The Beginner Photography Podcast

Sobriety Through Shooting Street Photography with Tyi Reddick

• Raymond Hatfield

Share episode

#535 In this episode of the podcast, I chat with Tyi Reddick, a passionate street photographer who shares his journey of using photography as a meaningful expression of his recovery. Tyi dives into the emotional and generational connections behind his favorite black-and-white captures. He emphasizes the importance of documenting family moments and building confidence through community support.

THE BIG IDEAS

  • Capture Authentic Moments: Focus on photographing real, heartfelt moments rather than staged scenes; authenticity resonates deeply.
  • Embrace Community Support: Join photography groups for encouragement and constructive feedback; a supportive community can boost confidence.
  • Experiment and Learn: Don’t shy away from complex settings; hands-on experience with your camera is crucial for growth.
  • Document Family Memories: Prioritize capturing significant family moments; these photos can become timeless treasures.

PHOTOGRAPHY ACTION PLAN

  1. Capture Genuine Emotions: Photograph family gatherings or candid moments at home to capture real emotions. Use black and white to emphasize the emotional depth of your photos.
  2. Engage with Online Communities: Join a photography-focused Facebook group and actively participate in discussions. Share your photos and ask for constructive feedback to improve.
  3. Master Camera Functions: Switch your camera to manual mode and practice adjusting aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. Take a series of shots in various lighting conditions to understand how these settings interact.
  4. Enhance Your Portfolio: Start with a simple digital portfolio, showcasing your best work in black and white and color. Include a mix of street, family, and emotional photographs for variety.
  5. Plan Photo Sessions: Carry your camera daily and commit to taking photos spontaneously. Schedule dedicated photo walks to practice street photography and engage with potential subjects.

RESOURCES:
Follow Tyi Reddick on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tyis_eyes/

Learn What Camera Settings to Use in our free guide!
https://perfectcamerasettings.com/

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond!


Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Tyi Reddick:

I was just like, there's buttons on here that I don't know what they are. Like, you look at the Google pixel and it's complicated, but it's still simple. It's like, Oh, touch the screen. You can make it brighter or darker. I didn't know what ISO and aperture were, at that time. So looking at the camera, I was just like, what am I supposed to do with this?

Raymond Hatfield:

Hey, welcome to the beginner photography podcast. I am your host, Raymond Hatfield. And each week I interview one of the world's most interesting photographers to learn what it really takes to capture beautiful images so that you can do the same. In today's rewind episode, we're chatting with community member Ty Reddick about overcoming addiction with the help of photography. But first, the Beginner Photography Podcast is brought to you by Clouds Spot. With Clouds spot, you can simplify your business. With studio management, you can organize clients, send professional contracts, and automate invoice payments and more. So keeping track of everything in your new or growing photography business just got a whole lot easier. So go ahead and grab your free forever account over@deliverphotos.com and only upgrade when you and your business are ready. Now today's guest, Ty is an amazing dude, really. And I'll say that it has been incredible to see his growth in the beginner photography podcast community. Ty has done something really cool, and that is that he has found a way to give back to the community with his camera. And as you'll hear, it's both way easier and way more difficult than you would imagine. Now, in this conversation, we talk a lot about his earlier days in photography, when he was just using a cell phone, honestly, and how he got that hands on experience that he needed to learn how to control his camera. And we talk about the importance of focusing on the emotional element of storytelling and how it's so much more important than the technical side of photography. And lastly, we talk about how to speed up your learning process by actively participating in photography communities. Speaking of which, I would love for you to join myself, Ty, and thousands of other photographers just like you looking to learn more about photography and grow your skills in the free and supportive beginner photography podcast community. You can join right now by heading over to beginnerphotopod. com forward slash Group come join us. So with that, let's go ahead and get on into today's interview with Ty Reddick. Ty, we start real easy here. I just want to know who are you and what do you do?

Tyi Reddick:

Well, my name is Ty Reddick. I live in Denver, Colorado. and after listening to, you know, a recent episode of the beginner photography podcast, talking about five tips, I'm proud to say that I am a photographer. I do. Everything that I possibly can. And I'm kind of still in that weird area of like, what do I want to focus on? so yeah, that's what I do. I'm also in recovery and I work for a company called advocates for recovery, which is near and dear to my heart. And it's also a place where I get to practice my photography. I get to help other people find recovery like I found. So that's kind of. The little nutshell blur, you know who I am, but you know, there's definitely a story behind it. So I'd be happy to share that.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. let's start there. how did photography find its way into your life?

