.
1397. 45:01I really got to take it serious now.
1398. 45:02So it's like, all right.
1399. 45:05I was still performing for, you know,
1400. 45:07maybe a year later than I,
1401. 45:08I lost my grandfather.
1402. 45:12I wasn't really active,
1403. 45:14but I still perform here and there
1404. 45:16for close people that wanted me to.
1405. 45:18And I remember this, just crying.
1406. 45:20Like he, he transitioned maybe a week before that.
1407. 45:27And nothing came out until that day.
1408. 45:28I was just,
1409. 45:32I couldn't remember no word.
1410. 45:34It was just like, man, miss.
1411. 45:36I'm like, it just started coming down.
1412. 45:38It was pouring tears.
1413. 45:41I'm like, I'm like, man, forget it, man.
1414. 45:43I ain't about to perform or try to act like,
1415. 45:46no, I'm going to just talk to y'all.
1416. 45:48Like, if y'all got something real on your heart, man,
1417. 45:50just express it.
1418. 45:50Like just, just talking that real deep.
1419. 45:53Like, man, just forget the performance.
1420. 45:55I mean, let me just talk to y'all.
1421. 45:56Just have my eyes closed, tears, just crying.
1422. 45:59Like just, just speaking to the people, you know.
1423. 46:01I don't think you ever told me that story, man.
1424. 46:04We told that, you know, too often.
1425. 46:06Wow.
1426. 46:07So yeah, it's like, man.
1427. 46:09And so when he told you to come out,
1428. 46:10because that's when we met when we first did that little,
1429. 46:12that we did, that was one of the,
1430. 46:14one of the first photo walks that we did.
1431. 46:17Yeah, but like, RTA, Cedar.
1432. 46:23Yeah, because we was doing the long exposure stuff
1433. 46:25and then we started walking around doing.
1434. 46:26I didn't even know it was a long exposure,
1435. 46:28but a lot of exposure.
1436. 46:29Yeah, yeah.
1437. 46:30He didn't either, because we was messing around
1438. 46:32with some like light painting and stuff like that too.
1439. 46:35Like, okay.
1440. 46:36And I said, y'all, I'm like,
1441. 46:38I don't even wanna do this.
1442. 46:41I was fresh, I was brand new.
1443. 46:43That's crazy.
1444. 46:45Yeah, yup, yup.
1445. 46:46That's it, man.
1446. 46:48That's it.
1447. 46:49Yup, yup.
1448. 46:49Y'all was with Juneteenth.
1449. 46:51It was a Juneteenth event.
1450. 46:53So that was even more, you know, powerful and iconic.
1451. 46:57It was like, man.
1452. 46:58Swimming from near, huh?
1453. 46:59Hey, it's a crazy bug to catch, man.
1454. 47:02It's a crazy bug to catch, expensive bug.
1455. 47:05Man, you start getting into these other cameras,
1456. 47:07but they, you know,
1457. 47:08now they starting to come up with some stuff
1458. 47:09that's kind of like not as expensive as other stuff
1459. 47:12that still does the job.
1460. 47:13The technology.
1461. 47:14Yeah, technology is getting a lot better,
1462. 47:16a lot cleaner.
1463. 47:18I see Nikon, I see-
1464. 47:19Oh, no, no, no, no.
1465. 47:21I know you don't, but I see,
1466. 47:24I know when Nikon bought our red,
1467. 47:27like I always wanted a red cinema camera.
1468. 47:29So it was like, man, when they made that acquisition,
1469. 47:32that partnership, I'm like, yes.
1470. 47:35That'll give me one now.
1471. 47:37I ended up, I got, so yesterday I got a 5C,
1472. 47:41a R5C, which is like the lowest level of cinema camera
1473. 47:45you can get into on Canon.
1474. 47:47But it's also still good for photography.
1475. 47:49So it's like, I put my toe in the water
1476. 47:50and instead of going out and buying like the C series,
1477. 47:53like a C100 or a C200,
1478. 47:54I'm like, nah, let me just get this 5C
1479. 47:56and see what this do.
1480. 47:57It's a beast though.
1481. 47:58I still haven't gotten to all the capabilities of it.
1482. 48:03So like I said,
1483. 48:03I'm trying to get into this cinema shooting
1484. 48:05and I've shot a couple of shorts already.
1485. 48:08So I really wanna get to that level
1486. 48:10of shooting a feature film.
1487. 48:12And it's a lot to it.
1488. 48:13I didn't realize how much it was to it, man.
