Abe Kislevitz is the Senior Creative Director for GoPro. That means he is in charge of shooting those incredible images you see plastered on billboards and videos shown to millions on TV commercials. He has been with the company almost since the start and today I talk with him about the in's and out's to shooting with a camera with little to no manual controls.
In This Episode You'll Learn:
What Abe does at GoPro
The coolest thing Abe has seen done with a GoPro
How Abe made the transition in his life from Mechanical Engineering to producing content with the GoPro
Why you get terrible results from your DSLR when shooting in Auto
Why you get amazing results from your GoPro when shooting in Auto
How shooting with such a wide perspective forces you to see the world differently
How to edit your GoPro Images
How to get the most out of cameras with small sensors
How much of your photography should be intentional vs spontaneous
The best investment Abe has ever made in himself
The best advice Abe would give a smart and driven new photographer about to start out on their journey
The most embarrassing moment Abe had while using a GoPro
Resources:
Did you enjoy this episode? Check out more recent interviews with other great guests!
Full Episode Transcription:
Disclaimer: The transcript was transcribed electronically by Temi.com and may contain errors that do not reflect accurately what the speaker said. Because of this, please do not quote this automated transcript.
Raymond: 00:00 Hey Raymond here from the Beginner Photography Podcast and the soundtrack to Ghostbusters too is hands down the best soundtrack of all time. Okay, let's get into today's interview.
Intro: 00:15 Welcome to the beginner photography podcast with Raymond Hatfield, the podcast dedicated to interviewing world-class photographers to ask them the questions you want answered, whether you want to be the world's best wedding photographer, family photographer, Pat photographer, or you just want to take better photos of your kids growing up, we will get you to start taking better photos today here with you as always, husband, father, home brewer, LA Dodger fan and award winning Indianapolis wedding photographer, Raven Hatfield. Welcome back to this.
Raymond: 00:53 Welcome to the beginner photography podcast. I am Raymond Hatfield, your host and Indianapolis wedding photographer. Guess what? I am, I am just so happy to be here right now because August is historically one of the busiest months of all time, right? Every single year. August comes around for wedding photographers. It's back to back to back to back to back weddings cause then it goes into the next month. We got back to school going on as well. What else have we got? Oh yeah, I planned a camping trip with my friends for next weekend in New Hampshire and flying out there. It's, it's just nuts. It's like everything every day it just constantly busy, which is good. I like being busy because it keeps me, it keeps me focused. And you know why I like that because today is a very, very special day for, for me, for the beginner photography podcast and most importantly for you.
Raymond: 01:59 And here's why, because I have worked my tail off, especially for how busy August has been. But I'm excited because as of today, my first course, the official flash in a flash online course is live. Yes, I know, I know you have heard about it. I know you've heard about me talking about it here on the podcast before. So let me fill you in on some details just in case you haven't heard. Okay. So flash in a flash course. Flash, no flash. I like that name. I thought it was very catchy, but I'm kind of dumb like that. So or goofy like that, I guess rather. So flash in a flash is a self paced online course for those who are new to flash photography. Okay. You don't have to have any experience with a flash. It is designed to take the fear out of using flash and to teach you how to confidently shoot in really just about any situation.
Raymond: 02:58 That's one thing that I love about flash is that it is so versatile and you can use it in pitch box situations or you can use it in very bright sunny conditions, you know, where there's absolutely no shade and get incredible results every single time. And in this course, flash and flash, I cover everything that I could think of. Okay. I cover everything from turning on your flash for the very first time all the way to using multiple flashes for the same photo. I mean we covered all, I'm really excited about this. So on top of that, on top of all of that great knowledge right there, what good is knowledge if you don't see it being used in action. So I take you on location with me to places that you would probably be shooting anyways, like a garage. I converted my garage and do a makeshift studio for a few photos and it actually worked pretty well.
Raymond: 03:54 I still have the backdrop up there hanging just in case. You know, the kids want to get in there, anything. And even like local parks and stuff because these are the places where, where you're going to be going. You're going to be shooting the situations that you are going to find yourself in. And I want, I wanted to go to the exact same location so that I could go through the same struggles that you might have at the time to show you that you can create amazing work. And I even show you all of my camera settings. I, I keep you updated with those and even where to place your flash to be able to create those eye catching images. So I've worked humblebrag here. I worked incredibly hard on this course. I'm very, very proud of it and the feedback that I have gotten from some of the beta users has been a wonderful.
Raymond: 04:41 So if you want to start taking photos that are gonna give you quite an advantage over other photographers in your area, then you can purchase the course over at beginner photography, podcast.teachable.com the website that, that hosts the courses, teachable.com and my username is of course beginner photography podcast, and the course is just $49. And then it's yours forever. So if you ever want to go back and get a refresher or just keep yourself updated, you can do that, which is, which is awesome. I absolutely love that. So again, that's beginner photography, podcast.teachable.com if you want to go check that out, I even have a preview of the course that you can go and watch right now and get an idea of what it is that you're going to buy. So if you're interested, that's how you do that. I'm really excited for this course and I know that so many of you are going to get a lot of value out of this and perhaps even transform your photography.