Tyi Reddick:

Yeah. so I discovered photography completely on accident. February 27th was my original clean date. And I kind of walked into the Salvation Army. I'm sure of anything, like, I didn't know how to like feel anything. I was just kind of a blank slate. and I remember my dad dropping me off and the look in his eyes that I was finally safe somewhere after years and years of chaos. but I remember that like emotional connection that I had to that, that view of him watching him leave. And it's like imprinted on my mind, you know, one of those core memories. And then a month later, he came back, that was on blackout for that first 30 days. A month later, he came back with my credit card and my wallet. And, I went, you know, like somebody truly is an addict. I went hard balls to the wall and I bought a Google Pixel 2 with my tax return. Instead of, instead of smartly saving my money, you know, like I should be. but it was contraband to have the phone inside the facility that I was living in. So. I hid it like in my mattress at my room and all my roommates knew it was there because, in my heart, my original intent was to share the phone with other guys in the program with me so they could call their families, because, I knew my dad was out there for me, but I figured there's all these people who have families that they couldn't reach. So that was my original intent. It morphed into so much more than that. Um, eventually I got the ability to kind of just wander around Denver. And as I did, I had my phone with me all the time. I took pictures of skyscrapers, took pictures of, you know, construction, leaves on the ground. And I'm like, All these stereotypical photos that, you know, a lot of people originally take out and then everything in between, you know, I'd stick my phone down, you know, like sewers, and like, Ooh, what's down there with the light on and stuff. but then, I would use like Snapseed by Google to go edit all those photos back then and crazy contrast, overly saturated skies, vignette on everything because it looks so cool in the eighties. Oh, I've got a love hate relationship with all those first photos. I really do because I just, yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. You're not alone. Yeah.

Tyi Reddick:

But fast forward to the end of 2018. my mom gave me her T3I that has been sitting on the shelf forever. because she saw that all the posting that I was doing on social media was just photos. I wasn't focused on, responding to this or that. I was like, let me just show the world my images. Fear definitely inside of that, because I was like, how are people going to respond to these photos? But I want to share them because it's something that makes me happy. But she even stole one of my photos from Facebook at one point, and she printed it out on this little 8x10 standout, and it's actually up there on my wall right now. It's like my first picture of Union Station. It's horrible. Like, the sky is this unnatural shade of blue, and Union Station is yellow, but, the frame up on it's pretty cool. but then, as I progressed, like, a friend reached out in recovery, for his wedding photos, and he paid me 200, For what turned out to be a complete financial loss,

Raymond Hatfield:

but

Tyi Reddick:

it was a great time and a learning experience. And I ran with it. those photos I've kind of shared in the group at times, when people are asking, you know, then and now. And, like I said, that horrible vignette that I decided to use, my highlights were blown out for reception lighting. I didn't understand ISO, crazy edits and that damn vignette. I even hired a second shooter at that time, which I don't know why. Like, I didn't know why I thought I was on this caliber that I needed a second shooter, but I did. and he came with me and it was all bad, like side note. For anybody out there who's trying to get into any sort of business with photography, have some contracts in place. That whole situation just ended terribly with a stolen memory card. and yeah, lots of bad things happening. Fortunately, I did get enough photos for the couple to present to them. but. I remember I would go down to the local library up here in Denver. I didn't have a car. I didn't have anything at that point in time. I just had my Google Pixel or, you know, at this time I had my mom's T3i and I would go down to the local library, which is a mile down the road. I would walk and I'd go in there almost every single day to edit whatever photos I took for that day. And the librarians were like, Hey Ty, how are you doing? And I'm like, Hey, can I have my memory card reader please? And, um, they got to know me by name and it was a good time. And I would spend hours in there. Like, It was, you know, I didn't know that I could, use a big professional computer yet. I was like using these old chaotic, library computers to edit photos on Google. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, it took forever. but then after that, you know, in 2020, when everything started, going haywire, I had a book that I picked up at a local, tattered cover bookshop, which is just downtown. And I remember I had to, I couldn't. They wouldn't give me the restroom code without buying something. So, so I had to buy the book and I was like, cool, got it. It sat on my shelf for a year until 2020. And there was all these like daily challenges in it, daily, weekly, monthly, year long term projects. so I spent 2020 doing that. Everything from architecture to the color green, silhouettes, motion, they're all pop. And then by the time I started investing in software, I had upgraded to Lightroom at that point in time, Lightroom mobile, which was a huge game changer for me. And. I fell in love with it, I was too afraid to use like real Lightroom, you know, Lightroom classics, I was like, mobile version, so much better, look at it, so fancy, 20 a month, whatever, you know, I paid for that, and that helped me kind of get My stuff more organized because it wasn't all over chaotic, all over Google. Like I'm not one of those most organized people where I have albums set aside. I do now scratch that

Raymond Hatfield:

good.

Tyi Reddick:

I wasn't then, but I do have albums all over the place of every single topic, like union station. I have union station 11, 17, 21 union station, 11, 24, 21, like every single time. but then at the end of 2020, I used money from a wedding to upgrade to, uh, 6D Mark II, and I've kind of enjoyed it ever since, although I am eyeing an R or an R5, but I won't pull the trigger till all of my events this year actually pay off, and I figure, Now let's see, what do I actually need?

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow. That's me. There's you. There's a lot to get into, right there. I want to go back to the pixel, right? The pixel, I think when it came out, like they were really trying to make that pretty, photo. focused. So I know that there was a lot of more advanced features on it than other cameras. But, you bought, you originally bought it for one purpose to help others communicate with their loved ones. what was it about opening the camera? what was it that got you from there to, I'm going to stick this phone down a sewer and take a photo of what's inside. That seems like a bit of a leap there.