1489. 48:16Oh, phew, it's a lot.
1490. 48:18It's a lot.
1491. 48:19I've been on set,
1492. 48:21kind of like your story with the rock, with the hero.
1493. 48:26I was honored to be a part of the filming
1494. 48:30when they did it in Cleveland, a Superman movie.
1495. 48:33Oh, what?
1496. 48:34I've been a part of the Superman.
1497. 48:35This is the last one?
1498. 48:36Yep, the last one.
1499. 48:36Okay, okay.
1500. 48:38And people were just hating it,
1501. 48:39like, how you get this?
1502. 48:40How you brand new?
1503. 48:42And it's your first thing.
1504. 48:43I had to work hard, go through all of them.
1505. 48:45So people was like, man,
1506. 48:47like this is my first day working on a movie set.
1507. 48:50Yeah.
1508. 48:50And I got Superman.
1509. 48:52That's wild.
1510. 48:52People been trying.
1511. 48:53I didn't know you was on that set, man.
1512. 48:55That's wild.
1513. 48:56Downtown, man, it was a experience.
1514. 48:58What did they have you doing?
1515. 49:00I was a PA.
1516. 49:02Okay, so you're basically running around,
1517. 49:04running around doing whatever it is you need to do.
1518. 49:06Keeping the crowd maintained,
1519. 49:08they can't get out of the scene while I'm filming.
1520. 49:10I know people still gonna do it, do it,
1521. 49:12like, no phones, it was, it was, it was.
1522. 49:15I don't think people get, like,
1523. 49:16how many different jobs there are.
1524. 49:18It is a lot.
1525. 49:19And I've seen them, like, man, all these people.
1526. 49:21Yeah, dog, man.
1527. 49:24Like, it's, yeah, you literally have people like,
1528. 49:27like you said, man, that's like,
1529. 49:28that's like working your way up on a movie set.
1530. 49:30Cause like most people have started out PA'ing.
1531. 49:32Yeah, that's how you start, y'all.
1532. 49:33Yeah, you start out PA'ing.
1533. 49:34You know, there's literally somebody that,
1534. 49:36that goes out there and marks where the camera's
1535. 49:38supposed to be with tape all over the place, man.
1536. 49:40And you get your gaffers.
1537. 49:41You're like, it's, yeah, it's crazy
1538. 49:43when you start looking at how many people it takes.
1539. 49:45Well, I tell people all the time,
1540. 49:46look at the credits of a movie.
1541. 49:48That's how you realize.
1542. 49:48I stay every movie.
1543. 49:50I know when people walk out and leave,
1544. 49:51I stay and watch all those names.
1545. 49:54Yeah.
1546. 49:54I'm like, I'ma find, I know somebody, I know somebody.
1547. 49:57But the company that always stands out the most
1548. 50:00is Company 3.
1549. 50:01They do mainly the post-editing and the color grading.
1550. 50:04Okay.
1551. 50:04I'm like, so many good movies.
1552. 50:06Yeah.
1553. 50:06So many.
1554. 50:07They're here, aren't they?
1555. 50:09California.
1556. 50:09I mean, California.
1557. 50:10LA, yeah.
1558. 50:10I thought that was one they're calling Company 3
1559. 50:12that was here.
1560. 50:13Yeah, and that's a whole thing.
1561. 50:14Like, it's like, if you don't understand, man,
1562. 50:16it's color graders, it's people that edit.
1563. 50:18Like, the person that edits
1564. 50:19is not the person that color grades.
1565. 50:20Like, the person that, you know what I mean?
1566. 50:23It's a whole thing.
1567. 50:24It's a whole thing, man.
1568. 50:26I had no clue.
1569. 50:28Just being on, like, going back to that show,
1570. 50:30being on that show, I started to understand, like, wow.
1571. 50:32There's a bunch of people
1572. 50:33that do a bunch of different things.
1573. 50:34Like, it was people that were out there
1574. 50:35that was just, like, kind of like PA assistants.
1575. 50:38And they would just, like, if the PA couldn't do it,
1576. 50:41they wouldn't did it.
1577. 50:42Yeah.
1578. 50:43There was story producers.
1579. 50:45You know what I mean?
1580. 50:45Like, you start learning reality stuff.
1581. 50:46Yeah, I seen a physical story board.
1582. 50:48I'm like, well, dang.
1583. 50:49Yeah, man.
1584. 50:52Yeah, dawg, that's why it cost so much
1585. 50:55to make a real big production.
