Carles Miró is a fashion photographer born in Barcelona in
1985. He published his works in magazines like Ragazza Spain, Elite Spain, Core
Scotland, and newspapers like La Vanguardia (Spain).
He has worked as a
photographer for Formula 1 and MotoGP in the Catalonia Circuit, and also in
events, jewelry catalogues. He really loves his job. His companion in all trips
is his Canon 5d Mark II. He has taken photos in California, New York, London,
Scotland, Paris, Monaco.
Interview with Carles Miró...
- What led you to fashion photography? Is there
any formal training or assisting in your background?
It is curious the way it
happened. All my life I had wondered what it was going to be my job. I have
always loved all related in art, but there are many artistic variants, so what
I have been doing all my life it is trying many things: drawing, 3D animation,
acting, painting. I had studied 3D animation for so many years, but when I
finished I realized that it wasn’t what I expected. Photography came to my life
when I was 12 years old. I created my own little dark room with the red light
and I experimented with a stenopeic cardboard camera. When I was 20 years old I
worked for two years in a nightclub taking pictures of the people. When I left
the job, I realized that I missed to take photos of people, so I saved money
and I bought a good camera and flashes, and I began to take photos to many
people. I started to follow some photographers and I began to feel really attracted
to the fashion world. I photographed models of many agencies and I began to have
my own style. Nowadays, I am lucky because I can work as a
fashion photographer.
- Which photographers have inspired you and
your approach to fashion photography?
Annie Leibovitz, Eugenio Recuenco and David
LaChapelle, they are amazing.
- How
important are personal projects in the development of a photographer’s growth?
They are really important. Personal projects
make you grow more as an artist. You can experiment and do what you really
love. When you something that you like, limits don’t exist.
- What would we find in your camera bag for a
typical assignment shoot in studio or on location?
A 70-200, 50 and 24-105mm Canon lenses, cards
of 8 and 16gb.
- What is your approach to lighting?
Do you prefer artificial or available light?
What are your most used light modifiers?
I like
both. Artificial light for me is easier to work with, because you have all the
control where you put the lights. With available light, the limitations arrive.
You absolutely depend on it, and you have to do many changes with the
parameters in the manual mode.
- Do you spend a lot of time processing images?
Could you please describe your digital work flow and the software you use?
One hour, two, sometimes
many hours… I’m really perfectionist and Photoshop is my passion. Depending on
the quantity of photos I retouch but I prefer working without thinking about the
hours. I use Photoshop cs6.
- Do you make use of custom white balances and
color checks when you shoot?
Yes, I do.
- What do you
consider a successful image?
A
beautiful image that manage to tell a story or express something: feelings,
emotions...
- Image printing, how is that handled?
I’m hopefully really luckyin that way. My
father has a graphic design factory, so when I have to print something, I go
there.
- Are
you a Mac or PC lover?
Mac lover. I had used PC in my childhood, but
when I grew up I changed to Mac. I love it.
- When you look through the viewfinder what is
the most critical moment in the capture of an image?
I try to find “the moment” and when I find
it, I just push the button. This moment is magic, it is what makes me feel
alive. I really enjoy when I’m waiting to see the image on the camera screen,
and when I see what I was expecting, I feel great.
- With today’s economy what changes are driving
the fashion market place and how have you adjusted?
Now, with the crisis, it is difficult. Many
magazines have closed; there are a lot of editorials that don’t pay… My idea
currently is to work with new faces and update the portfolio of agency models.
Earning money with fashion is difficult, there is no economic stability, so you
have to open more doors, and in my case I work in jewelry, hair stylist
catalogues, personal books…
- What seems to be the biggest obstacle to
over-come in building a client base?
Nowadays, there is no money, and a lot of people want to be a
photographer. There is a lot of competence with prices and quality. If you are
good in your job, people will speak good about you and this makes thatmore
people knows you and contact you.
- How
important is an awesome website for your business?
I’m
working in image, so it is absolutely important the way you sell yourself to
the others. It’s very important to give a flawless image, but even more to be
impeccable. It would be pointless to pretend to show something that you are
not.
-
If not
fashion photography what would Carles Miro be doing with his time?
Something artistic and
creative for sure, like drawing, Photoshop illustration, 3D modeling…
- What has been the best advice given to you by
another photographer?
That I have to practice
a lot, do many contacts, be in all the events, give mycard to everybody, have
your own style… and the most important thing is to fight and never give up.
- What advice would you like to share with
photographers starting out?
To follow good photographers,
watch thousands of pictures, takemillions of photos, interact with many people,
experiment, watch tutorials, do master classes and enjoy during the process.
Then, I am sure that the results are going to arrive.
Some other works of Carles...
For more information
about Carles Miró Photography, you can follow him now on Twitter @carlesmiro, and visit his
Facebook page here!