Tyi Reddick:

You know, a lot of my life now like relates to recovery. just the other day, February 27th, I got four years clean and sober. and so a lot of the groups that I, you know, I'm a part of, I tell them like, I'm a four year old right now. yeah, I can pay my taxes. Yes. I can figure out how to use HoneyBook. yes, I can do all these things. Thank you, Raymond, for the recommendation on CloudSpot because it's been a game changer, like all of these things, I can figure out, but what I was never able to figure out before was the basics, like how to operate in a world where everybody else is constantly moving. And so with my. Camera, you know, everything was new. everything that I looked at, the skyscrapers of downtown that have wonderful view of right here, the leaves on the ground. You know, for someone who is 37 years old, I had never appreciated the simple things I didn't, the sky being blue I spent a lot of years, locked in a basement doing all sorts of horrible things. And so, looking up for the first time versus looking down was like this new experience. So yes, when I saw sewers, I was just like, what's down there? Let me be a four year old and stick my, sharp knife in electrical socket and find out what happened.

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow. okay, so hold on. Let me try to wrap my head around this. this is really interesting. I did not come from a similar place in photography where I just kind of. It just kind of felt more like an extension, I suppose, to do who I was when I was actively trying to learn. So, for you, was the biggest thing excitement? It was just the newness of it all that kept you going despite, did you know that you were taking bad photos at the time? Or is this now, one of those hindsight type things?

Tyi Reddick:

Oh, I knew I was taking terrible photos at the time, but they were the coolest thing ever for me.

Raymond Hatfield:

What was it that kept you going? Was it that curiosity? Or was it something else? Was it something specifically about photography?

Tyi Reddick:

I think it was the opportunity to do something for myself. it was no one else. Could take the picture for me. No one else could walk the streets and see the things that I could see. They could, I could take friends with me, but like every experience I had with my camera in my hand was just new to me. And I was driven more and more and more to capture different things. And, yeah, I upgraded to the T3I and the 6D, and I did that photo walk for, a year of different topics and everything, but like, Everything about it, whether it be taking pictures of, you know, the judicial building downtown is like cool. I like that I got up on the sixth floor of this parking garage to go take that photo. I like what it looks like when I go edit it. How do I duplicate that? How do I do that again? How do I keep going? I love seeing people on 16th Street Mall. And, I was obsessed with it, for a while with these, street portraits and stuff. And it's been a phase. I go through phases about everything. but, It was always like, what can I see next? What can I do next? And there are certain things, yes, that are etched into my mind, like seeing my father, in tears, which I wish now there was a way to capture that. in a photo and have it available because that emotional moment sparked something for me. And when I got the camera, I needed an outlet. I needed something new to replace all of my bad habits that I'd had for so long. And now that I had this new habit, it was like, I can do anything I want to with it and it doesn't hurt anybody. Like it's free sort of, you know, obviously I've, I have gas. I have horrible gas. Like that's a whole nother topic, but like photography to me is free. And it's something that, yes, I can etch it in my brain and yes, when I see a picture that I've made, I'm drawn right back to that moment, like every detail and smell and, the lighting, but photography for me is something that I get to do that is not destructive is, Beautiful in so many ways. And it's authentic. It's I get to capture the reality of what I see. And I might edit it like crazy. I might screw it all up, you know, for Lightroom. But in that moment on the back of my screen, when I look at what I've captured, I get the authenticity of that moment and I, love that that photography. That photography in general was a gift that I found.

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow. That's very powerful. So I want to know now about getting deeper into photography, because I'm sure that we can all think of a million people who, Take photos with her phone. and then that's it. That's good enough for them. You know, you got that T3I. I'm sure that there was a technical hurdle to get over compared to a single button on a phone. Tell me what that journey was like. Did you start off in auto? Did you go straight to manual? What did you do?

Tyi Reddick:

When I first got it, I didn't touch it. Why? because I'm slow to adapt at times. And I saw the camera as, you know, this blessing, like, cool. There's a real camera now that I can use, but it terrified me. I was just like, there's buttons on here that I don't know what they are. Like, you know, you look at the Google pixel and it's complicated, but it's still simple. It's like, Oh, touch the screen. You can make it brighter or darker. I didn't know what ISO and aperture were, you know, at that time. So looking at the camera, I was just like, What am I supposed to do with this? So it took me a minute to do it, but then when I picked it up one day, I don't, I don't remember exactly what the situation was, but I did pick it up and I was like, I'm just going to try, I'm just going to try. And I went out and you know, the first. 50 photos I took, on my little like eight gigabyte memory card, I think that my mom handed me at her case, you know, they were blown out. They were all JPEG. They were all blown out. And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. so I did the usual YouTube search, I looked on the internet and to be honest, I say this a lot and I think it's something that I have to say out loud for myself is like, you can watch all of this. You can watch these videos, you can listen to everybody else, but you need to go out and go figure it out. So I did, and I would walk for hours and hours on end with my camera, because I had the flexibility and the free time, and I would just start messing with buttons. And I did shoot on auto initially, but I remember even before I got into photography, that like manual was something that people talked about. They're like, shoot manual. And I was like, does that mean your lens? Like, do you change the manual on the lens as you go along? And I was like, that doesn't feel right. Like it goes out of focus and then it goes back into focus when I hit my button. So why is it not working for me? Oh, and so that was, Irritating at first, but then. As I started to mess with the knobs and, find out, Oh, if I open up my aperture, it gets really bright all of a sudden. And I still didn't know at the time, like focus points and stuff like that. So like, I just hold my camera up and take a picture and I'm like, it's bright. And my ISO is at like 800 and it's broad daylight and my photos are still blown out. So there was a lot of twisting and turning and learning, as I went along and eventually one day. something clicked. And I think it was another picture of Union station that I took where the settings finally locked in. And I tweaked it a little bit, in post, but right then I looked at the back of my camera and I was like, Oh, holy crap, I made that. I made that. And it looks like. Kind of looks like what I want it to look like.