Raymond: 05:44 So, okay, that's it. Today's interview. I am extremely excited about it. It is one that I had been trying, that I've been working on for a while and one that finally came together and when it did, it was like lightning in a bottle. Okay. But I'll give, there's a, there's a, there's a preface to that I struggled a little bit in this interview. Okay. Because it's with the photographer who shoots with a GoPro, arguably one of the world's most famous GoPro photographers, as you'll hear in the in the interview as to why if you don't already know who he is, but the GoPro is a camera if you don't know what it is. I don't know who doesn't know what it is, but no, now that I say that, I actually, somebody actually asked me that while while I had a GoPro in my hand.
Raymond: 06:29 So some people out there don't know. So, okay. If you don't know what a GoPro is, it's a camera. It's a little action camera, small a fits in the Palm of your hand that produces incredible footage. It's made for like sports and stuff like that, but it has little to no manual controls. But this is where I kind of struggled with the w with the podcast is that I tried to ask questions that will get you to think differently about how to use your camera no matter what camera it is. So it's not like I was at why in the settings does it look like, you know, it was none of the, none of the questions like that. This was all about how, how to think about the world differently through a different camera and how you can, you can do so as well.
Raymond: 07:12 So really that's what this podcast is all about, right? It doesn't matter if you shoot manual, if you shoot average your priority you do have more control obviously when you're shooting manual, but when you're given the constraints of it, Oh yeah, look, here's my GoPro right here. Just in case you're watching on YouTube. And again, you didn't know what one it was. I don't know why you would be watching this video if you, anyway, I'm getting off topic here. The point of this podcast is to get you to think differently about photography and where to put your camera. So that's really what I tried to input. Really, really what I tried to emphasize. There you go in this interview. So, okay. I am, I'm so excited for you guys to hear this one. We're going to get into this interview right now with Abe Kislevitz. Today's guest is the senior creative director of GoPro. Having been with the company almost since the beginning, his photos had been plastered on billboards and had been shown to millions on TV advertisements and I can't wait to talk about the ins and outs of using a camera with next to no manual controls to create just jaw dropping work. And today I'm talking with Abe Kislevitz. That's a dude. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Abe Kislevitz: 08:23 Thank you for having me. Super excited to chat.
Raymond: 08:25 Yeah. So I mentioned there that you are the senior creative director of GoPro. Can you in your own words, can you tell me exactly what that job entails? Abe Kislevitz: 08:35 A lot of things, but I think mainly it's overseeing sort of the media production of some of our TV commercials and any sort of creative work that we have that goes out in video form.
Raymond: 08:49 Okay. So creative work just being like the photos and video.
Abe Kislevitz: 08:53 Yeah. So when we're doing stuff, we shoot a lot for advertising and for YouTube. And then so anytime we have new cameras coming out, that kind of stuff, I kind of oversee the creation of our advertising work basically. Yeah.
Raymond: 09:09 Okay. Right on. So that sounds like a, you get a lot of fun being able to experiment with new cameras and try out new new ideas that you get to, to show off to the world.
Abe Kislevitz: 09:19 Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely a lot of experimentation. I think one of the cool things about GoPro is that we're all just learning together and trying new things. And how can we use this new camera and a new way or just use a GoPro in, in ways that would get people excited to shoot?
Raymond: 09:36 Yeah, for sure. I think the GoPro can be used in like so many unique and interesting different perspectives. I guess. Which one what's one of the coolest ways that you've seen a GoPro being used?
Abe Kislevitz: 09:49 Oh, man. I mean, there are so many things that go pro are being used for that are super awesome. I think we all always love to see the, the bird angles. So there's like the, the seagull steals a go pro and then flies somewhere and then drops it off. I think that's always really unique. Gosh, there's, I mean, the list goes on for my favorite stuff is just the, the stuff that happens by chance. And so it's like the, it's usually the viral video that gets shared around. It's like, Holy cow, did you see what just happened with the GoPro? And it's usually like, go pro falls out of a plane or the random stuff where you're just like, you could have never planned.
Raymond: 10:29 Sure. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And like 20 years ago, if you're shooting on like a giant VHS camcorder, it just wouldn't have been possible. Yeah, exactly. I I always love like a car racing videos and obviously the GoPro lends itself very well to to cars. Being able to, one of my favorite points of view is being able to put a GoPro like next to the brake Calabar cause obviously that's not possible with any other camera and just watching it and like clamp down and what's that brake rotor get red hot. That is just so cool. So cool. Yeah, that's very cool. I kind of want to know a little bit about your beginnings because on your website it says that you have a degree in mechanical engineering from USC, which is insane. I want to know when or why did your attention kind of shift to photography and creative media?
