Brian Bohannon Photography

Brian Bohannon Photography

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Offers online services
New
Offers online services

About

Would you like to improve your experience of picture-making with a little help and encouragement? I’ll share my knowledge and give you that push you need to move through technical or aesthetic issues that are holding you back from making the images you want to see. Let my experience be a guide in shooting to obtain your goals in photography.

I make my living photographing the most varied and elusive subject - our fellow human beings and their wily ways of eating and living together as the dominant social being in this world. Let’s share notes along the way on a trip through this metropolitan area we call Louisville. I do it documentary style, but as long as photography is your medium, I can help you learn how to do it too, whatever style or subject suits you.

You could call me a photo consultant or coach. I don’t know everything and will be the first to tell you so. Whatever I say, don’t believe me until you verify it yourself. I’ll gladly share my opinion based on my experience as a working photographer and keep it at that, just the making of photos. Let’s explore and take pictures together to talk about it later and see what we can learn.

It's a serendipitous way to share the experience of life, people, and the way we live while polishing the mirror so we may see ourselves more clearly.


Highlights

Current Top Pro
1 employee
30 years in business
Serves Louisville , KY
Offers online services

Social media


Specialties

Interest in additional skills

Photoshop skills, Improve knowledge of lighting, Improve scene composition

Student's age

19 – 25 years old, 26 – 45 years old, 46 – 65 years old, Over 65 years old

Experience level

No experience, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Photography type

I can make recommendations, Portraits, Action, Black and White, Wildlife / nature photography, Time-lapse, Beginner basics

Photos and videos


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    Frequently asked questions

    - First, we’ll email to schedule a brief phone call to discuss your needs, and I’ll tell you if I can be of assistance to you. If we find that I have something to offer, I’ll send you a form to complete that will help us get to know one another better.

    - Then we’ll meet in a coffee house or public space to meet face-to-face and discuss goals and objectives for our next encounter.

    - We meet for a photo walk together, starting and ending at a coffee house or public space for a walk to take pictures along the way and discuss our take afterward.

    - We form an ongoing consulting schedule to advance your goals.

    Experience

    Brian Bohannon Photography, Editorial, Corporate and Commercial photojournalism, 1994 to present. 

    Freelance Photojournalist, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky., 1994 to present

    Freelance Photojournalist, The Associated Press/AP Images, Louisville, Ky., 1994 to present

    Freelance Photojournalist, LEO Weekly, Louisville, Ky., 2004 to present

    Freelance Photojournalist, M.D. Update, Lexington, Ky., 2013 to 2015

    Freelance Photojournalist, The Highlander Neighborhood Monthly, Louisville, Ky., 2007 to Jan. 2014

    Freelance Photojournalist, Prep Magazine, Louisville, Ky., 2004 to June 2007

    Photo Intern, Booth Newspapers, Capitol Bureau, Lansing, Mich., September to December, 1993

    Photo Intern, The Bay City Times, Bay City, Mich., December 1992 to May 1993

    Photo Intern, The Dispatch, Moline, Ill., June to November, 1992

    Photographer, College Heights Herald, Western Kentucky University, Spring, 1992

    Photo lab technician, Western Kentucky University, Spring and Fall, 1991

    Custom printer, Metro Photo Lab, Louisville, Ky., Summer, 1991

    Photographer, The Vanguard, Valdez, Alaska, July and August, 1989

    Education

    Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Ky., Bachelor of Arts degree in photojournalism, minor 

    in folk studies, May 1994

    Awards

    Society of Professional Journalists, 1st Place, Feature Photography, “Schnitzelburg’s Centenary 

    Convenience Store,” The Highlander Neighborhood Monthly, March 2012

    Society of Professional Journalists, 1st Place, Feature Photography, “The Way of the Road,” The 

    Highlander Neighborhood Monthly, June 2011

    Society of Professional Journalists, 3rd Place, Feature Photography, “Heaven, Backwards,” The 

    Highlander Neighborhood Monthly, November 2010 

    Eddie Adams Workshop, Barnstorm IX, 1996

    Kentucky News Photographers Association, 1st place, photographs in annual contest, 1994 and 1996

    College Photographer of the Year Contest, Award of Excellence for Documentary, “A Simpler Way of 

    Life,” 1992

    Society of Professional Journalists (Region 5), Mark of Excellence award for First Place, Feature 

    Photography, 1992

    Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association, First Place Feature Photography, 1992

    Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scout Award, 1978

    After a free telephone consultation, our first meeting is $50 paid in advance. Further coaching sessions are priced by agreement.

    I was asked to wrangle a team of photographers to shoot the Forecastle Festival by J.K. McKnight, founder of the weekend-long event. I recruited a capable bunch of freelancers to document the music festival and managed their photos for the experience and a few bucks. Along the way, we worked together and they opened PhotoShelter accounts to show their work. We used metadata to sort it all out to be sure everyone received proper credit for their photos.

    Since then, I've:

    Presented as PhotoCoach, Best Buy Camera Experience Shop - A Hands-on Photography Workshop at Best Buy June 28 and July 26, 2016, in Louisville, Ky., for registered participants.

    Presented to the 2016 fall Kentucky Member Services Association meeting, Part 3 Top 10 Photography Tips session Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at the Embassy Suites Louisville East in Louisville, Ky.

    I've taught new photographers at Best Buy, worked with post-grad students beginning their journey as photographers, and publishing professionals needing a top 10 list of suggestions for making better pictures. 

    I'm now seeking students interested in shooting like the photojournalist, the ninja of the image arts.

    A 1994 graduate of Western Kentucky University’s photojournalism program, I learned how to do photography documentary-style - candid photos with the subject not looking at the camera, doing their thing without direction. To be a fly on the wall. 

    During the 1992 Mountain People’s Workshop, I, along with other students were documenting the life and people in a small Tennessee town. Sort of a three-day boot camp for budding photojournalists. My instructor, Jack Corn, a former Director of Photography at the Chicago Tribune, was critiquing my days take with an off-the-grid family and was sorely disappointed. “They’re looking at the camera!” he said with a squished-up face of distaste. I’d allowed my subjects to break the illusion, and I was there in the picture with them as an unseen presence.

    I now tell subjects, “don’t mind me,” to ask them not to look at me. If someone turns to me to pose when I’m looking for a candid photo, sometimes I’ll put down the camera and say, “No, thanks.” Taking the photo only reinforces what I don’t want - posed photos from everyone else, too. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not doing anyone any favors by playing along to be nice. I just want to capture natural photos.

    That’s still my style, for the most part today. Working on a story, you’ll find me quietly moving about, photographing a situation until I have something. Then I’ll stop to get names and it’s back to shooting. 

    Think long and hard about where you want to go with your photography and keep shooting. If you're looking for lessons, you're either an advanced amateur or an aspiring pro. Find a professional photographer that shows the kind of work you're interested in doing and ask them the way. Be ready to show your own work! Maybe they can point you in the right direction, regardless of their interest in teaching you themselves.

    Consider your level of commitment to the task you've set before yourself. Are you an aspiring pro? How much push do you want? I'll point out what I see, but it's up to you to go out and shoot the pictures to build a portfolio of work. If you're ready to take the plunge, I'll help guide your journey into the image-making experience with patient direction.


    Services offered

    Photography