Raymond Hatfield:

That's gotta feel real good. That's gotta feel real good. But I want to know then, as somebody who, you said that you can be resistant to change when you go out and you shoot with that T three i in the first, 50 photos are all blown out. Why did you choose to YouTube like to go to YouTube and Google, try to find an answer rather than just go back to your pixel? Which at that point you had known how to at least capture a photo that wasn't totally blown out. Mm-Hmm.

Tyi Reddick:

I definitely use both for a while. And I think why I went to YouTube because I was so focused on, I can do this now. I'm also stubborn, like I'm very stubborn and I knew that I think it took me a little bit to get on like Instagram and like all the, popular photo sharing platforms and stuff like that at that point. So at this point, My only images were the, the only images that I really knew were mine. Well, occasionally I'd see other people, but it didn't really dawn on me that I could achieve those photos. I was like, that's next level professional Raymond Hatfield type stuff. Like I'm never going to be able to pull that stuff off. But something inside of me was like, was irked at the fact that I couldn't get the basics. So I started to look up what are the basics of this? Like, I didn't read my manual. Like I've heard talked about, you know, in the group, I was just like, let me YouTube it, I'm 37 years old and I don't know how to use Instagram, but I can YouTube stuff. I'm behind the times on everything, but I can learn. And I think that was, I was in that learning mindset and I've been in that mindset this whole time of like, let me learn. About this thing that I am passionate about because everything else in my life. I kind of just cool. I like it It's done cool, don't finish this don't finish that I have so many projects in my room that like have been started but never finished

Raymond Hatfield:

same here, but

Tyi Reddick:

photography Photography has been something that i'm like i'll never finish but I can always learn more

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, that's a huge huge I guess difference in, mindset when you approach it like that. Like if you are, I don't know what else you got going on in your room, but it's like building a table or whatever. Once it's done, it's done. you're never going to feel, you're never going to be that way about, about photography. Yeah. That's super cool that, that you learned that so, so quick. So then when you were, shooting in manual, when you first started, when you started learning the basics. Now there's all these new terms, Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed, all these things. You're trying to figure them out. You know, is it the lens? You know, what is it? Was there anything in particular that you found especially difficult to grasp? To understand?

Tyi Reddick:

I think Aperture was definitely one of the hardest ones and tying them together. Because, I'd look up diagrams, I'd be on YouTube and like I'd get like this basic understanding of, you know, like if it's at ISO 100, there's not a whole lot of light in the image. And so I thought, cool, let me crank my aperture, to 2.8 and that'll fix it. So it took me a while to understand how all three of those things work together. You know, aperture, ISO and shutter speed, like, and so. I remember there's a guy following Reggie B photo on Instagram, and I remember seeing one of his posts at one point, talking about if you want sharp portraits or photos. Make sure your shutter speed is at least at 250. And I remember that in, you know, like I said, I forget things. That's why I typed out a bunch of stuff to talk about today, because I was like, I wasn't sure what's going to go on. But I remembered that in my head and I was like, shutter speed, 250. If I want a sharp photo shutter speed, 250, then I can fidget with it and go from there. But I want a sharp photo in this one instance, I know what I want to do with the photo. So 250. I can screw around with everything else now. That was one piece of the puzzle for me. And then everything else kind of fell into place even more so. Street photos don't need to be open at 2. 8 aperture or 1. 4. I can shoot them at 5. 6. And my ISO, cool. I'm in a dark alley or a cloudy alley. So don't put my ISO at 100, probably put it at 400 or maybe even 800, depending on what I'm trying to do, it's okay to blow out the background if my subject is okay. Or, you know, this is long before I even tried flash. So

Raymond Hatfield:

I bet that was that entirely. other beast to be able to conquer. Yeah. You're like, yep, absolutely.

Tyi Reddick:

So that's another episode altogether.

Raymond Hatfield:

So today though, it's been several years since you've been shooting 2018. Today, what is it that you're shooting? Most

Tyi Reddick:

cool, obsessively

Raymond Hatfield:

firefighters. Tell me about that. What about firefighters?