Abe Kislevitz: 11:13 Yeah. I don't think it ever really shifted. I was always kind of into creative arts. Growing up was super into drawing and painting and all through high school my art teacher was like, okay, so what art school are you going to go to? And I was like, ah, I think I might actually do engineering. And I think he's just shaking his head like a Y. But that was kind of like a in the back pocket. I kind of wanted to have some sort of job security for the future. I think when I was doing all of that and going through school, we didn't have like social influencers and, and you couldn't look up to these people on YouTube because YouTube was like just starting out right when I was finishing high school. So that was never like a job option of like traveling the world to like film and create media.
Abe Kislevitz: 12:00 And it had, I seen that maybe I would have been more excited about that and I was just starting to like post stuff on the internet and like getting into digital design and using Photoshop and after effects a lot. And then once I went to college I was on my ski team at USC and we were skiing every weekend with my best friends and, and we started filming and we also started filming with the GoPro like halfway through that time. And that was when I just started getting kind of burned out on the mechanical engineering side just cause there was a lot of work and anything that you can do to procrastinate I've learned in college is probably what you're going to end up being passionate about. And so I was finding myself just editing video a lot and it was kind of like a, a means for me to sort of separate myself from the school work and let me just have like a side gig to work on. And so that one thing led to another and I just kinda kept going with that. But all through college I was working in graphic design for web development as my like student job to put me through school. And did graphic work for a ski company for a long time doing graphic design. The top sheet designs for skis. So graphics and creative media has always kind of been in there and it's just wanted to make sure I hit the the degree as a, as a backup plan.
Raymond: 13:24 Sure. Of course. I'm glad to hear that the procrastination once again is saved the day in somebody else's life. This is great. For sure. So how did how did, how did that turned into working with GoPro? Was it because of your mechanical engineering degree? No, no,
Abe Kislevitz: 13:40 Not at all. Nick Woodman actually asked if I graduated college when I was working there and I was like, yeah, I have a degree in mechanical engineering. So the resume doesn't really help there. But no, I I was doing a lot of these edits on YouTube and then I got an email from GoPro saying they saw my video and they loved it and asked if they could use some of the stuff for trade shows. And it's kinda how it always works with GoPro. Now that I'm on the inside, we see stuff that we like out there. And then that ends up becoming a relationship with the person. And then we ask them to create more stuff or maybe ask them to come in and work for us. But yeah, that was pretty much just putting stuff on YouTube, got reached out. And then they kind of asked if I wanted to start doing stuff with GoPro. And back then it was really small, like 10 or 12 people. And then from there I was still in school so I finally graduated, took like six months to live in the mountains and just edit it every day, learn as much as I could about video editing. And it was kind of feeling out different job options and that was the one that kinda stuck with me.
Raymond: 14:45 That is so cool. And I totally, I was going to say resonate there, but I totally, I totally appreciate that journey that you took right there. Cause obviously it's gotta be a big decision. You have this your life. Yeah, it's your life. You know, you have this degree in one thing and now you're going to start this endeavor on something entirely different. But that is, that's so awesome. That's so awesome to hear. When it comes to like cameras though, cameras in general, right? I see a lot of beginners getting frustrated because maybe they'll just go out to Costco and they'll buy like a DSLR and they'll just go out and put it in auto, take some photos, look at them on the computer and realize like, these aren't any better than like what I get from my cell phone for something. And it's really not until like you unlock like the power of manual or like shooting with advanced settings that you can really unlock the power of the camera. However, with GoPro I like endorse 100% fully to just like turn it on and record and like just go. What makes the two cameras so different? And what are some of the challenges I guess, of shooting with a camera that's focused on setting it in for getting it?
Abe Kislevitz: 15:52 [Inaudible] I mean I think your big difference with the power of a DSLR versus a GoPro is a DSLR really has, like obviously a shallow depth of field is one of the one things that really separates it from like something like a GoPro where it's a fixed lens and fixed zoom and fixed focus. So you can really get deep with a DSLR and you can and really take one photo in the same exact place but make it look a hundred different ways, which is kind of the crazy thing about a DSLR and, and really the powerful thing. Whereas the GoPro, you stay in one place and the photo that I take is going to be the same photo that you take, the same photo that your listeners take, which is really cool in the sense of like, let me just show you where I'm putting this camera and then you guys can go make the exact same thing.
Abe Kislevitz: 16:43 And so one of the one things that I found really fun is I did sort of like a, a blog post on my website and maybe you guys can link up to it, but it was basically just skiing and how to take photos with a GoPro. And I showed different angles and where I point the camera on where I looking and I started seeing a bunch of people posting them and tagging them, tagging me online of their photos and they looked amazing, like just as good as the ones that I was taking and like the same angles and stuff. And I was really excited to see that people were sort of just, if you know where to put it and where to place it and where to look, then you can get the same photos too.