1586. 50:57That's why people be out here, you know.
1587. 50:59And that's why I'll never hate on anybody
1588. 51:00that puts a project out,
1589. 51:01because I'm like, man, you finished the product,
1590. 51:03you edited it, you got it out, man.
1591. 51:06Salute.
1592. 51:07Because that's not easy to do, man.
1593. 51:08It's not easy to do.
1594. 51:10I don't care what it looks like.
1595. 51:11People think, like, well, I don't, you know,
1596. 51:13it's funny when people ask you to do videos for them
1597. 51:15and stuff like that,
1598. 51:16and everybody wants their video to look like BET.
1599. 51:18Like, well, you don't have a BET budget, dawg,
1600. 51:20because you know what it takes
1601. 51:21to make a video look like that?
1602. 51:23Right, right, right.
1603. 51:24Now, that's true.
1604. 51:25You not gonna, a lot of people think
1605. 51:27you just gonna get a video shot
1606. 51:28and they just think it's gonna come out
1607. 51:29looking like something that they gonna see on TV.
1608. 51:31It's like, not necessarily.
1609. 51:32Like, you gonna understand,
1610. 51:33like, the lighting that they're putting in,
1611. 51:34like, they're doing, it's a lot to that, man.
1612. 51:37And you wanna give me $150?
1613. 51:39Like.
1614. 51:40That's how I been.
1615. 51:41Especially in Cleveland, yeah.
1616. 51:43Yeah.
1617. 51:43Unfortunately.
1618. 51:45Yeah, Cleveland's like that,
1619. 51:46but it's not the only place that's like that.
1620. 51:48Like, it's, man, trust me.
1621. 51:52Black only speaks for, you know, my home town.
1622. 51:56Yeah, true that, true that, true that.
1623. 51:56I don't wanna get on nobody,
1624. 51:58but I can talk about my brothers and sisters, you know.
1625. 52:00Okay.
1626. 52:01In the city.
1627. 52:03You know, cause we could have those conversations
1628. 52:04with someone out of the city.
1629. 52:06I can't really have those direct conversations, so.
1630. 52:09Nah, that's for real.
1631. 52:10That's for real.
1632. 52:11I like, I like Atlanta.
1633. 52:13I know they be doing the thing,
1634. 52:14and they actively booking,
1635. 52:16and I call that the second Hollywood.
1636. 52:19It really is at this point.
1637. 52:21Yeah, I want you to know we're on a sleep, man.
1638. 52:23People are sleeping on Cleveland.
1639. 52:25That's true.
1640. 52:25Think about how many productions this year, man.
1641. 52:26How many movies, yep, yep, yep, yep.
1642. 52:28In the greater Cleveland area.
1643. 52:30We're the third Hollywood.
1644. 52:31People are sleeping on Cleveland.
1645. 52:33We pretty much second Broadway.
1646. 52:36That's true.
1647. 52:37I didn't realize who was,
1648. 52:38Playhouse Square is second to Broadway.
1649. 52:40Like, Playhouse Square is big, it's a big deal.
1650. 52:43People are like, hey, you know, people, you know,
1651. 52:45big actors.
1652. 52:45I'm gonna play House Square.
1653. 52:46I'm like, I didn't know it was like that.
1654. 52:48Oh yeah.
1655. 52:48That's here in Cleveland, man.
1656. 52:49So I think we, we need to,
1657. 52:50we need to, us artists need to big up Cleveland.
1658. 52:53I mean, I know it's artists do, but I think,
1659. 52:55I wish, I really wish we got more credit
1660. 52:57as an artist. It's the whole,
1661. 52:59ooh yeah, the art scene.
1662. 53:00Like you said, when I was active,
1663. 53:02like I've seen so much talent, so many poets,
1664. 53:06so many musicians, so many,
1665. 53:07so many talented people walk through.
1666. 53:11And it's crazy that so many people start in Cleveland
1667. 53:15or are from Cleveland and they leave and then blow up.
1668. 53:19Right.
1669. 53:19One of my favorite comedians all time, Steve Harvey.
1670. 53:22Like, man.
1671. 53:24Man.
1672. 53:25And then his story, man, this is, man.
1673. 53:28So inspired.
1674. 53:30It's like, I met his daughter, Brandy,
1675. 53:32a few times, Brandy Harvey.
1676. 53:34That's the closest I've came to Steve Harvey.
1677. 53:37But like, I definitely gonna have Steve Harvey
1678. 53:39on the show one day.