Tyi Reddick:

So, I live right downtown Denver, literally like It's near skyscrapers about half a mile away. So I've got the skyline right out my back window. and within that are one, two, three, four fire stations within, you know, like a five minute drive of me. I just started one day just shooting firefighters and, I love the fire trucks. I was like, cool. My inner five year old is so triggered right now that I'm so excited about this. And initially it was just like, this is something that's like real. And this is something that I can kind of control, but it's out of my control. But it's like, I hear the engine coming down the road and I'm like, let me go chase it. And then this is my subject. Which, you know, like I said, I'm all over the place. I don't finish anything. I'm chaotic, but firefighters for some reason drew me in and it, It evolved past just shooting the fire trucks too. I have this, I love having an emotional connection to something. And for me, that's what photography is. I think I've progressed past just shooting, the dog that I see on the corner or, just shooting, you know, that really cool looking building too, I need to connect to what I'm shooting. And I would see these firefighters get out of their trucks and go inside into the emergency and come back out. And I, got the balls to actually ask one of them one day, can I take your photograph? And he said, yeah. And I was like, whoa! Like, didn't know

Raymond Hatfield:

what to do. You're like, oh, uh, wrong number. Just walk away. I

Tyi Reddick:

didn't. I didn't. And I remember I, I took the photos. I think I have my camera set on, high speed, so I get, you know, a couple bursts, because God knows what's going to happen, but I think I took the photos and that first one that I took of a firefighter was actually pretty bad. it was blown out, and I tried to like salvage it later, by bringing down the exposure and all that but. I did it again and I went out and shot another, fire truck that I saw coming down the street and eventually station eight, which is one of my favorites. I saw them one day, I was taking one of my boys to his job and I drove past the fire truck on my way to get him to work. And I was like, I always keep my camera on me. Like always like this backpack right here. It goes with me everywhere. I mean, I can't open it right now. Those will fall on the floor, but it's always in the car with me. And. I saw the fire truck came back. They were still parked in front of this big cathedral. next to city park, downtown Denver. And I got out my car, I walked like two blocks cause I was going to block traffic if I stopped where I was. And I walked up to the side of truck number eight in front of this big cathedral, and I saw the image. Like this is another time where I was like, Oh my God, I see this image before I take it. I want this image for what, what I'm seeing in my head. And I, um, looked at the guys on the truck and I said, can I, Take photos. And they're like, absolutely. Will you send us those photos or tag us on Instagram? And I was like, sure, absolutely. I would love to do that. And I did. Well, lo and behold, I tagged them and that's two parts. So most fire departments here in Denver, or actually all the fire departments here in Denver, they don't have PR person. or a photographer, I should say. So, law enforcement does, everybody else does, but firefighters don't. So they love getting photos taken of them. They love seeing that the public is like acknowledging them. And so I think that's been part of why I keep doing it. But the other part of that story is I posted, I tagged them, and then one of the firefighter's wives reached out and said, I love that shot you got of my husband on truck eight. Will you sell me a print of it? And this was the first time I asked him a podcast. I was like, what do I charge for prints? I don't know what I charge. Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

This is a whole new thing. I'm not gonna lie. over the past year or so, I thought that you were a firefighter, like the amount of photos that you were posting of firefighters. I just assumed I was like, there's no way that this guy just follows firetrucks. He has to be a firefighter, but no, it turns out you follow firetrucks. And that is what, you love. that is such a cool story. So today, do you have like a working relationship with them where you just go and you you photograph them and you just have fun. Like what's the, I don't want to say what's the goal. Cause I guess that makes it sound too businessy, but, is this some sort of like, Hey guys, I'm going to show up every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or only when there's fires or, you know, tell me when you show up.

Tyi Reddick:

Yeah. So I have horrible time management skills.

Raymond Hatfield:

Um, so

Tyi Reddick:

I, so

Raymond Hatfield:

there's no answer here. It's just whenever.

Tyi Reddick:

I. Unfortunately, you know, with like HoneyBook, it's kind of streamlined a lot of my process and everything. It's like, okay, I can't keep track of this. But, with the firefighters, between my regular job and then, you know, scheduling out events that I'm actually going to be shooting now, honestly, it's the sound of the fire truck that gets me out the door. that, and then, lucky, I guess, in the fact that, like, All around Denver, like anybody, I don't care if it's in your hometown or Denver or any major metropolitan area, like there's a fire truck somewhere. And so what I've done, like you've seen, you know, all I post is firefighter photos, because that's just what the obsession that I'm in right now, next week, it could be, you know, like, let me go shoot kittens for the like, but, I just I follow them, if I hear about them being somewhere, I have a connection now, almost every department now. because of my Instagram, because of me continuously posting something that for me is something I love, but it also has an effect on other people. And so the fire department people have all been following me on Instagram and they reach out, they're like, do you want to come tour station one? I'm like, absolutely. Will you take photos? Absolutely. Will you sell us some? Absolutely. And, a lady that I met, just doing street photography down at the ice skating rink back in November, December. Her father, was a cop, and passed away, unfortunately, but she and I connected in that moment. I took her picture and she's like, Oh my God, this is great. And I'm like, yeah, I'm a photographer, but like, but I shared the photo with her, she followed me on Instagram and because of her connection to the first responder community, she reached out to me to be a photographer for her first responder appreciation event. So once a month now, I have a contract with her to shoot those events. And she uses the photos for advertising. I don't charge a crazy amount of money like I probably should for the amount of work I do, but because it is something that I love, I genuinely enjoy just going back to keep doing it.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, that is so cool to hear. One thing that I feel a lot of people talk about in the group, and I'm not sure if you feel the same way or not, but I feel like a lot of people bring up this idea of like, I love photography, I would love to get paid for it, but I'm worried that if I turned it into a business, then I'm going to lose. That joy, right? That's not necessarily the case for you because it seems like you followed the joy and now you're just taking photos of the things that you already love. I don't know if there's a question there. Is there anything to say about that?

