Marc Silber: Andy, thanks for joining me.

Andy Katz: Oh, it's a pleasure, thanks for inviting me.

Marc: Tell me about your genre of photography and the type of work you really love to do.

Andy: Well I... it's kind of interesting cause I like to do a lot. I mean I've done a lot of landscapes, and I was speaking at a convention and somebody in the audience said 'do you ever shoot people?' and I went, 'I love shooting people'. I mean I used to record album covers; I did album covers for...

Marc: Really?

Andy: ... Dan Fogelberg and Doobie Brothers, and I spent a lot of time doing that stuff and I love shooting people, cause I'm a people person, you know. So I decided at that point I'm going to do a new book on, to really focus on people. So that's how I started on this book that I'm working on now in India. So... and I do a lot of black and white nudes, so it's really... I like to do a lot of different things. I don't... you know, I'm not pigeon-holed into one particular subject.

Marc: Got you. OK, so what are some of the key things that you use every time you pick up a camera, or even before you pick one up?

Andy: Well the main thing I use is light. The light of the sun.

Marc: Yeah.

Andy: And, you know, I used to do studio work. I do very little of that now, because I love what the sun does. And, I mean, in order... for me, in order to take a great photograph you've got to have... I mean, there's three things you have to have: you have to have content, you've got to have composition, and you've got to have light, and if you don't have one of those you're pretty much screwed. I mean, it's not going to work.

Marc: Yeah.

Andy: I mean, you can have a great idea of something really interesting---you shoot it at noon it's going to look like hell. So I like it when the sun is very very close to the horizon and the light is rich and red and yellow and crazy, it's gorgeous shadows. Yeah, so that's the most important thing for me. During the day, if I'm shooting, I'll scout during the day or perhaps have a glass of wine or something like that, but I won't shoot unless the light is really really perfect.

Marc: So you pick those golden hours.

Andy: Exactly, yeah. And sometimes afterwards too. You know, after the sun sets you sometimes get this magnificent, really soft light, and before the sun comes out you have the same thing.

Marc: OK. Any particular tips for getting that emotional response?

Andy: Well, I've seen a lot of people where they're photographing some very interesting person and they're there and everything seems to be good, and they take one picture and that's it. And then I've seen people shooting mountains with motor drives. You know, it just doesn't make sense, because if I'm photographing you and I have you look a little bit this way, it's going to be a whole different feel The light's going to be different, the whole emotion is going to be different, so shoot somebody until you thnk you've got it down, and then figure out another angle, figure out another spot. But always wait until you think you're finished because then the person might go 'OK, I'm done with you'.

Marc: Mmm hmm.

Andy: But you can try, 'I'm shooting you. OK, that looks great, but now what I'm going to do is I'm going to have you lean against the wall'. Well if you say I'm not going to lean against the wall, well at least you have what you wanted at the beginning; the wall's just a bonus. So just work it as much as you can.

Marc: Awesome.

Andy: Yeah.

Marc: You know, we're all looking for that mojo, what makes that really phenomenal photograph.

Andy: Uh huh.

Marc: What are some key things where you get your mojo?

Andy: I think I'm lucky, and the harder I work the luckier I get. You know, if you're shooting landscapes and you decide that you're going to wake up at 9 o'clock in the morning and shoot a landscape and go to dinner at 5, it's just not going to happen. So you really... it's a lot of hard work, and it's lot of luck as well. You know, if you get a phenomenal sky, you have no control over that. But you do have control over going to a place over and over and over again, and then maybe that sky will come one of the ties that you come. Or waking up early and watching the sun come up, and maybe you'll get that incredible sunrise. So I mean, I think it's like anything else. It's like playing guitar, or it's like dancing, it's like anything. The more you do it, the better you get. And the more you do it, the better images you're going to come up with. It's as simple as that. You know if you spend a tremendous amount of time... or one thing that when I teach I tell people is I say 'Get ten pf your favourite photos together'. Put them in a portfolio, present them really nicely, so if someone comes up and says 'Can I see your photos?', you can show them those ten photos. And then when you take a photo that's better than one of those ten, replace it and put the other one in there. And if you go for three or four months and they're the same damn ten photos, you know that you're not working it. You need to push yourself. And it really depends on how into this you are, I mean if you really want to become a photographer, which as you know is not the easiest thing in the world to make a living doing, you've got to work pretty darn hard on it.

Marc: Yeah, good advice. Lighting. Any particular tips for capturing exquisite lighting?

Andy: Well again, lighting to me is key. I mean, you know, for a photo to be great you've got to have great lighting. And again, it's just the beauty of what the sun does when it's in a very low lighting situation. You know, the colours are richer, the shadows are nicer, you just have so much more going for you. And the other thing that, I mean during the day like I've expressed I don't shoot that much, but if it's an overcast day, or if you want to go anytime you can shoot in open shade, that's always pretty light. You can shoot portraits in shade and it's always nice light. But to get the really ultimate light you just have to wake up really... I hate waking up early. Believe me, when the alarm goes off at 4:30 in the morning I try to convince myself it's really not for me.

Marc: So Andy, any particular tips for composition?

Andy: Well the way I... when I'm looking through the viewfinder... before I look throught the viewfinder I look at what I'm thinking about taking a picture of. I'm kind of in my mind going 'OK, this will work, this will work, this is what I want'. And then when I'm looking through the viewfinder, it's very important not only what's in the middle of the photograph, but what's on the perimeter of the photograph. Look at that and say 'Is that really helping? Do I need that space? Should I come in closer?'. And I think one thing that's a little bit dangerous these days is you've got thse really exquisite zoom lenses. Not like the old days, I mean these zoom lenses that I have are spectacularly sharp throughoutthe whole thing. The idea of sitting back and composing while zooming I think is really dangerous, because it's very different between doing that and actually moving up to somebody and shooting, or moving back from somebody and shooting. So realise what's in your viewfinder, make sure that the surrounding, the perimeter area, is something that you want in the composition. That's really critical. And don't be... digital photography's pretty easy. Pixels are free. Don't be sloppy. The idea of going 'Well I'll just shoot a loose picture and I'll Photoshop it or I'll crop it when I get back there', don't go into that. That's a really bad way to take photos. Make sure that the image you're going to take is exactly what you want on the screen. When you get back you don't want to crop it at all.

Marc: Cool. Any final tips for viewers who just want to become better photographers?

Andy: Shoot, shoot, shoot. Yeah. Spend the time. I mean if you're going to be... if you're going to do it, do it. Really put some energy into it. Wake up early, shoot when the light is gorgeous, and just keep on shooting, keep on shooting, keep on shooting. Come up with a portfolio, it's really important.

Marc: You got it. Andy, hey, thanks for joining us.

Andy: Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.

Marc: Terrific.