Raymond: 17:23 Right, right. That totally makes sense. So kind of like as long as you can anticipate the action and you can kind of put the GoPro in the right spot and get ready for it. Yeah. Okay, cool. I think a lot of times I've heard from listeners that when they first get like their GoPro or just from other people who I hear who have GoPros I see like their photos that they've taken and it seems as if they're approaching the GoPro from like a traditional sense was like a regular camera and they'll have the GoPro like next to their face, like six or seven feet away, you know, from, from whatever the subject is that they're photographing. And then once again, they're underwhelmed kind of by the photos that come out of the camera. So what are some simple things that that beginners can do to, to up their GoPro game?
Abe Kislevitz: 18:06 Yeah, I think creativity is pretty huge in the GoPro game. But I think one of the easiest things to do is have a couple sort of standard places where you're gonna put the GoPro and that'll make your photos just a little bit better. One of the ones that I like to do, and I kind of like to think about my GoPro use says, what can I do with this camera that I can't do with my cell phone? And so one of the things is hands-free, obviously because of phone you can't really, unless you have like a, a remote. So I like to put it down in the ground, like maybe there's grass in the foreground or something, but that angle and if people see it, they, they immediately think this wasn't shot with a cell phone. So if you, you know, like music festivals or whatever, when I have a big group of people, I just put it down on the ground and angle it with like a rock or something just so it's on the ground.
Abe Kislevitz: 18:58 You can kind of see the foreground, whether it's grass or plants or anything like that. And then choose a background where you can see like Palm trees or something in the background and then you kind of get the whole group huddled around it. So that's like kind of one standard angle that just works every time. And then the other one is for me it's just like the, the standard selfie, so you just hold it in your hand. And then one of the big things about shooting GoPro that a lot of people kind of forget is how wide the lenses. And so this might be going a little deep, but when you're holding a GoPro and aiming it back at yourself, you tend to aim the middle of the lens right at your head, of course, which means that you have the whole wide angle above your head and below your head. So you're really, I ended up pointing it down kind of at my chest so that the center of my body is sort of in the frame and then my head is in the right place in the shot.
Raymond: 19:58 Otherwise you can be seen seeing like space. No, no, no, no. I get it. Yeah. You don't want too much head room. Yeah.
Abe Kislevitz: 20:03 Yes. You, I tend to angle down more than I then I think that I would have to, when I'm doing selfies.
Raymond: 20:10 I think that totally makes sense. You know, but that's one of those things that like it's, it's hard to wrap your head around that until you actually start shooting and you kind of become aware of, of like how you're using your hands or like where are the cameras being placed to be able to get that. That's cool. I love that. Nice, nice easy tip. And I'm gonna definitely start going out and putting my GoPro and you can like throw it in the grass and see, see what I can get.
Abe Kislevitz: 20:32 It's cool. Yeah.
Raymond: 20:34 You are kind of known for like a lots of mountain shooting, lots of action sports like high thrill type stuff, right? Going out skiing like you mentioned earlier. What are some tips that you can give, cause I know that's one thing that a lot of people love to do is they love to use the GoPro, you know, especially surfing and then like skiing and snowboarding because those are two or three things rather that that you really have to be focusing 100% of your attention on what it is that you're doing and not, not focusing on the camera. So what are, what are some easy tips that you would use there when placing your GoPro?
Abe Kislevitz: 21:08 Yeah, so for anything action, I like to use the time lapse mode which is where you, it's called time lapse, but it's really just photo interval mode. And I've asked the engineers, I was like, you know, people think of this as like a time lapse, which doesn't really equate, we should rename it to just photo interval. But it's basically where you start it and then it's just taking pictures until you stop it. And I set it in half second mode. So it's taking two pictures every single second. And it doesn't really matter what Mount you have on it. For me or like even how long you're doing it. For me it's like if I'm paddling into a wave, right when I think there's a wave coming, I just hit start and then it's just taking photos and then you finish the wave. You hit stopped. Same with skiing. You could just even have it on your head or it's in your hand. Anything that you just don't have to focus on the camera and you can focus on what you're doing. Mountain biking, it's on my chest or on the side of my helmet. But that, I mean you do come out with a lot of photos like thousands of photos.
Raymond: 22:12 I would imagine.
Abe Kislevitz: 22:13 Yeah. But luckily with the app I like to review things with the GoPro app and it's pretty fast and easy to just kind of swing through a bunch of different photos, star a couple of them or download them to your phone and then you can get some really cool candid photos cause you're not focused on the camera, you're not focused on taking a picture or setting it any, any way. So that's my favorite for action.
Raymond: 22:39 Okay. Yeah, that's a, that's a great tip. Cause obviously like I said, you're not going to be, you know, mid air like, Oh let me take this photo real quick. Let me hit the button. All right, cool. Got it. One thing about the GoPro is that obviously it's, it's name is that it's an action camera, right? The person does the action, the camera just records it. And it doesn't require much intervention, which we kind of talked about right there. With a relatively small screen. I find on the GoPros obviously with its, with its small size how much should we be looking at the screen and how much should we just let magic happen?