Tyi Reddick:

It's, I think I've definitely taken a while to appreciate my own self worth when it comes to photography. Like I said, I shot my first wedding for 200 as I think a lot of people probably do when they first get in and they have no clue what they're doing. They're like 200. Sounds like I'm making a massive amount of money, you for rent in Denver. Yes. That's a decent chunk of money, But I think once I started to acknowledge that I wasn't just this guy with a camera, like I wasn't just a person who spent hours shooting everything I possibly could to get photos that I actually like and that I'm proud of, I started to appreciate the fact that one, I can't pay for all this stuff out of my regular salary, so I need to charge for it. guess whether it be weddings or the firefighters or all that stuff, like it's, the charging money has been, An extension of all that, like, it's been cool. I would love to photograph your event. And nine times out of 10, most people are like, what do you charge? As opposed to thanks for just doing this for us. And it's like that built more confidence in me. And then, talking to people in the group there, you know, when I have a really good photo day, you know, like a really good hair day, like I'm having right now, everybody's like, you should be charging. And I think I need that encouragement at times, because, like I said, I acknowledge my self worth, but there are times when I go back and I'm like, today was a really crappy photo day. I took a photo because I take one every single day, but it's crap. What I took today, I did it way too quickly, but now, I've got a couple of weddings booked this year. I've got more firefighter events. I've got all these things that I love to do. And yes, like consequentially, is that the right word? I think that's the right word. people have realized, and I've started to realize that I'm a photographer. Like I have skills. I'm not just some guy on, the street corner, taking random photos anymore. I've spent the last three, four years learning. And I'm worth it now. And that's been both terrifying and awesome to experience at the same time.

Raymond Hatfield:

you normally that kind of person or is this like, okay. So normally the idea of putting yourself out there is something that is not foreign to you. Like you're going to go out there and you're going to try something and you're going to give it your all.

Tyi Reddick:

It depends on what it is. Yes. You know, I love karaoke. I haven't done it in years, but I love it. Turns out, at least from what everyone else tells me, I'm a pretty dang good singer, but, it did take one drunken night many, many years ago for me to even get started in that. And, you know, I love it with photography. Yes. there's certain parts of it, like, Street photography. I am no master, and I will never claim that I am, but like, street photography, I am comfortable with that. I can get on a street corner, I can stand in an alleyway, I can park myself, and I like, frame up, you know, a shot, and I'll just hit the shutter. And like, I love what I walk away with. But um, I am Currently, still learning flash, I'm still learning even just basic lighting because I'll, I'll admit like some of my photos, I do revert to black and white because I'm just like, yep, that was trash, but it looks really good in black and white. But there's just parts of that, that, um, flash, like I said, And a couple other things that I'm just like, yeah, this is going to take a while. I'm, this is not a run and gun type. I'm going to get it on the first try. And I think that terrifies me and excites me at the same time.

Raymond Hatfield:

let's talk a little bit more about black and whites. Cause I'm looking at your black and whites that you sent over when you say that a lot of times you convert photos to black and white because the lighting is not good. Are you talking specifically about the color of light, or just. Okay, hold on. When I look at these photos that you sent over, at least, none of them look in black and white. None of them look like, Ooh, yeah, I bet in color, this would be like really harsh light or bad, intensity of light quality of light. do you have anything, like any rules specifically why you turn a photo black and white? Cause I love your black and whites. I think that they're rich, that they're contrasty, that they feel right. They don't feel like, Why is this black and white? You know what I mean? So why did you choose to make a photo black and white?

Tyi Reddick:

I think, so like I said, originally when I did it, it was because I was trying to cover up a lot, like whether it be poor lighting situations, like inside of a venue and I'm like, Oh, this will look better in black and white because it does not look good with this like horrible shade of teal and this off color, like yellow light field. so I would do that, is my little cheat code, so to speak. But, One of the many photographers that I've like started to follow, or at least that I admire, Kirsten Lewis, the family documentary photographer, who happens to live right in the neighborhood, I watched her on Creative Live, and she had this rule, That she learned from somebody else, but she, you know, I love that, you know, knowledge passed on, passed on. She has this rule of black and white being applied to an image, just across the board, when color is necessary to make the photo look like something or bring, your eye to that focal point, then. put the color in there. And I think that's what I've started to do without even realizing it. My firefighter shot, like the one with the firefighter walking down the side of the fire truck. Color didn't do anything to that like you could see that it was a fire truck. You could see that it was in a neighborhood. You could see the firefighter. What I wanted to do is draw attention to like the emotion behind it. And I think that's what black and white started to do for me is strip away, like this need to make it a certain color or, blow it out. I still play with color. I love color. I took pictures of my niece and I love that I accidentally found like the right edit that I was, that I thought I needed in that photo, but nine times out of 10, I go back to the black and white because I'm like, I'm more emotionally drawn to this than, the perfect skin tone or the yellow on the fire truck or the green in the trees, like I want you more to focus on what emotions are in this.

