The Richard Schultz Profile

We were lucky enough to work with Richard Schultz recently for our new website and thought the results were spectacular. His vision and eye for capturing moments and real lifestyle photography is exceptional, please see his

website

. After being lucky enough to spend time with him we were able to ask him a few questions about his work and inspirations.

1. Name

Richard Schultz

www.rschutz.com

Follow his work on Instagram; rschultzphoto

2. Occupation

Photographer/Father/Husband/Friend/Confidant - the priorities of which are a constantly moving target.

3. What was your first camera, and what was your earliest proudest shot?

I think like many it was a Kodak Instamatic with those little cube flashbulbs that had 4 pops on each. If you remember them then you’re definitely 40+ :) I think maybe at about age 12 or 13 I moved up to a regular 35mm, then medium format, then 4x5, then 8x10, and now finally back around again to mostly 35mm (although digital now) and, of course, the iPhone…I think the Kodak Instamatic is still like my Rosebud, harkening back to simpler happy times…Proudest shot? I think maybe a portrait of our family cat when I was probably 8.

4. In your career which client has been the most challenging but proved the most enlightening in the end?

The Creative Director at Stewart Christie! Just kidding. I don’t really know or think about projects this way. EVERY project has it’s challenges whether it’s with production or managing relationships between the client and the advertising agency. We just finished a project recently where it was like the agency and the client had never spoken before the shoot to understand the concepts of the project.

Agency had one idea of what they wanted it to be and the client had something totally different in mind. I ended up having to play referee and peace-maker and figure out a solution to make both parties happy. That’s not really what my role is supposed to be, but you need to remain flexible and problem solve for whatever challenges come up. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often. The only enlightenment from that project came right after we finished the last shot of a 5 day shoot and I had a tall tumbler of tequila in my hand.

5. The highlands and Islands of Scotland were part of your latest adventure, but which part did feel captured the true essence of Scotland?

Well, we definitely spent the most time out on Skye and to say it’s epic there is a definite understatement. I travel pretty much 8-10 months out of the year for work and we get to go to incredible locations around the world but I honestly think Skye may actually be the most beautiful single compact area I’ve been. The colors are incredible in the Fall and it seemed like we’d find an absolutely amazing location and then drive down the road 10 minutes further and find another ridiculously epic location and then 10 minutes from there another…it was endlessly shocking and is exactly what I had hoped for in Scotland.

6. Who has been the biggest inspiration in your work?

I used to be an editorial photographer shooting for magazines like Vanity Fair (portraits) and National Geographic (documentary). I do pretty much exclusively advertising photography now but I still always try to make images that feel extremely real and I pretty much specialize in photographing people (vs. landscape, cars, etc). I think the documentary aspect and capturing moments and body language that feel totally authentic are always what I’m striving to do. I had two amazing people that I trained under when I was young and they made all of the difference for me. I think the biggest things they taught me were hard work and hard work. Very seldom are great images easy to make.

7. Being in Scotland for a few weeks must have enabled you to sample alot of our Scottish Cuisine, was there a defining moment for your palette?

Fish and chips…We sampled multiple fish and chips places while traveling around and there was one place on Skye that, I have no idea how they did it, but they just blew the doors off of all of the other places. Best I’ve ever had and just so much better than any other that we tried. I don’t remember the name of it but I bet I could get us there in a car. Hungry??? I have dreams about that place...

8. Were there any areas of Scotland you didn't see which would make you come back on a second tour?

I think heading up to the very northern reaches, like the Hebrides, would be incredible. The difficulty up there though, since I usually photograph people, not sheep, would be finding subjects to shoot. Even on Skye, we’d see amazing locations but there would just be no one around at all. It’s something that really for the most part you need to find people and bring them where you want to shoot. I think that would definitely be the case up north but with the epicness of those landscapes it takes a lot of pressure of of the models so they don’t have to do all of the work to carry an image.

9. You are a very stylish individual, which item of clothing has been a constant favourite and stood the test of time?

I am hardly stylish, trust me, and my wife would certainly second that. I think one clothing item, sorry, actually two - would be both Levi’s jeans, live in them most of the year, and also a scarf. If it’s cold, makes a huge difference. If you need to sleep on a flight and it’s daytime just wrap it around your head. Handle of a pan too hot and no oven mitt? need to shower but for some reason there’s no towel to do a quick dry-off? hanging from a cliff and your rope has frayed to it’s last strand?….well, let’s just say scarves can be useful…

10. If Stewart Christie were to create an item of clothing in their new collection which could be named after you, what would it be?

I think, given how much I’ve talked it up, I’d say it’s gotta be the scarf and I think maybe naming it the “life-saver” would sell better than a Schultz-y.

Thank you Richard for your wonderful work and you'll be getting a Shultz-y in the post.