Pro Interview : Mark Pawlyszyn from Unique Images Photography

We’ve interviewed Mark Pawlyszyn from Unique Images Photography based in Alberta, Canada, to find out more about his approach to photography and what makes his style truly unique!

Tell us about who you are and where you’re from?

My name in Mark Pawlyszyn and I own Unique Images Photography, which is based in Calgary, Alberta. I grew up in Australia and although I miss the beach I really like living in Canada.

How long have you been doing photography and why did you first get into it?

I bought my wife a camera for Christmas back in 2002/2003 and then proceeded to steal it from her all the time. My health was very bad at that time and I really didn’t have the energy to do much, but I could operate a camera. So I entered online photography competitions to give myself something to do. After a while I stopped taking photos though and didn’t pick up a camera for nearly two years, until a friend of a friend had a shotgun wedding with a ten-day engagement. The funny thing was that I’d never really taken photos of people before. I had mostly just done the online competition assignments, which were pretty abstract in nature, and some travel snaps. I read up on wedding photography like crazy and then shot it with my Pentax *ist DS. They were really happy with their photos and so I did another wedding for a cousin of my wife. Then I second shot a stranger’s wedding for someone and thought, “I can do this on my own!”

How would you describe your style or approach to photography?

When I first decided I would be a wedding photographer I got a little depressed and thought I’d have to do all kinds of shots I didn’t like, because they seemed to be expected. But then I did a trash the dress session – though I had still not actually shot a wedding as a pro photographer yet. At that point TTD sessions had only just started to become popular, but all the photos I saw were of brides lying around – brides lying in water, brides lying on sand, brides lying on logs – and I wanted to do something that was interactive with the environment, something with some energy. Because it wasn’t a wedding I felt free to do whatever I wanted. One of the shots I took was the image of Trina in the lake, flinging her hair back with the water spraying everywhere, and after I got it on my screen I thought, “Yeah, this is the sort of photography I want to do!” Three words that came to me when looking at it were ‘dynamic’, ‘vibrant’, and ‘fun’ and that set the direction for my photography right then.

My use of off-camera flash basically developed out of desperation. I started out in winter and it gets very dark here in Alberta, even in the day. The first shoot I did it was overcast and I thought, “If I want nice directional lighting, I’m going to have to make my own”. I remember bouncing my on-camera flash into a reflector for that shoot. I was also using a Nikon D200 and the high ISO was just nasty. And the summers weren’t much better, because the sun rises around 4am and there is still a glimmer of light on the horizon at midnight – so much for the golden hour! Overhead sunlight whenever I went out. And I was doing group photos in the middle of fields. So I needed lights for basically the whole year round. I like the control they give me, too.

Have you had any formal training, or if not how did you teach yourself?

Oh, yeah, I spent years in university. Oh, wait; did you mean for photography? In that case I’m entirely self-taught. I taught myself through lots and lots of reading and imagining how it all works. I spent a fair bit of time in my first year or so looking at photos I liked and figuring out where the lights must have been, what type of lights the photographer might have used, the colour of the gels and all the rest. When I had my own shoots ideas popped into my head and I’d have to think, “Ok, how can I make this mental image a reality?” Sometimes I’ll just have a feeling about how to light something. I won’t even think about the techniques; it just feels right.

What lenses do you use the most and why do you love them?

Nikon lenses. Or is that not specific enough? To be honest, I go through phases quite a lot. I need to do things differently and experiment in order to challenge myself. So for some shoots I’ll use every lens in my bag, while other times I’ll use just one prime lens. That said, I tend to shoot at the extremes. So, if I’m using the 24-70mm lens I’ll shoot mostly at 24mm and 70mm. I treat my zoom like I’m using two prime lenses. I could shoot all day with a 20mm lens and a 200mm lens.

Who or what inspires your work?

I am very much inspired by my clients and their personalities. I am also inspired by the environments I find myself in. I approach photography more like having fun and hanging out with people rather than posing them. When I was a kid my friends would call me to find out what we could do on the weekend and I’d come up with the plans. I’m basically still doing that, only now it’s my clients who say, “Ok, Mark, what should we do?”

Apart from sheer hard work, what would you say has been the main key to the success of your business?

I feel a kind of disconnect with my successes. I do work very hard and there have been some very tough obstacles to overcome and work through. But at the same it feels like a lot of it has been given to me, in a way. I mean, where do ideas come from? I don’t have an idea factory. They just come. So how am I responsible for them? How can I claim them as my own work? Do you know what I mean? I’ve had a few breaks that just happened, too. I think I’m just blessed, sometimes.

What have you found to be the most challenging things about being self employed?

Doing everything myself! This year I am going to streamline my business better so that all the things that aren’t directly related to the print-making process or the main client interactions are done by others, as much as possible.

What tips or advice (apart from second shooting) could you give to someone wanting to become a professional photographer?

Right now the market is very difficult to break into at all, let alone to achieve any decent level of success in. I think that the high-end market will be the only one to really survive for full-time wedding photographers. So new people need to aim for the top and be prepared to wait a few years before they get there, if they get there. One thing they can pursue from the beginning is to really develop their own unique style or client experience. Oh, and practice, practice, practice.

Would you have done anything differently in your own business if you could start again?

I would have spent less time on photography forums. Lol!

Which books or magazines would you recommend reading?

These days there are so many resources available online – ironic as this sounds after my last answer. Places like the Digital Wedding Forum are probably the best places for beginners to learn, though I’d recommend doing searches for specific interests or questions, rather than getting bogged down in the day-to-day discussions. There are quite a number of workshops available as well, though I recommend doing a bit of homework before signing up, to ensure you learn what you want to learn and also don’t just fall for something that’s just marketed well without a lot of substance. I am looking forward to attending a Foundation Workshop in the future, because everything I’ve heard about it sounds fantastic.

What has been your proudest moment in your photography career so far?

I think that, although I do appreciate all the contest awards I’ve received, the moments that have meant the most to me have been more personal. There have been several photographers whom I have admired for ages who have said very complimentary things about my work. They were people I was a bit in awe of, but as I’ve gotten to know them I’ve discovered that they are all very down-to-Earth and genuine people. Well, the ones who like my photography are, anyway. The ones who don’t like my photography are all scum. I kid, I kid!

What are your future business plans?

I’m really excited to be teaching workshops later this year. They will focus on lighting and Photoshop and will also include some other useful topics. Details will hit my site on May 18th. I actually have a lot of experience as a teacher and public speaker, so this is a very natural direction for me to move into.

As for general future plans, I think success is like driving across the country: there are many different ways to reach your destination, and sometimes it doesn’t even feel like you’re going in the right direction, but as long as you keep going you’ll get there eventually. And that’s my plan: to keep going, one way or another.

Thanks to Mark Pawlyszyn for his interview on his photography business: Unique Images Photography

You can see more of Mark’s recent work on his blog: www.uniqueimagesphotography.ca/blog