5 Questions with Rising Photography Star, Dallas J. Logan

I recently had the unique opportunity to catch up with Brooklyn’s up and coming photography and retouching wizard, Dallas J. Logan. In our conversation, we discussed everything from how he got his start in the field to his process for shooting beauty and fashion models.

What I am most inspired by Dallas is his raw talent that continues to expand because of his true love for the art form and his passionate quest to become the best in his vocation.

How did you get your start in photography and were you formally trained?

Formal schooling? No. Formal training? Yes. I find the term “formally trained” suggestive because it implies schooling. And, because it implies schooling, it also seems to imply that anything outside of that isn’t legitimate.  I think the training that I’ve been through, with the very talented photographer Sean Toussaint, was just as rigorous as some of those who have had formal training.

I’ve been into photography my entire life. In high school, I would save my money and buy the most expensive camera that I could afford, all the while being ignorantly blissful on how to properly use it.

During this time I owned a Nikon E5700 where I would take it on trips around the world. However, I was not a photographer at the time, just a man with a camera. Then, as destiny saw to it, the camera died. And because of that, I purchased my very first DSLR, a Sony A100. Once I purchased this camera my life changed. I didn’t have that camera very long. I quickly upgraded to a Canon 5D.

I would also purchase books on the subject of cameras and photography. I would sit with the camera in my lap and try to figure out F-stops and shutter speeds and, for the life of me, it was all Greek. However, in the back of my brain, I retained all these tiny nuggets of information awaiting to be released. And once it was, I knew I would be a force to be reckoned with.

So, in December 2006, I made a vow that I would learn how to operate a SLR correctly. In April of 2007 a really good friend of mine, fashion photographer Sean Toussaint, came to my rescue. I went to him asking for lessons and the first words out of his mouth was: “Thank God. I was so sick of you buying these expensive cameras to take pictures on vacation.”

It was simple. Sean and I would meet up once a week and we would have a single lesson each time. With a simple turn of the knob, he showed me the magic of shutter priority, aperture priority, manual depth of field and F-stops! All the knowledge that I had tried to understand over the years was said in simple English and the floodgates of my mind opened.

Each week was a new and fascinating way to use my camera and then my life was forever changed. I am eternally grateful that this man has opened my eyes to the magic of photography.

You have a natural ability to bring out the personality in the people you shoot. What is that process like during a photo shoot?

If time allows, I love to meet all models prior to shooting. I like to see what their personality is like without being in front of the camera.  If I am given the choice, I would love to study models without their knowing. When a person knows they are being observed, they tend to put their guard up and you never get the true essence of who they are.

And, in my opinion, the difference between a good photo and a great photo is one thing. Love. There are times when I will view a photographer’s works and you go “nice picture.” Then there are times I will view a photographer’s work and you go “Great picture!”  Each picture stood on it’s own merit, but what is the difference between the two?  In a good picture there is no love between the model and the photographer.  They simply got the job done.  In a great picture, there was a lot of love.

Go back and look at the photos of Herb Ritts with Naomi Campbell. There was incredible love there.  He loved Naomi and vice versa and that is the magic that can’t be duplicated.  Look at the images between Patrick Demarchelier and the late Princess Diana.  She was one of the most photographed women in the world, but Patrick loved Diana, and you saw it in their images.

So to answer your question, I like to fall in love with all the models I shoot. If I can, I can guarantee you a great photograph. The time a photographer spends with a model is a very intimate and personal moment. I don’t care who is in the studio with us, once that model is in front of my lens, the rest of the universe melts away. During that time we are together, we are literally making love. It is my job to make the model feel beautiful, sexy, desirable, etc.  It is the model’s job to convey that back to me and I capture it.  Once we’ve made love, we can go back and look at our babies (the photographs).  The better the love making, the better the babies are going to be.

I find photo retouching to be a true art form when handled properly. What is your process when you are retouching a photo and how do you know when you’ve gone too far?

Because of the advent of the digital era, no one can escape retouch. There is a plus and minus side to this phenom. If you don’t know what you are doing you can actually ruin an image.  But what people don’t realize, in today’s market, there are so many different styles of retouching to achieve an end result. There are times that I’ve done natural retouching to enhance a model’s appearance (removal of imperfections, restructuring of face, etc.). Then there are the over the top retouches, like an advertising campaign (think Gatorade), and all the magic is held in the pen and the tablet.

When I am retouching a photograph of my own, it starts in the studio [while I am shooting].  It starts with the lighting and the capturing of the image, because when I do photograph an image, I am seeing it in its “final” form.

I’ve known when I’ve gone too far when a model is unrealistically perfect. The skin is too flawless, the eyes are too bright, the hair is too perfect.  This usually happens if I am tired. It is never good [idea] to do a retouch when you are tired, or if you are in a rush. Retouching is all in the subtleties of the art. It is when all the subtleties come together that the image has the “wow” factor. When you first [start out] retouching, every [trick you've learned], you want to see. So by the time you get to the end result, you have some sort of retouched monstrosity.

What advice would you give a photographer just breaking into the field?

Don’t do it for the money. That will come. Understand light, because light is your friend. Photograph what you like and photograph it well. Others will tell you what you need in your portfolio, however, if you are not inspired by it, it will show.

I recently booked a fragrance job photographing the R&B artist Akon. My book is heavy on the side of African-American male models. I’ve always lamented about my book being that way [but I found] I photograph black males very well. Everyone was always telling me; “you need more white males in your book, you need more of this you need more of that, etc.” Guess what? The ultimate reason I got the job was because of my captures of the black models. Follow your instincts and photograph what you want, and photograph the hell out of it.

Every artist is always looking towards the future. What are your plans for the upcoming year and where do you see yourself in 5 years?

It’s been an incredible year thus far, and I never thought I would be where I am now in such a short span of time. In the upcoming year, I am seeking to have A-list representation and doing photography full time. In 5 years, I want you to walk down any major boulevard in the world and see billboards of my work. I want you to see the love between me and the models that I shoot.

All photos are courtesy of Dallas J. Logan Photography.