Abe Kislevitz: 23:16 It's a good question. And I think it, for me, I actually tend to look at the screen more now than I ever used to. I always just would let it go. But now when I'm doing things like so many times now I'm shooting for like product materials so I have to make sure my hands are in the shot. And of course I'll have it like in my mouth in front of here so I can still see the screen while I'm doing sort of POV things. But I think a lot of it is that magic of, it's kind of to see, put it somewhere where you wouldn't normally put a camera and then let it rip. And then once you're done you kind of review the stuff and just kind of see what happens. My favorite thing is to do that. And then I just review on my phone like on the chair lift and I say, Oh, like it was mounted a little too far down or too far up or I didn't quite get the face that I wanted.
Abe Kislevitz: 24:07 Let me change that up for next run. And so it's sort of like this game where you're, you're trying to catch the perfect photo and you're not really like planning too hard for it, but it's easy to review and adjust and then, and then get the photo that you want. And that's, that's coming from somebody that my, one of my primary goals, it might not be necessarily just skiing or just photography, but the act of doing an activity with photography is really exciting to me. And so I, I kind of think about this in my head of like, Oh, what if somebody comes up to me when I'm surfing? They're like, Oh bro, why do you have a camera? And it's just like, you know what? My passion is photography and my passion is also active things. So while your passion might just be surfing or your passion might just be photography. I like doing a both and that's what I'm out here to do.
Raymond: 24:59 Yeah. Have you ever had somebody say that like why do you have a camera? Abe Kislevitz: 25:03 No, no, but I, you know, it's, there are certain sports where, you know, it's people are there to do their sport and I'm there to do my passion.
Raymond: 25:13 Right, right. Do a little bit of both. Yeah, I got it. Okay. have you ever had a, or actually I want to know what is one of the best investments that you've made? Whether it be either money time or energy
Abe Kislevitz: 25:29 Best investments. Gosh, I mean for me, I don't usually spend a whole lot of money or go out and buy a lot of things, but my DSLR that I bought now I think like six years ago. So what I did was I didn't think that I needed a bunch of different lenses, but I, I said to myself, if I ever get a DSLR, cause I was super poor growing up, I couldn't afford anything. And I'm like, once I get a full time job, I want to get a DSLR and I want these three lenses, I want a 16 to 35 which is like the wide angle. I want a nice portrait lens. 50 and I want a long lens. So 7,200 and I got the nicest one of each of those. So I got like the two eight versions or the one, two for the 50 but then I was like, that's it.
Abe Kislevitz: 26:22 That's all I need. And then I bought those three lenses as soon as I had enough money and those have lasted me for the entirety of everything that I've ever done. And so it's not always about like having the most amount of equipment or like you need to go collect everything. It's like figuring out what you need and then be with it. And I think a lot of people in photography, they get a little carried away. It's like if I only had this, if I only had that, it's just like, no, you know what? It's not about having the most amount of things. It's having the right things for you. So figure it out and then be content.
Raymond: 26:58 I love that. That was, that's the perfect quote. That's definitely going in your bio for sure. I, I kind of want to know a little bit more about how you differentiate between or how you choose between using a DSLR versus your GoPro. Like if you were to go out, like I, I guess I just want to know some situations where you would use one over the other.
Abe Kislevitz: 27:18 Yeah. I think it's really funny cause I ski all the time. Like when I was in college, I would ski over a hundred days a year. And now, I mean it's not too much now, but I'm always in the mountains and I can count on two fingers the amount of times I've brought my DSLR on the mountain, which is crazy cause I love photography. I love shooting and the mountain, like you can get amazing photos. But for me it's just like I'm so invested in the act of skiing that a GoPro is the only camera that I take when I go skiing. So I think anytime I'm doing anything remotely active, I'm just like, you know what, I'm going to leave my DSLR. I know that I'm going to get too invested in trying to get the shot where I want to focus on the activity or I want to focus on being with my friends.
Abe Kislevitz: 28:06 And so it's really about where your focus is. If I know that I'm really just going out for a sole photo mission and I'm alone or I'm with a couple other like creatives that are really down to get nitty gritty with cameras and you know, spend way too much time at one place and then I'll think about, yeah, then I'll think about bringing my DSLR. But if I know, Hey, I'm going to, I'm going to spot where I just want to be invested in, in what's around me, then a GoPro is the perfect camera for that situation.
Raymond: 28:35 Cool. Cool. What would you say is the percentage of which you you use your cameras? Like if you had to go into lightroom, what percentage would say these photos were taken with a GoPro and these photos were taken with the DSLR?
Abe Kislevitz: 28:48 Lightroom is probably a little different because when I do take my DSLR, I go ham on it. Like I take too many photos. So my lightroom probably like 70, 30, 70 GoPro 30. But I think the percentage in life is probably like 90 10, 90% GoPro, 10% DSLR.