1679. 53:39Yeah, you are.
1680. 53:40Speaking of the existence, man.
1681. 53:42It's gonna be.
1682. 53:43My aunts and uncles went to school with him.
1683. 53:46They all went to high school together.
1684. 53:48Back in the day.
1685. 53:50Glenville, I think he went to.
1686. 53:52Yeah, Glenville.
1687. 53:53Back in the day, yeah.
1688. 53:54My aunts and uncles went there.
1689. 53:56My dad, yeah, my dad,
1690. 53:58most of my aunts and uncles went to Glenville.
1691. 54:00But like, yeah, Cleveland is so much talent.
1692. 54:02Even- So much talent.
1693. 54:03From the tech to the entrepreneur,
1694. 54:06it's just like, almost like we don't know our own worth
1695. 54:11or identity.
1696. 54:12That's the key thing.
1697. 54:14Yeah.
1698. 54:15We have everything.
1699. 54:17We do.
1700. 54:17We got all the resources, like it's-
1701. 54:21Everything is here.
1702. 54:21Everything is here, man.
1703. 54:23Everything is here.
1704. 54:24I don't know why they talk about us
1705. 54:25the way they do, man.
1706. 54:26I can't stop them from talking about us, man.
1707. 54:28I mean, we let it happen.
1708. 54:30Yeah, I don't know.
1709. 54:31I don't know we let it happen.
1710. 54:32Like I just, I don't know.
1711. 54:34I don't know what it is.
1712. 54:35I don't know what it is.
1713. 54:36I heard so many people that's like,
1714. 54:38what's that, Cleveland?
1715. 54:39What's that?
1716. 54:40Yeah, yeah, all the time.
1717. 54:41You know?
1718. 54:41All the time like that.
1719. 54:42Until they come and experience it.
1720. 54:43I didn't know.
1721. 54:44The best food restaurants, like-
1722. 54:46It's a lot of great food out here, man.
1723. 54:47Lot of great food out here I wouldn't have thought.
1724. 54:49But yeah, yeah.
1725. 54:51Shout out to Cleveland, man.
1726. 54:52Shout out to Cleveland.
1727. 54:53Cleveland, Ohio.
1728. 54:54You know what I mean?
1729. 54:552-1-6, man.
1730. 54:56Stop playing with Cleveland, man.
1731. 54:57Yes, yes, yes, yes.
1732. 54:59Yeah, I know y'all.
1733. 55:00It's kind of pressure time.
1734. 55:01We got another meeting.
1735. 55:03But anything you want to leave a young,
1736. 55:05creative entrepreneur, like my audience,
1737. 55:07I say creative entrepreneur.
1738. 55:09Because I'm creative and I'm also an entrepreneur.
1739. 55:13I just blend it together as a creative entrepreneur.
1740. 55:15I like that.
1741. 55:17What's one thing I would say?
1742. 55:19I would say, don't stop following
1743. 55:22that passion inside of you, man.
1744. 55:24Wherever that fire is taking you,
1745. 55:26even if it's like, okay, I've been doing this,
1746. 55:29don't be afraid to pivot.
1747. 55:31Don't be afraid to pivot because
1748. 55:33the art that you're doing now
1749. 55:34could just be the start of where you're supposed to be.
1750. 55:37I can testify to that.
1751. 55:39You and me both.
1752. 55:40You know what I mean?
1753. 55:41I never thought I would be teaching.
1754. 55:42I was like, you used to do poetry too as well.
1755. 55:44Yeah, I did, I did, I did.
1756. 55:46That was my first start with artistry,
1757. 55:48was poetry spoken word.
1758. 55:49I used to do it on stage, the spoken word stuff.
1759. 55:51Had a similar story.
1760. 55:53Yeah, yeah, man.
1761. 55:53That's why we went a different way.
1762. 55:56But yeah, I would say that, man.
1763. 55:57Don't be afraid to pivot
1764. 55:58and don't be afraid to allow your spirit
1765. 56:01to lead you in whatever you're doing.
1766. 56:06Because I think that we all get away from our spirituality.
1767. 56:10I'm not even talking about religion of any kind of sort.
1768. 56:13I'm just saying, whatever your religion is,
1769. 56:15there is a spirit that you follow within any of that.
1770. 56:18And follow that spirit, man.
1771. 56:20And listen to that spirit
1772. 56:21because that spirit is always right.
1773. 56:23It's always right.
1774. 56:25You know what I mean?
