Part 2 of our interview with Gavin Gould of neverdrownout…

How would you describe your photographic style?

Loose, but precise. Kinetic, but stable. Sometimes isolationist, abstract, or even wistful. I often feel like I haven’t really established a particular style.

What aspect of your photography would you like to improve upon?

Lighting. The majority of my personal work is done with ambient light, and I’d like to take the time to incorporate more artificial light to shape my shots.

Why did you start the photoblog?

I started mainly as a way to encourage myself to pick up the camera every day and sort of force myself to get inspired. It seemed like a lot of other people were doing it at the time, and a good way to get some of my work out there to the public, maybe make a buck or two, and just gain experience. Seeing photoblogs.org and checking out the hot sites there was a large inspiration in the beginning.

How long has it been going?

Had to check to answer this one; my first post was January 4th, 2005. I’ve got over 1000 images on the site, which I remember thinking would be a huge milestone.

How often do you post?

For some time I was trying to shoot and post a brand new photo every day, and have clearly lapsed on that commitment.

Over the years I’ve taken a couple breaks as well, and have sort of settled into a “post when I’ve got something decent” schedule, varying from several posts a week to maybe one a week.

I really don’t shoot something every day like I used to, and often put up a series of photos over several posts as I’m sure viewers have picked up on.

Where do you see your photoblog in the next year? Two years? Five years?

To be fair, I don’t see it stopping any time soon. I haven’t made another portfolio site other than my rock&roll photo site, which is slapattack.com – please check that out if you’ve never seen it – so I need to maintain this other outlet of stuff that wouldn’t fit there or anywhere else until I get to a point where I think I should build a pure portfolio “hire me” site.

It’s hard to say where it will go; I’ve transitioned from just taking a camera with me a lot to going out to shoot with an idea already in mind instead of just waiting to see something interesting. Maybe I’ll do more studio style shots or longer projects…

What’s your favorite photograph from your archives? What makes that shot special?

This one is one of my favorites, and surprisingly from the first year of the site. I often tend to look back with disdain on much of my earlier work, but what I like about this particular capture is that it just played out in front while I was sitting on the grass with Nick (greyscalegorilla) and his girlfriend Alexia during the Air and Water Show. The right moment, composition, exposure, and light – mainly I enjoy the way the light falls on the toy gun and partially on the red shirt. Luckily, the focus landed just right on the boy’s silhouetted head.

Who are some photographers/photobloggers/flickrers you follow?

Naz Hamid – absenter.org, absenter on flickr, weightshift.com/memo – I’ve been a fan of Naz’s photography, design, and website work for a long time, but never actually met him until I joined Half Acre Cycling, of which he is a founding member.
Justin Ouellette – justinouellette.com, jstn.cc
Peter Baker – ptrbkr.com, peterbaker.net
Clayton Cubitt’s crazy blog – claytoncubitt.tumblr.com
Bob at notraces.com – been following forever, though I forget and have to catch up at times.
Archie at whateverland.com
vallen at wvallen.com
John at photoentropy.com
Rapha Flickr – flickr.com/photos/raphacc
Olivia – flickr.com/photos/kjellander
Joe McNally at joemcnally.com/blog
among dozens of others. I honestly don’t participate nearly as much as I did back in the earlier photoblog days

I also check in regularly with aphotoeditor.com, rachelhulin.com/blog, thephotographypost.com, and whatsthejackanory.com to get photo business world news.

Do you have any future projects planned? A book, a calendar?

Nothing particular at this stage. I would like to do a book, but I have no idea what I’d put in it, unless I just put everything in.

I did contribute some photos to a book last year – it’s available from chicrossphoto.com
Calendar… I don’t think I’d subject anyone to just one photo for a month!

Do you plan to make photography your profession someday?

It is currently, though I hope to make the transition from assistant to photographer as I become more ready. It’s a strange journey with a lot of hard work, lessons to be learned, and mistakes to be made.

So far, I’m happy to make a living moving gear cases, setting up lights, and picking up knowledge along the way. There’s a lot of networking to get more clients, get more shooting jobs, etc.

I’ve been told that I should prepare to be broke for a while, which was a lot like the transition from a regular job to being a freelancer. You never know when that next job and paycheck are going to come, so you’d better enjoy it along the way.