Raymond: 29:09 Cool. Cool. I love that. That's it. It just, it's great cause it's clearly you found a camera that fits your life, you know what I mean? And even though you have a camera that fits 90% of your life, you still have another camera that fits a the other 10% of your life and you are 30% of your life, you know, whatever it is. And then you you just go hard on that, that even though they're two completely different cameras, they have their own dedicated uses and you're not just, like you said, acquiring it just as much gear as you can to try to make everything. I suppose. So one of my next question kind of relates a little bit back to what you just said about having your three lenses, the wide, the a, the portrait and then the telephoto. When the GoPro I guess three came out, we now have the option to shoot wide, medium and narrow. Right. And I think one of the things in the beginning that made the GoPro so unique was its ultra wide point of view. So what are some situations that lend itself to using less than a, a ultra wide field of view?
Abe Kislevitz: 30:15 I would say they're pretty few and far between. For me specifically, just because if I'm capturing something, it's usually the, the activity based thing where it's mounted and it's like why does usually the best thing for that? But there have definitely been instances where I haven't had another camera on me. And if this sounds kind of silly, but like if I'm in a helicopter and we're chasing another helicopter show alert, available, relatable and I'm like, Oh yeah, I have this narrow mode and I can put it in super slow. Mo. cause I think in hero four we had a seven 2240, narrow. And so you can get these really unique little mini shots that you can kind of splice in an edit where you have these slow motion really cropped in cool shots. But I'd say it's pretty few and far between for sure.
Raymond: 31:11 Okay. So when, when when you go out and I know I can see, I'm not entirely sure. How much of your job is like the production of, of, of new media? I guess I would assume Abe Kislevitz: 31:24 A lot of it. Yeah.
Raymond: 31:25 Okay. So, so when you're out and you do that, you're 90% of the time, let's just say you're, you're shooting as wide as possible.
Abe Kislevitz: 31:32 Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like knowing what the tool is used for. Sort of like DSLR lenses and stuff. You kind of know what am I gonna use a zoom lens for versus what am I gonna use a wide angle and GoPro, it's, it's really, really good at the wide angle, the activity. And so you kind of, you play into what cameras aren't good for,
Raymond: 31:53 Right? Yeah, of course. Of course. Another smart quote there that's going to be going right in the show notes right there. Have you ever had a failure that at the time you thought was like the worst thing in the world but actually set you up for success later on?
Abe Kislevitz: 32:13 Mmm, I don't know that I've, I've ever really felt like I've, I know it sounds a little funny, but I've never really felt like I'm in a spot where I'm, I'm experiencing utter failure.
Abe Kislevitz: 32:31 I think probably in school was, was when I was a little unsure of, okay, well I went into engineering but do I really want to go into a full time engineering job? And then sort of was looking around and unsure. And I think a lot of us have definitely felt that, like, what is my true calling and, and should I be following my path this way or this way? And, and like, well, my passions here. So I think for me, going to engineering school was actually one of the better things I could have done. A just going to college in general put me in contact with like all of my best friends. Now it's like you get this community of people that are all together and they all share like similar passions and so that was huge. But then also just the act of studying engineering and for me going to go pro and being able to talk to the engineers and having maybe they have a little level of respect because I went to engineering school and I can kind of talk the artistic creative side, but I can also talk the technical like, Hey, why isn't this doing this?
Abe Kislevitz: 33:41 And maybe we should try something here. So I would say that's one of those times where you're unsure, but the act of just following through and pursuing something that you've started was a really good thing for me.
Raymond: 33:57 Okay, cool. I love that. And I think that a lot of people are going to have that exact same they're gonna, they're gonna re relate with that quite a bit. So yeah. Okay. My next question, I'm really excited about this one. You are very well known for your post-processing. Okay. And somebody who does a lot of posts on GoPro images, probably hundreds of thousands if not maybe more. The GoPro does have a smaller sensor obviously just because of the size of the camera. So how do you get the most out of the digital files? You've talked a little bit about playing to a camera strengths, so how do you play to the GoPros sensors strengths when it comes to editing?
Abe Kislevitz: 34:40 Man, it's, it's really all about shot selection. So I'm not taking a crappy shot and making it suddenly beautiful and putting it on Instagram. It's like I will take 5,000 photos in a day or over a weekend of skiing and you narrow it down to two to four photos, you know. And, and the same thing goes for our GoPro launch videos. People say like, how do you get such amazing content out of a GoPro? And not to say it's like we're cheating, but it's like we shoot so much content and if you think, you know, you shoot the most amazing content you've ever shot, but then you narrow that down to two or three shots in a whole production and then you have 10 productions around the world and they're all also narrowing down their shots. Suddenly, suddenly every single shot is an a plus plus plus plus shot where it's, it's, it's being captured on a GoPro, but you're, it's just the act of filtering down.
