David Martinez Shares His Views on Capturing That Authentic Moment

I was recently creating a mailer for our group and asked David Martinez to send me some recent imagery.  I was happy that the image of John with the cap was included (see above) because everyone who sees it comments on how natural it is.  They always want to know who he is and was it an assignment image or not. Seeing it again made me ask David to share more about how he captured this image.  Here is what he had to say.

“I feel so lucky to be able to have an occupation that is also one of my favorite things to do when I have free time. I can come off a long shoot day, with location changes, motorhomes, multiple stylists, a pack of models, a dedicated juicer (client request I swear!), and still have the urge to have to go out with camera and take photos. While I shoot, I strive to capture real moments – ones that if you blinked you would have missed.  More and more, my clients are saying how important this idea is to them as well.  Authenticity seems to be the word that comes up the most on all of my creative calls.

There’s a lot you can do to “create” authentic moments – careful styling, great talent, well thought out pre-production – but catching that great moment in my off time is a bit different.  A lot of my favorite portfolio shots are photos I took on ‘off time’ – during lunch on a shoot (see Jessica and Remi from a recent Levi’s shoot), randomly running into a friend at a new coffee shop in San Francisco (see John with the cap on!), or Carrie a model I work with a lot having a quiet moment on her phone (black and white). Keeping my eyes open for these moments when I am not working has taught me so much about how to create and find them on a big production.

Here’s to always having my camera on my hip and seeking an image that tells a story.”

To see more of David Martinez’s work, please link here.