1775. 56:25Like that, whatever is inside of you,
1776. 56:28whatever you gravitate towards, that's it.
1777. 56:31You just have to listen.
1778. 56:33That's what I was saying.
1779. 56:35Sit down and listen for real.
1780. 56:36Listen, man.
1781. 56:37Now, this is one of my favorite questions
1782. 56:39I love to ask creatives.
1783. 56:43I asked, what is your creative process
1784. 56:46as a weather forecast?
1785. 56:50Yeah, you said it, man.
1786. 56:52Okay, so as a weather forecast,
1787. 56:56I would say my creative process
1788. 57:05is a chaotic storm, right?
1789. 57:07Maybe even, I mean, think of any kind of chaotic storm,
1790. 57:10the clouds, maybe even a tornado going.
1791. 57:13But then you look off in the distance
1792. 57:14and you see that one break
1793. 57:17and that ray of sunshine coming in.
1794. 57:19Yeah.
1795. 57:20But that's what I would say my creative process is like.
1796. 57:22It's like getting through the weeds of my head,
1797. 57:26of the environment, of everything else,
1798. 57:28and then finding the shot
1799. 57:30or finding artistically what I want to get to.
1800. 57:34I think that's how I would explain it.
1801. 57:36You know what I'm reminding you of?
1802. 57:37Like those infinite zooms where they'll keep zooming in
1803. 57:41and goes to another picture,
1804. 57:42like the dark tunnel and then leads to a bright picture
1805. 57:45and then a big old landscape.
1806. 57:47Exactly.
1807. 57:47And something else, like, okay.
1808. 57:49Yeah, yeah, man.
1809. 57:50But yeah, like, you know, big old storm,
1810. 57:52tornado, whatever, that break,
1811. 57:54wherever that break is in the storm
1812. 57:55and that sun is coming through.
1813. 57:56That's how I would describe it, man.
1814. 57:59That's how I would describe it,
1815. 57:59because that's how I feel like
1816. 58:01my creative process goes all the time.
1817. 58:03Like it just takes me a second to get there
1818. 58:04and once I get there, it's like now I'm locked in.
1819. 58:06Now you can't get me away from that piece of sunshine.
1820. 58:08No matter what's going on around me.
1821. 58:10A raw glass vision.
1822. 58:11Yeah, there it is, there it is.
1823. 58:13Now, it might be a two-part question
1824. 58:15or it might be the same.
1825. 58:17Okay.
1826. 58:18But what is your favorite lens to shoot with?
1827. 58:21It could be for photography,
1828. 58:23and then one for video, or it might be the same.
1829. 58:27Favorite lens.
1830. 58:29Probably have to be a 35.
1831. 58:3135 for both?
1832. 58:33Yeah, for both.
1833. 58:34It's always been my go-to lens.
1834. 58:37It's compact.
1835. 58:41It really is.
1836. 58:43It's true to what it sees,
1837. 58:44so there's not a lot of distortion.
1838. 58:47When you're talking about what you're looking at
1839. 58:49and what it's shooting, it's sharp.
1840. 58:52You know what I mean?
1841. 58:53The only drawback for the 35 is that,
1842. 58:55obviously you can't get really close to stuff,
1843. 58:57but I mean, you can get close, but you can't.
1844. 59:00There's no zoom, right?
1845. 59:01So if you zoom, you gotta move in closer.
1846. 59:03But I love it because you can get in close
1847. 59:05and get great shots,
1848. 59:06and then you can back up and get scenery at the same time.
1849. 59:09So yeah, I'd have to say the 35, man.
1850. 59:11The 35 is a beast, man.
1851. 59:14I done done a lot of damage with a 35.
1852. 59:16Yeah, I see, I see.
1853. 59:17A lot of damage with a 35.
1854. 59:18I'll say you even catching my iconic cover photo,
1855. 59:23alien eyes photos affirmations.
1856. 59:26No, alien eyes photos affirmations.
1857. 59:28Alien affirmations, one, two, three.
1858. 59:30That's right.
1859. 59:31My affirmations that-
1860. 59:31That's right, we did that right here.
1861. 59:32We did that right here.
1862. 59:33Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1863. 59:34That was a 35.
1864. 59:35That was a 35.
1865. 59:36That was a 35.
1866. 59:37Those are 35, you know what I mean?
1867. 59:40Like, all these is 35s.
1868. 59:43Yeah, man, a 35 is my joint, man.