Abe Kislevitz: 35:42 So I wouldn't, I wouldn't think that it's not possible, but you, you should just play the numbers game where you shoot more and the more that you shoot, the better you're going to get and then the higher chances you'll have good photos. But then it becomes, it comes down to selecting the right photo. So then back to your original question that is just not, I mean, it's not too much in light room. And I like to just put a little like personal touch on it, but I'm not making the photos something that it wasn't originally I start, I start with what I think is usually a pretty good photo. That being said, you can do things like use the raw photo capture on a GoPro, which will give you more latitude and range. But that's getting a little deep on the, on the photo side of things.
Raymond: 36:31 Yeah. I think though at least the listeners, they understand what RA is, so that gets more than enough there. Yeah, that's a great answer. I find I, I find some people do try to do that, right? They try to take less than a plus photos and try to turn them into a plus photos just through, I don't know, hue and saturation, right. Like trying to fix those things and make it look pop even though the photo isn't technically a very good. So that is excellent tip right there. So thank you so much for, for sharing that. Yeah. what advice would you give to a smart driven photographer who just graduated college about to set out on their own journey?
Abe Kislevitz: 37:14 It depends on what you're trying to do with your photography, but for me it's just, I would say do it because you love it and follow your passions because they're your passions. I wouldn't look to anybody else for to compare yourself to anybody else. Cause I think that can get you down a a difficult road but figure out what it is that you're passionate about and you kind of follow that and work really hard. I mean, there's, that's, that's the kind of thing that I tell people now because I think it gets a little lost these days, is that it still takes a lot of work to become, you know, the, the people that I follow on Instagram, they're amazing because they've put in so much time and so much effort and they're the masters of their little niche of what they do.
Raymond: 38:07 Do you have any examples of, of who you love to follow on Instagram?
Raymond: 38:11 Put you on the spot there. I know the names can be kind of hard in law.
Abe Kislevitz: 38:13 Yeah, no, I'm pretty bad with names, but I could give you a whole list obviously. I mean, you could just look at who I follow, but basically I, I, there's a bunch of even go pro creators that I'm continually impressed with their work. Bear Kiwi is one, he's a awesome creator out of New Zealand. He like pretty much has cornered all of New Zealand, so everybody, if anybody needs things from New Zealand, they just go to him, which is awesome. And yeah, there's a whole bunch of awesome creators out there.
Raymond: 38:43 Okay, cool. Cool, cool. Is there any piece of gear that you thought like, I have to have this thing and then once you got it, you realized, Oh, actually I never use this. Oh, wow. It sounds like you had an answer for both.
Abe Kislevitz: 38:56 Yeah. I mean there's definitely gear that I, I have to have because here that for for DSLR, for equipment that I always have with me though is a tiny little Manfrotto tripod metal wall. Yes. So it's this tabletop tripod. And I just keep that in my bag at all times. Cause if I ever need to do long exposure photos of the stars or anything, I have that whip it out, put it on my DSLR and I'm set.
Raymond: 39:24 I have four of those because they're so good. And I am actually not only for my camera, like you said, like for nighttime shots, but I put a little, and I wish that I had one right here around me. But I put like a little cold shoe Mount on one of them, so then I could just not my flashlight on it and now I can just put that like behind people, they're worth their weight in gold, so I'm right there for sure. Nice. Have you ever had like an embarrassing moment either out while shooting or, or, or working that did, you'd be like, did you be happy to share?
Abe Kislevitz: 39:51 Oh yeah. Okay. So one of my early productions of GoPro I was at the, it w it's now called the GoPro mountain games, but back then it was called the Tevin mountain games. And it's a bunch of different competitions that are in the mountains. So there's like kayaking and mountain biking and stuff. And I was shooting the kayaking portion. This was early days of GoPro, so it was just me in a backpack. And I had like, my boss was running around somewhere else and I had the credentials. So I pass through a bunch of people and I'm down next to the river and I'm like, Oh, I'm the film guy that's got like the credentials to get through and I'm setting up a cool shot. And I wanted to do this really cool shot. This was way back in the day before, like three 60 cameras or anything, but I'm like, I have two GoPros, which I've never had before, so I'm going to put two back to back, one facing up the river, one facing down, and then I'm going to use after effects and make this long stitch together and then like can, yeah.
Abe Kislevitz: 40:53 Yeah. so I was really excited about this shot. And so I'm setting up these cameras and I take like 10 minutes and there's all these people behind me watching and turn around to grab something in my bag. And I kicked both cameras into the water until the end of the lightwater gone forever. And those are the cameras that I had and I kind of look around and then just walk right out and I'm like, well nevermind. That goes my day. So those are those. And I also like prided myself before that I was like, I've never broken a camera. I've never lost a camera. Cause people are always like, Oh, you work for GoPro, you must break a ton of right. And like, I actually don't, like, I don't think I've ever broken, broken a camera. But that was one where I definitely lost two cameras right away and I just felt terrible.
