It’s been a while since I’ve featured a photographer I admire, but now is a better time than any to talk about a photographer I admire, Chase Jarvis. In a previous blog post I wrote about how Scott Kelby was a photographer I admire and like Scott, Chase has been very influential in who I am as a photographer. Chase is a man who wears many hats. Photographer, director, educator and business man just to name a few. While Scott Kelby teaches and talks about the technical aspects of photography and all that in encompasses, what Chase teaches is something more important to me than the technical aspects of photography. He teaches me how to tap into the creative that is inside me and how to unleash the power of that creative.
I first discovered Chase about 10 years ago. I don’t remember how I exactly I stumbled upon him, but thank god I did. What drew my attention was that Chase was the first photographer I could remember giving behind the scenes looks at his commercial shoots. One that stuck out to me was he was photographing either snowboarders or skiers and he had lord knows how many strobes lined up down the mountain firing one after another as the person was flying through the air. Needless to say I was hooked.
It wasn’t long after that Chase began doing live shows from his studio in Seattle called Chase Jarvis Live. What I really enjoyed from his interview sessions was that he wasn’t just interviewing photographers and asking photography questions. He was talking with all different types of creatives and what inspired them about their craft. He must have had 20 or so sessions with photographers like Zak Arias and Jeremy Cowart to musicians like Sir Mix A Lot and the Lumineers and a whole plethora of others that were really inspiring. The one that I remember the most was his interview with designer, Marc Ecko. Marc was dropping knowledge left and right and there I was absorbing it all. You can see that interview with Chase and Marc here.
Chase Jarvis Live morphed into something more educational. Chase started a free online educational platform called CreativeLive. Let that sink in, free education. I’m not talking about a 5 minute YouTube video about how to use a beauty dish, but he was world class instructors teaching classes live and some classes span several days.
Here is how CreativeLive describes itself:
“CreativeLive empowers you to unleash your potential by bringing the world’s greatest experts directly to you, live. Featuring workshops in photography, video, design, business, audio, music, crafting, and software training, CreativeLive unlocks previously closed doors by making dynamic education accessible to everyone.”
He had a class with wedding photographer extraordinaire Jasmine Star where she taught a class on how she photographs a wedding, the poses etc, and then the CreativeLive live streamed her photographing a wedding and she would talk while she was shooting about why she shot things a certain way or how she dealt with changing light situations on the fly. It truly altered how one learned in an online environment and I’ve been a loyal attendee in numerous classes. While the class are free when they’re taught live you can purchase the class and watch the replay videos whenever you like.
Starting in May, Chase announced his newest endeavor on CreativeLive called 30 Days of Genius where every day for the month he interviews a special guest about what makes them tick and how to apply it to creatives. This 30 Days of Genius has been amazing and it’s truly spoken to me. So far some guests have been Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Arianna Huffington just to name a few. It’s a list of who’s who in their respective industry. Every day I’m learning something new and I’m learning new things about myself in the process. I even took Arianna Huffington’s advice and have been getting more sleep and I feel much better. You have to watch that interview to see what I mean.
I recently discovered SnapChat and sure enough Chase is on there daily dispensing wisdom. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter but if you have SnapChat add him, ChaseJarvis. It’s worth a follow.
You can see Chase has his hands in a lot of projects that help people be the best they can be and that is why I admire him. I’m drawn to learning and Chase is a man I’ve learned so much from and it isn’t about how to photograph a band or what lens to use. I’m learning that I have the power to be a creative and how to ignore that voice in me that puts doubt, skepticism and fear into my thoughts. If you want to break free from the self imposed chains and restrictions we place on ourselves, Chase Jarvis is the man to follow to learn how to be the true you.