1869. 59:45If I had to, if I only could use one lens,
1870. 59:49it'd be that 35.
1871. 59:50I mean, you'd be, I mean, I would obviously
1872. 59:52be limited to what I'm doing, but you know,
1873. 59:54a 35 is a beast, though, man.
1874. 59:56Like, mine is, I kind of daubed around with a lot.
1875. 1:00:00Like, I use all primes, but I'd have to say 85,
1876. 1:00:07kind of like stemming off my brand, alien eyes photos,
1877. 1:00:11going back to the eyes, like the eyes tell the story.
1878. 1:00:14Right.
1879. 1:00:14Like, usually with head shots, it's with the 85.
1880. 1:00:17So, I just love the 85.
1881. 1:00:1985 is an animal, too, man.
1882. 1:00:2185 is dope, because it really, and they're so sharp.
1883. 1:00:26It's so, it's so sharp.
1884. 1:00:28Because you shoot Nikon still?
1885. 1:00:30I shoot Nikon.
1886. 1:00:31I started with Canon, and then invested in Nikons.
1887. 1:00:35Like, once you make that investment,
1888. 1:00:36buying all the lenses, the whole ecosystem, you know.
1889. 1:00:39It's over with, yeah, you got to stick with it.
1890. 1:00:41You got the wireless, the mirrorless yet?
1891. 1:00:45Yep, all mirrorless.
1892. 1:00:46Okay, okay.
1893. 1:00:47So, you got your old joints?
1894. 1:00:50I have one, I had Lele at seven banging around, you know.
1895. 1:00:55And like, it kind of looked like one of the, like-
1896. 1:00:59Yeah, like one of these,
1897. 1:01:00like a D3500 or something like that?
1898. 1:01:01Yep, yep.
1899. 1:01:02Yeah, yeah.
1900. 1:01:03D33.
1901. 1:01:04Yeah, okay, okay, same thing.
1902. 1:01:06Yeah, that's, I mean, it's a good starter, man.
1903. 1:01:08Man, let me tell you what,
1904. 1:01:09I shot with a T5i for the longest, man.
1905. 1:01:12I just had night bull, night lenses.
1906. 1:01:13That T7, yeah.
1907. 1:01:15Yeah.
1908. 1:01:15That was the first camera I started with.
1909. 1:01:17That's the camera I was making money with at first,
1910. 1:01:19and then it had me at 24 to 70, two, eight.
1911. 1:01:22Yes, sir.
1912. 1:01:23Starting off?
1913. 1:01:23Huh?
1914. 1:01:24Starting off?
1915. 1:01:25No, not starting off.
1916. 1:01:26My first upgrade was, I went to a pawn shop
1917. 1:01:29and got a 24 to 70 for like 300 bucks.
1918. 1:01:36That's the gem right there.
1919. 1:01:37That's where I bought my 85.
1920. 1:01:39It was like 150 off, but, you know.
1921. 1:01:42Yeah, yeah.
1922. 1:01:43Getting you versus buying them brand new.
1923. 1:01:45All day long.
1924. 1:01:46Listen, all day long I'll get a used piece of equipment,
1925. 1:01:49like a camera equipment or a lens or something like that,
1926. 1:01:51cause what?
1927. 1:01:53That stuff you won't understand, man.
1928. 1:01:54And lenses, boy, I think, I want a new 70 to 200, man.
1929. 1:01:57With them joints, it's just like three grand.
1930. 1:02:00Like I just, I got,
1931. 1:02:01my daughter's about to graduate high school
1932. 1:02:03and then I can't spend three grand on a lens.
1933. 1:02:05No, that's why I'm just pulling back up like this.
1934. 1:02:08Like I gotta go to Atlanta Angel Live,
1935. 1:02:10it's like, oh, I want this camera,
1936. 1:02:12I want this lens, I want this, that, that.
1937. 1:02:14How you start making them jobs, pay for certain stuff.
1938. 1:02:17That's how I started.
1939. 1:02:18Who, who gonna pay for this?
1940. 1:02:19Right, yeah, exactly.
1941. 1:02:21But it's like how I run my business.
1942. 1:02:24It's mainly through word of mouth and referrals.
1943. 1:02:27Like I'm not actively, you know,
1944. 1:02:29picking up the phone and eating like da da da da.
1945. 1:02:31You know, like if it's like an inquiry or a listing,
1946. 1:02:36like I may, you know, reach out to the person,
1947. 1:02:38but like I'm not actively cold calling or like,
1948. 1:02:41that's just not my style.
