Artist Spotlight with John Greengo

Tell us a little about yourself and your background in photography.

My life in photography started at the age of 10 when I found a camera on a bike trail during a ride with my family. I bought film for it and took photos of my friends and our activities when I was in grade school. In high school, my parents bought me a better quality 110 camera where I shot lots of sports photos of the teams I was on.

In college, I got my first chance at taking a photography class and immediately was enamored with the whole process. A year or so later, after completing a few more classes, I decided to major in photography. At the time there were only two routes for pursuing a photography degree: fine art and photojournalism. I chose the journalism route as it seemed much closer to my personality.

Through college at Oregon State University I shot for the school newspaper, covering school news, sports and enterprise art where I would ride around campus on my bike looking for people doing photogenic activities. Those find your own assignments were my favorite, I’d document pickup basketball games, policemen on horses, model rocket launching even weather-related events like a lightning storm.

I worked at a couple of local newspaper as an intern and loved the variety and challenge of the work. When I graduated from college the economy was in the dumps and all the papers had put a stop on hiring so I grabbed a job at a camera store to help pay the bills. While working at one shop, then another, I got to know the wide variety of camera equipment very well and got pretty good at teaching photography in short sessions. I was eventually able to transition out of the retail world into a full-fledged career in photographic education.

At what point in your photography journey did you realize that you had a passion you wanted to turn into a career?

In college, working at the daily school newspaper, my work was getting on the front page of more than colleges. I started to feel that I’d finally found something that I not only enjoyed but was better than average at. One day a large storm came through town and I got a great shot of double lightning bolts over the city.

The managing editor of the paper loved the shot and ran it a full 6-columns wide. It was the only photo in all my time at school that a news photo was used for the full front cover of the paper. The next day I got a lot of accolades from both friends and teachers. That adrenaline rush was like no other, it still keeps me going to this day.

We all go through periods of mental blocks. How do you push past times of not finding inspiration?

Getting stuck usually means you need to little break or that you need to approach the problem from a different angle. If it’s a little problem, then it’s time for me to head out for a run to clear my head. Some physical exercise and diversion for the brain will refresh and reset me so I can start back in on the problem.

With larger issues, if I’m not in a rush, I’ll just set them aside and come back and try to rediscover the problem. For new photographic inspiration, it usually involves shaking things up a bit with a new destination, new lens, or new project.

What would typically be found with you during a shoot?

If it’s a serious shoot I’ll always have two camera bodies, just in case. I’m a big fan of backups. I don’t think I’ve ever been caught with dead batteries in an important situation because I’m borderline obsessive about not making dumb little mistakes. Same can be said of memory cards.

If you’re not out on a shoot, what might we find you doing?

I’ve been a runner since high school. I was very competitive through college and a bit beyond but now it’s mostly for mental and physical health. I’m stepping back on the track this year, I was injured for the first time in a while, so while I’m healthy I’ll be training to run a “fast” mile.

What do you think is the biggest misconception when people are trying to master photography technically?

Photography looks easy and many assume with the right camera they too can take great photos without much work. Looking back on my favorite photos rarely do I ever feel that they were easy. Photography is very deceptive in that way, you just don’t see the work that went into it.

Over the years you’ve met and educated countless photographers. What inspires you to keep educating?

I’d always struggled in school with poor grades, I had a hard time learning. At the time I thought I was just dumb, but now I see that I wasn’t responding to the way that I was being taught. I’ve since learned that I’m primarily a visual learner. With classes that were inherently more visual or with teachers that used a more visual technique, my grades would soar.

I’ve always felt that if a teacher could use the right words and the right visuals everything would be easier to learn. I know what it’s like to struggle to learn new information and I have great sympathy for that student. I want to make my classes the best that any student has ever taken so no-one will have to suffer as I did.

For someone starting out on their photography journey, what advice would you have for them?

First, learn the fundamentals and get them down perfectly. Secondly, study all photographs and try to reverse engineer how they were made. See if you can guess as to what lens, aperture, or shutter speed was used.

More importantly, see if you can imagine the steps the photographer had to go through in order to get the shot. It’s easy to say, “I like that shot if I was there I’d take that shot too,” but in reality, the hardest part of photography is getting yourself into the right place, at the right time, with conditions just right for a great photo.

What do you hope people take away when learning from your classes?

I hope people walk away with a clearer understanding of the topic covered so that they can concentrate on the 101+ other things that all photographers need to deal with beyond the fundamentals. If you are struggling with your lens selection and shutter speed how will you deal with an impatient subject, poor weather or any number of other challenges that you will be hit with?

What goals do you hope to achieve next in your career?

I hope to continue to find more creative ways to educate and inspire people through photography. I believe photography is a healthy lifestyle pursuit. For some, it may mean career and for others a hobby. Photography challenges you in many ways and keeps your mind working on both the technical and artistic levels.

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