Friday 19 February 2010

Carl W. Heindl


Carl W. Heindl
Toronto, Canada
flickr tumblr website
behance FOES
















What is a "lifestyle photographer" and what don't you like about it?

I have no idea what it is! It just sounded pretentious to me when I heard it. Like my end goal is showing off a lifestyle or something. I think it happened last summer when I was lighting some friends for flash practice. I wanted to try lighting normal situations really well. Just for kicks I II III . But the photos then take on this planned and posed feeling, as well as the spontaneity and mayhem of what was really going on. It all ended up really influencing where I went with my photography style and work ethic.


You shoot a new version of George Michael's Freedom music video. Do you change the models? If yes, who with?

I love George Michael. Don't change a thing.


What makes a picture perfect to you?

No idea. It just jumps out at you when it's right; trust your gut.


Real daily bliss would be?

Waking up in the sunlight late. Pot of tea, smoke a couple bowls, throw on some dirty 60s tunes and just edit in my underwear all day. I try to experience this bliss every Saturday.


The best car for a roadtrip?

Black 1969 El Camino. Some desert road.


Something a photographer can learn only by himself?

Patience. Timing. Confidence. Not rushing the shot, not rushing your edits, taking time to shave down selections. Letting the finger hover over the shutter a little longer.


You write that you like fashion photography. Do you also enjoy fashion blogs such as The Sartorialist?

I don't follow fashion much at all. But I know what I love when I see it, or when I make it myself. I don't read much of any blogs regularly. I just really, really enjoy playing with light, texture, and colour. Also I seem most comfortable photographing people. So that naturally leads me towards fashion photography, I figure. I think being disconnected from the fashion who's-who of what someone's wearing leaves me free to be creative. That's what stylists are for.


What do you think makes photography so popular among arts?

Well, without much built-in talent, such as drawing or painting, someone with an artistic inkling can pick up a camera and catch a pretty moment they saw. A flare of sunlight, someones face, whatever. That's usually how people get the photography bug. Realizing that most of the shots you took never come out as good as you thought. But the odd few rewarding shots that held that mood, the thing you tried to capture - that's what gets people hooked I think. Then if you really want to get into photography it's pretty endless all the different schools of thought, cameras, techniques. All that and the fact that anybody with a rich daddy or some cash can get into an entry level SLR for cheap these days.


What's going on here?

Hahah some shitty cardboard sword swingin' knights on break. I liked catching them out of context. You know Medieval Times? That stupid family dinner, medieval experience where you eat greasy chicken with your hands and watch these fake knights joust. Actually it sounds pretty awesome now.


Your favourite art gallery/museum/...?

The internet.


The camera you use the most for night shots?

My actual night "shoots". I use two or more speedflashes on my Nikon d700. One on camera, and another in a little umbrella. The film stuff it's just the onboard point and shoot flash.


If there is such thing as a "guilty pleasure", which music would be yours?

Oh fuck. When I used to have a car I used to always get caught with the Kylie Minogue cd in there.


High noon or midnight?

So long as a guy can get a beer.



Endless collection of brilliant pictures, be sure to take a look at his work!

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