1949. 1:02:43Yeah, I mean, I mean, you know,
1950. 1:02:44sometimes that's the difference
1951. 1:02:45between getting to where you want to get to,
1952. 1:02:47but if it's not your style, it's not just,
1953. 1:02:48because word of mouth is still a thing, man.
1954. 1:02:50I love it.
1955. 1:02:51People think that social media is like that,
1956. 1:02:52you know, probably only 10% of my business
1957. 1:02:56has ever come from social media.
1958. 1:02:58You know what I mean?
1959. 1:02:59Like it's not as, it's not as,
1960. 1:03:01it's not as popping as you think it is
1961. 1:03:03so far as bringing in business.
1962. 1:03:04People love to look at it.
1963. 1:03:05Yeah.
1964. 1:03:06But you know, bringing it,
1965. 1:03:07so as far as bringing in business,
1966. 1:03:08yeah, 10, maybe, maybe, maybe 15% of the business
1967. 1:03:11I've gotten through social media.
1968. 1:03:12Most of it is like somebody telling somebody about me,
1969. 1:03:16or me going do a show, a shoot somewhere,
1970. 1:03:17somebody else is there and they get my,
1971. 1:03:19you know what I mean?
1972. 1:03:19They see me working and they're like,
1973. 1:03:20oh yeah, can I?
1974. 1:03:21You know, as a matter of fact, you can.
1975. 1:03:22And I love that, because it's like,
1976. 1:03:24almost like what they say,
1977. 1:03:25like a warmly versus a coldly.
1978. 1:03:28Yeah.
1979. 1:03:28And you don't got to sell.
1980. 1:03:30Like we've had that conversation,
1981. 1:03:31so yes, I know at that point.
1982. 1:03:32Exactly.
1983. 1:03:33Like I don't, you know, I don't like selling this.
1984. 1:03:35Man, and then most artists aren't salespeople.
1985. 1:03:38That's the thing.
1986. 1:03:39Most of us aren't.
1987. 1:03:40Most of us don't want to,
1988. 1:03:41I don't know, it's just, it feels nasty to me.
1989. 1:03:45I'm good with people, but I'm not,
1990. 1:03:46I don't like selling.
1991. 1:03:47Right.
1992. 1:03:48And you know, I've got some friends
1993. 1:03:49that are good at it and they know how to do it
1994. 1:03:51in a way that it doesn't feel that way.
1995. 1:03:53But for me, it's just not my thing.
1996. 1:03:55Yeah.
1997. 1:03:55It's just, I'm not a salesman, man.
1998. 1:03:57I'm not a salesman.
1999. 1:03:58Here's what I did.
2000. 1:03:59Hey, look at this.
2001. 1:04:00You want to hire me?
2002. 1:04:02I mean, to be kind of even candid and honest,
2003. 1:04:05like I still don't have a portfolio.
2004. 1:04:07Oh, you just ain't put it together.
2005. 1:04:09Yeah.
2006. 1:04:10Somebody asked, I'll put something together.
2007. 1:04:14I traditionally don't have, here's my portfolio.
2008. 1:04:17I don't.
2009. 1:04:18No, you still ain't got it.
2010. 1:04:19And that's what I love too.
2011. 1:04:22For people to trust me, like, oh yeah,
2012. 1:04:25he takes good images.
2013. 1:04:26I already seen a little body of my work.
2014. 1:04:29It's an honor for real.
2015. 1:04:31Like I said, I don't like selling.
2016. 1:04:33I don't like proving.
2017. 1:04:35That's just not my style.
2018. 1:04:36Yeah, now I hear that.
2019. 1:04:37I hear that.
2020. 1:04:38But man, I know you have a portfolio.
2021. 1:04:40I have a, I have a.
2022. 1:04:42Yeah, I know you do.
2023. 1:04:44I know you do.
2024. 1:04:44As far as sitting down, putting together.
2025. 1:04:47Yeah, I haven't really done, I mean, I have a website,
2026. 1:04:49but I have, I need to update my website.
2027. 1:04:52Cause a lot of the pictures on my website, man,
2028. 1:04:55I did when I first got started and they still,
2029. 1:04:57people still go to my website and be like,
2030. 1:04:58ooh, this is nice.
2031. 1:04:59I'm like, ooh, I'm way better than that now.
2032. 1:05:01But that's the thing.
2033. 1:05:02If they see those old pictures and they be like,
2034. 1:05:05oh, these are good.