Raymond Hatfield:

this That's a great distinction right there. Thank you. do you have a favorite photo of yours?

Tyi Reddick:

Oh, right now my favorite photo is of my dad and my niece. And my sister in law asked me to shoot it. She was here in town visiting and she brought my niece and we were at my parents house. And my family doesn't have, we have a good ton of photos, but like my family's very particular about what photos we take, they don't like them posted on social media for security reasons, military and all that stuff. They just don't like their stuff out there, but I had my camera with me and I was like, screw this, I'm going to take photos of my family, I'm the family photographer and I want to take photos of my family, so I'm going to do it. And so I stood up and I just walked around the room and my dad was sitting against this window and he was holding my niece, you know, right here on his knee. She's like seven months old. And my family's a soccer family. So soccer is up on the TV. And my dad's sitting here with this window behind and my niece is on his knee. They're both looking off towards the TV, which you can't see because I framed them up just there. And my dad just looking up, my niece is just kind of doing her own thing. And I, reverted to black and white because again, I had the emotional connection to it. I don't need the color. And. The window was all blown out because I, you know, I was, they were backlit. So I had to make them the subject and glow it, you know, brighten them up. And that honestly is one of my favorite photos ever taken right now.

Raymond Hatfield:

What is it about that photo as opposed to any of the other photos that you have sent me? Like what element do you think is in that photo? Is it because it's so personal with your family? is it a technical aspect? What is it about that photo that you love so much?

Tyi Reddick:

I think D all of the above, but it is a personal moment. And I think that's definitely part of my photography. Like I need to have that connection to something. It was also me stepping outside of my comfort zone and telling everybody else in the family. I'm like, what's the point of me having this camera? If I can't document the things that are most important to me, because, you know, as my parents like to point out, and you're like the wills and the safe and you know, all this other stuff and I'm like, why are you telling me this, like we're getting older. And I'm like, Yeah, and I have no photos of you that other than, you know, your family vacation took to, you're not family, they go on lots of trips because they're retired now and they, they might take a photo of them in China or France, but I've never taken a photo of them. So their memories are not the memories that I have. And so I think the most important part about the photo besides the generational of watching my niece and my dad is that I took a photo of something important to me, and it will forever be something that I remember, no matter where I am in life I don't care if I'm 90 and I've forgotten everything I'm sure when I look at that photo. Some emotion will be triggered when I look at it. And even if I can't recall that exact moment, I will recall what I felt when I saw it, when I made it.

Raymond Hatfield:

That's beautiful. I was going to go some route of like, well, how can you incorporate that into your everyday photography? You know, if the power of this photo is, the fact that it's your family, how do you, but that, that's a terrible question. It doesn't matter. Like, this is my family and this means a whole lot to me. And I, uh, I can appreciate that. I do. I want to ask now, because you are coming up in, I believe, May, you're going to reach one year in the group. So we're going to have a big celebration, of course. I want to know, first of all, how did you find the Facebook community? And what's been something that you learned in the group that you wish that you would have learned earlier?

Tyi Reddick:

Wow. I feel like I'm going backwards in age because, I'm 40 years old, but I'm four years old in recovery. Now I'm a year old in the beginning of the podcast.

Raymond Hatfield:

It's impossible to keep up so many, so many different dates.

Tyi Reddick:

Give me a leap year already. So I can catch up. I found the beginner photography podcast at the, I think it was the beginning, maybe the middle. 2020. I started listening to it. and that for me. there were many, many episodes that I would listen to. And, at one point my drive was almost an hour to work. So I would listen to it in the hour that I drive and, you know, that 45 minutes snippet of, you know, knowledge that you dropped on us with whoever your guest was, I was just like, Oh my God. Like, and then, you know, like Elizabeth DeVoe, who I'm friends with, through the group, Kimberly Irish, Jim Snecky, Mr. Worthington, I can never remember his first name, but Quincy or something else. Quincy, yeah. So

Raymond Hatfield:

regal.

Tyi Reddick:

Barry Petty, Clarence, like all of these people were accessible all of a sudden. And you know, their stories of, how they journeyed through photography, like kept bringing me back to the podcast. you would interview some famous people, which I never remember famous people names. I'm just like, I don't know who you are. Like, But your story sounds cool. Like that one lady from New York who's like got the really foul mouth, but then she would like, but she's done like four different career five different careers in photography and then she was doing the The women, you know, her, she did her mother who had cancer. I think,

Raymond Hatfield:

yes,

Tyi Reddick:

like, I can't remember her name to save my life, but I remember the, you know, the podcast episode.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Dina Goldstein.