Raymond: 41:42 What's one of the gnarliest ways you've seen a, a, a GoPro? Just like smashed aside from like probably like getting run over by a car or a truck or something like that.
Abe Kislevitz: 41:54 When we were filming for the karma launch video [inaudible] so I'm out there using these like early prototype drones and I was filming a van full of people. It was like, we did this for the hero five launch video. So we had this old VW bus and it was driving around and I was getting this shot of it driving across a bridge. I was going probably 35 miles an hour and I was tracking right there with the van and I'm like, this is an amazing shot. I know where this is going. And then I just smashed into a telephone pole 35 miles an hour and it, the whole thing just exploded.
Raymond: 42:32 Early prototype, you've got to go back to work. Like, Hey guy,
Abe Kislevitz: 42:36 Everybody. Yeah, everybody in the van just watched it. They're like, Oh my gosh. But I went back. Camera was fine. SD card was fine, the drone was in pieces.
Raymond: 42:47 But that footage was salvageable. Yeah. Okay. Do you still have that somewhere? Do you like look at it every morning? Like thank God, let's, let's not do that again?
Abe Kislevitz: 42:56 No, I don't think it exists anywhere actually. It's got to be [inaudible]
Raymond: 43:00 That's, Oh man well Abe, you've been like seriously very helpful today in, and you've been very gracious and donating your time and coming to help the listeners. Why don't you tell the listeners where they can find you online if they want to know more.
Abe Kislevitz: 43:14 Yeah. I think the best place if you want to learn more about photography and GoPro stuff is my website, which is just aid, kiss limits.com. But just go into Google search, [inaudible] and GoPro and you'll probably find it. Sure. and there I try to answer people's questions and I have every new camera that comes out, I give you a whole breakdown of what's new about this camera, how do you get the best out of it, what are my go to settings. So I think that's your best place to start. Otherwise, anywhere on social media, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, just my name aide Kissel limits.
Raymond: 43:46 Right on. Well if, I'll be sure to put all of that information in the show notes so that listeners can, can find and follow along. All right, perfect. Well, again, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and I can't wait to hopefully, maybe someday see some smashed a GoPro footage. But anyway, again, man, thanks so much.
Abe Kislevitz: 44:05 Thank you very much for having me.
Raymond: 44:07 You know what I love most about that interview? First of all, Abe's enthusiasm. You could tell that this guy loves not only his life, but, or I guess not only his job but his life. He loves, you know, photography. There's, there's guests that I have come on the show and you can just tell that they ooze, that, that, that passion and that that desire that just keeps them going. And Abel is one of those people. And some people would just like that. I'll give them that. Some people are just like that they were born that way. They're just naturally very charismatic like that. But I will tell you from personal experience, when I'm at a wedding and I'm behind, you know my, my food GX pro twos and I'm thinking about all my camera settings and the angles and where I'm going for what shot and you know what I need to plan for next.
Raymond: 44:52 It does feel a little bit like a job and not that there's anything wrong with that because it's, it's a wonderful job, but whenever I use a GoPro there is so much of that is removed and because so much of what makes the GoPro great is the magic, the magic that it can create. Okay, you just hold this thing in your hand, you press the record button and you just, you know, you do it with intention. You, you pointed at something with a purpose, you give camera movement with intention. Sure. But because you don't know where the exact frame is and because you don't know exactly maybe what the action is going to be, there's a little bit, there's a lot of magic that goes into getting a great shot on a GoPro and that is what makes it so much fun. And I think that, that Abe has harnessed that magic and and utilize it every single day in his life.
Raymond: 45:45 So this was, this was truly an incredible interview and I really hope that you got a lot out of it as well. It is, it's, it was one of my favorites to record and a, if you're listening, man, I'm sure that you're not, you're obviously insanely busy, insanely busy man. But I, I gotta thank you. I gotta thank you so much for coming on and sharing everything that you did. So, okay. That is it guys. This has been an incredible week. Again, if you are interested in a flash and flash course that I mentioned almost an hour ago while you were just started, your drive to work or your run at the gym the you can find out more at beginner photography, podcast.teachable.com and again, just it, even if you're not interested in the course, just go to watch the preview video that I have made because it is, it's the first lesson in the course and I take you on location with me too to show you how I set up a shot. And who wouldn't, who wouldn't want to see that? So that was it guys. Until next week, I want you to get out there. I want you to shoot, I want you to try something new. Okay? I want you to try something new, do something different. But most of all, I do want you to be safe because it is a dangerous world out there and I want to see you next week because I love you all. Okay? That's it. I'll see you next.
Outro: 47:06 Thank you for listening to today's episode of the beginner photography podcast. Be sure to join the conversations on Facebook and Instagram. If you want any links or resources we talked about in today's episode, check out the show notes. Get her photography, podcasts.com see you again next week.