2035. 1:05:06It just matches what I can do now.
2036. 1:05:08You know?
2037. 1:05:08So it's almost like, all right, you like that, all right.
2038. 1:05:11You like that.
2039. 1:05:11Yeah, well, watch this.
2040. 1:05:13Right, right.
2041. 1:05:14I have a whole better understanding of this now.
2042. 1:05:17Right, right.
2043. 1:05:18Better equipment, everything.
2044. 1:05:19Yeah, yeah, exactly.
2045. 1:05:20Cause a lot of that stuff I got on the website
2046. 1:05:21is still with my old stuff.
2047. 1:05:23But not that the equipment makes the first thing
2048. 1:05:25cause it doesn't.
2049. 1:05:26Right, right.
2050. 1:05:27But you get better in equipment.
2051. 1:05:28So it's like, you know, multiply.
2052. 1:05:30Yeah, it does.
2053. 1:05:31It does.
2054. 1:05:31Yeah, it does compound.
2055. 1:05:33That's exactly what it does.
2056. 1:05:34It definitely gives you a boost.
2057. 1:05:37Gives you that boost.
2058. 1:05:40And then to wrap up the interview.
2059. 1:05:42Any final thoughts at all?
2060. 1:05:46No, I just appreciate you doing this with me, man.
2061. 1:05:48Like, it's a small circle, man.
2062. 1:05:50Coming to see you get started.
2063. 1:05:52Now you podcasting, man.
2064. 1:05:54You interviewing all the people around the city
2065. 1:05:56and all that.
2066. 1:05:57Shout out to Pull Up and all that, man.
2067. 1:05:58I love it.
2068. 1:05:59I love to see it, man.
2069. 1:06:00I love what you're doing, bruh.
2070. 1:06:01That's real.
2071. 1:06:02That's real.
2072. 1:06:03You know, we've been trying to schedule this for
2073. 1:06:05about a year now.
2074. 1:06:06Oh yeah, for a minute.
2075. 1:06:07Schedule, kids, this and that.
2076. 1:06:09Man, you know, I'll be on the move too, man.
2077. 1:06:11You know, I'll be in and out of the country
2078. 1:06:13and in and out of the state all the time.
2079. 1:06:15So, man, I'm going to Chicago.
2080. 1:06:17I'm going to Chicago next week
2081. 1:06:18and Atlanta the week after that
2082. 1:06:21and Denver the week after that.
2083. 1:06:23Oh, I caught you at a good time.
2084. 1:06:24Yeah, yeah.
2085. 1:06:27Yeah.
2086. 1:06:28Real talk.
2087. 1:06:29So, and then where can everybody find you
2088. 1:06:31at social media website?
2089. 1:06:32Where they can book you?
2090. 1:06:34I'm Raw Glass Photography on just about everything.
2091. 1:06:37So I'm at Raw Glass Photography on Instagram
2092. 1:06:39and I'm Raw Glass Photography on Facebook.
2093. 1:06:44Raw Glass Photography presents on YouTube.
2094. 1:06:48You've put, you Google Raw Glass Photography,
2095. 1:06:50you can find it.
2096. 1:06:51Pretty much, yeah.
2097. 1:06:52And where can they sign up for any future programs?
2098. 1:06:55I know you have one coming up.
2099. 1:06:58Those are just follow on social media.
2100. 1:07:00Like I'll usually put stuff out right now.
2101. 1:07:01You can go to creativehealingfoundation.com.
2102. 1:07:05Yes, it's dot com, not dot com.
2103. 1:07:08To find out some of that stuff.
2104. 1:07:10That's not even on there right now
2105. 1:07:11because we're just kind of just a partner for that.
2106. 1:07:14So, yeah, but just social media
2107. 1:07:16is probably the best place to find that kind of stuff.
2108. 1:07:18Or you can go to my social media, Darnell McAdams
2109. 1:07:20and I usually promote that kind of stuff
2110. 1:07:21on my own social media too.
2111. 1:07:23So, that's what I do.
2112. 1:07:25That's yes.
2113. 1:07:26And then this is another edition
2114. 1:07:27of Alienize Photos Industry Talk
2115. 1:07:30with photographer Jackson Steve Jackson
2116. 1:07:33of Alienize Photos Media.
2117. 1:07:36And to find me, check out Alienize Photos
2118. 1:07:39on all media on my website
2119. 1:07:41and to book me at alienizephotos.com.
2120. 1:07:46And until next time, everyone, peace.