Interview with Dominique James Part II

by Jayvee on June 15th, 2006

In our last entry, we were having a chat with Dominique James. Here’s a (relatively!) short list of his accomplishments:

His commercial, advertising and corporate clients include: Avon, Wella, Epson, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Philamlife, Beer na Beer, Swatch, Dolce et Gabanna, Mercedes Benz, Smart, Globe, SM Shoemart, San Beda College, etc.

To date, he has already presented almost 50 one-man and group photography exhibits (Beauty, Body Politics, The Botanical Sessions, Shoes, Famous, etc.) at Vargas Museum, The Alcove Gallery of the Filipinas Heritage Library, The Main Lobby of Philamlife in United Nations, among other venues. His latest solo exhibit is entitled Flowers Forever. One of his most recent photography shows is for Avon’s breast cancer awareness campaign entitled “Kiss Breast Cancer Goodbye” at the Shangri-La EDSA mall. More solo photo exhibits are being planned in the months to come.

How has your setup changed through the years? If you could start over, what would you have done?

Right from the start, I already knew what I wanted. And that is a good way of making sense out of the many different companies and brands out there clamoring for the attention of both hobbyists and professional photographers. Product research, product testing, brand comparisons all played a crucial role before making any product purchase. I am extremely lucky that we betted on almost all the right brands, companies and products. Except for one particular brand which we didn’t patronize from the start, all my equipment and purchase decision have been correct. If given the chance, we would have shifted early on to one other particularly crucial equipment brand. However, we still have no regret with our original choice and purchase decision, only because, it has served us well, and to this day, it actually continues to serve us well. The only downside, it seems, is that it isn’t what can be categorized as a “market leader” today. That’s not a major issue though.

I think, to be able to purchase the right kind of equipment, and to grow with it, one has to consider not only the usual factors that figure into any buying decision, but most specially, and particularly in photography, the ability to grow and expand from the original purchase based on the idea of “system”. Buying a camera means you also have to buy the lenses and the multitude of accessories that goes only with that camera system. The same thing with studio lights where the photographer can extend its usability and function simply by adding on an accessory here and there. My best advise to anyone who wants to purchase, acquire and build a studio is to buy right the first time rather than buying cheap and then sell at a loss later only to transfer to one’s own original and primary choice of system. It is always a logical, and often times the right decision, to buy the best and not to buy the most convenient and affordable.

Are there some brands of cameras that seem to work better with your Macs?

The Mac supports all major models of digital cameras. And wonder of wonders, that support is true plug-and-play for almost all digicams. For some strange reason, digital camera compatibility was never an issue. Just plug it, and it works. Right away. Anyone can be productive immediately. Both point-and-shoot cameras and professional-grade cameras are wonderfully supported either with the hardware, firmware, or software, and often, all at the same time. Most major brands of professional level digital SLRs will have practically no problem connecting to the Mac.

As a matter of personal preference, I prefer using the Fuji FinePix S3.

What is your preferred music playlist when shooting?

To date, we have amassed more than 30,000 song titles that we’ve neatly categorized in iTunes. All the song files are stored in our portable external G-Raid 320GB. In the studio, we play the songs from my 17“ PowerBook G4. On location, we play music from my iPod. Personally, I have 2 types of playlists that I like. I can play either a set of really well-chosen and hand-picked 5-star rated songs that spans diverse genres, or, a growing electronica/dance/house/lounge playlist.

However, my personal choices may not necessarily be the kind of music that our clients like. And in any of our shoots, we pay attention to the kind of music our clients, and our photo subjects, would like to listen to, in order for them to keep up their energy level and their good disposition or mood. Because of our extensive collection, we can actually play the kind of genre, and more often than not, the particular artists and songs, that the client likes or wants to listen to. In this case, it doesn’t really matter what I like to listen to but what the client or the subject wants to listen to. And then, there are cases when we ask our clients or subjects if they have iPods because we like hooking it up to our JBL Creature II speakers and play music off their iPods. This usually thrills them since they feel right at home listening to the kind of music they like. And to me, personally, it is an added bonus because I get to hear songs that are not in my collection. And we like the ”discovery“ of new songs. We get to hear something different each time. And what amazes me is that despite the 30,000 plus collection, my music remains woefully inadequate. It used to be that I would first hear a new song from the radio. And nowadays, I still do.

You can check out the Fabulous! podcast here.

To be continued

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