IDRA the Agency: Photographers We Love: Heather Soskin

Heather Soskin &
eleven o' eight photography

How did you enter the field?

I have always had a love of photography. I started really dabbling in the field while I was in college and continued to enjoy it as a hobby for the next 17 years. After chatting with a good friend of mine about the possibility of making my hobby a profession, she introduced me to her uncle, Rick Bethem, a professional photographer for 40+ years. He took a look at my portfolio and gave me the specifics that I needed to get my new career up and moving. For the next 6 months or so I worked on really getting to know the ins and outs of digital photography and with Rick's continued mentorship, eight photography was officially opened in May of 2010.

How would you describe your aesthetic?

In my portrait and event photography, my style is very much lifestyle. I love the beauty of capturing moments as they happen in life. I do have clients that like a mixture of posed and lifestyle photography and I of course accommodate them, but there is just something so fun about the images that show real emotion and interaction.

With my fine art photography, I don't really have a set style. I love the boldness and contrast of colors with lights and darks. Photography really is all about the right lighting and I love to play with that. There are several times that I have taken one image and changed it 3 or 4 times so that each time it takes on a completely different feel just based on the altered contrasts, tones and exposures. The more artsy I can make it, the better.

When did you first discover you had a natural talent photography?

When I started taking random photos of my friend children and they began requesting prints of the images. Although I had a little hunch many years prior to then, it was really at that point when my friends started asking me to take picture for them that I really though “hmmm... I think I may be on to something”.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere!! My husband thinks I'm crazy sometimes because I can look at the most random thing and feel the need to photograph it. Anything from an artistic light fixture to a fallen tree in the middle of a creek, I am inspired everyday just by the gift of sight.

What do you enjoy most about being an artist?

Being able to express myself and really show my client exactly how I see things. I love walking into a room or meeting a child for the first time and translating what I see into an image that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. It gives me pure joy to turn my visions into pieces of art.