Tyi Reddick:

Thank you. Thank you. but hearing all that, that's what kept me on the podcast. And I think one day I just, I was listening to, you know, somebody say something about the group and I was in there and all of a sudden I'm like, cool, I can post here. And people appreciate it. I think part of me always seeks approval, but a part of me also likes the fact that there's a community of people who are just like me. So the approval was less from like, Oh, you know, Ansel Adams, do you approve my landscape photo? It was more like, I'm posting in the group and, Tee Woods or, Mr. Clarence or Elizabeth, they're like, I love what you did there. Or, Your lighting looks a little off on that. Can I offer a suggestion? Like I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, had somebody say something negative within the group to me. And, I would venture I'm lucky, but I also have seen that the group is not full of that. It's not full of negativity. It's full of positivity. and me being as fragile as I am as a four year old, I need encouragement, I need love, I need, pieces of advice, and snippets that I can randomly remember when I'm off shooting a Caterpillar on the ground or a firefighter driving by, like do this with your lighting, grab a gray card next time you're trying to do this, have you Raising your shutter speed so you can capture like This group, along with, other little pieces that I've kind of built into my community have been monumental in my journey of learning photography and I think that's why I continue to stay in the group. Although I've really sucked lately at like being involved because life has just been happening. Of course, I haven't taken the photos you know that I want to be taking as regularly but I still log in and I still see people's posts and, I still see the encouragement, I still see the criticisms that are needed, for people to grow, like all of that, I still see and I love it and I just, I love welcoming spaces. So that's why I keep coming back.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, man. I want to know, because this has been something that has come up before from others who have said, that the group is too full of positive energy and that there's no way that somebody can grow without direct criticism. what do you have to say to that? do you think it's possible to grow with only positive feedback without any negative feedback?

Tyi Reddick:

I think it is. I think if you're looking for the harsh criticisms, if you're looking for the, you know, the Gordon Ramsey's of photography. Oh,

Raymond Hatfield:

that's horrible.

Tyi Reddick:

Like, I know, I know. If you're looking for those people, there are avenues to find that. You can have your portfolio critiqued by, one of the big game players at national geographic, or I remember, you know, an interview that you did with somebody who did submit his portfolio and the guy said, this is trash except for this, this, and this, this looks like what you are drawn to. So produce more of that and then come back and see me. I think there's definitely a safe place. right now within the photography podcast to be positively critiqued, but I think there's definitely other places where people should go to be, you know, razzed a little bit, like, sometimes you do need to have that reality of, if you want to go be an editorial shooter, And you want to go get in, Vogue or Vanity Fair, like you need to have somebody tell you what it is that they're looking for and tell you that is trash, or that is not what I'm looking for, or this is what you need to improve on, or come back tomorrow and shadow, my assistant's assistant's assistant's camera, bag holder. Yeah. You know, spend some time in the field. I think those people are necessary, but I think in this group. This is where people come to be encouraged, not to be ripped apart. Because we're all beginners. I'm still a beginner. I still take terrible photos, but I get out every day to take them. I made myself late to work this morning, you know, because I'm driving downtown and the moon was lined up perfectly in between two skyscrapers. Is it going to be a great photo? Probably not. Did I know the technical things that I needed to do to get the photo that I wanted to see? Yes, because I constantly practice and I let other people in the group, ask me questions or positively critique me to say, Hey, this is good, but what did you try to achieve in this? You know, what were you trying to make this photo look like rather than, you know, well, you should do this or you should do that. Like, Cool. You can tell me that all you want to, but until that's what I want to achieve with the photo, I'm more focused on what I want to do, which is something I struggle with right now. Editing style and focus, like, on a specific, subject matter. I've got a trial and error, but I get to come to the group to trial and error with everybody else.

Raymond Hatfield:

Ooh, I get my trial and error in the group with everybody else. I love that so much. That is so cool. Because, you know, when it comes to learning photography, I think that it's so interesting that you went so long without seeing others work, that you only saw your own work and that you only got better based on that. And then now that you are seeing others work, that it wasn't, um, I'm sure that it could have went the other way for many people just like crushed you like, Oh, I thought I was this really good photographer. And now you know, you see, probably people have been doing it for 10 plus years, and feel discouraged by that. But instead, you went the other way. And you're like, No, no, no, no, we're gonna talk this out. We're gonna I'm gonna learn what it's going to take to make this photography thing work and take great photos. Ty, I don't know how to end it any better than that, man. That was wonderful right there. before I let you go, listeners know that they can find you in the group, where else can they follow you online? Where can they see some of your work?

Tyi Reddick:

so I am forever working on a website and because I'm a procrastinator and I'm stubborn and I'm, you know, adverse to change, but, you can find me on Instagram, two different Instagrams. One is at ties. T Y I S underscore E Y E S, it's just my name, it's no funny pronunciation or anything, or, at Life Without the Script. I decided that I was going to go with a new brand for my, um, Not even sure what I want to call it photography yet, but I'm going to start using that for all the stuff that's more business related.

Raymond Hatfield:

Remember to come join our free and amazing community of photographers just looking to learn and grow their skills just like you by heading over to beginnerphotopod. com forward slash group now. Thanks again for listening to today's episode and remember the more that you shoot today the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow. Talk soon.