Yellowline Photography was established by Daniel Rosenthal in 2008. Since then he has been published in a number of both online and printed publications as well as invested himself heavily in his private projects. No matter what Daniel may be shooting, he seeks to tell a story about his subject. A story that is honest and vulnerable and relatable. His favorite subjects are beautiful women and kids being kids.
Daniel is currently living in Brookly, NY, shooting fashion, music, and headshots, but is available for travel and other projects worldwide.
The Interview
1. Tell us something about your business and how long you have been a professional photographer?
I started my business in 2008 and focused primarily on weddings. I named my business Yellowline Photography because I wanted to make a statement about living a life of risk vs. passivity. To live passive is to simply allow life to happen to you. To stay in a 9-5 even though you’re miserable because the money is good and you don’t know what will happen if you truly pursue your dream. I refuse to live that way. So I decided to take the risk, to cross that warning line, to start my business. Clearly there were no guarantees of any kind of success. I started it at the worst time possible economically and I had no formal photography training, but it didn’t matter. I had to try even if I failed, because to not try and wonder “what if” is a far worse fate.
2. What equipment do you use?
Nikon for now, but I believe the Nikon vs Canon debate is an apples and oranges kind of issue: they’re both delicious and nutrition and get the job done. It’s what’s behind the camera that truly matters. ;)
3. Where are you located?
I am originally from Boise, Idaho and still do a lot of work there, but I just moved to NYC from LA, and I love it here. To a certain degree, I’m starting over, and I’m okay with that. I have a premonition that good things are in store.
4. What type of photography do you like to create?
I love to create work that makes me feel something. That is vulnerable and revealing. Work that is a part of me combined with a part of my subject that
contributes something to our viewer. I like to make the viewer FEEL something, remember something, crave something, ache for something. I want my work to reach to the bottom of us, of me, and bring up something true and honest and beautiful and worth discovering. Humans are complex. I want my work to embrace that complexity, and break it small, relevant, digestible pieces. That’s a part of photography that I adore. It forces one to stop and study a fracture of time.
5. Price range of events?
My wedding packages start at $3,900, family and children at $400, and headshots at $500, but I’m willing to negotiate if I love the project. I love to travel! Wink wink!
6. When did you notice you had a passion for photography?
I didn’t know I had a creative bone in my body until I got a camera from Christmas in the middle of my senior year of college at Northwest Nazarene University. I was finishing up my degree in Psychology, but when I got that camera in my hand, something just clicked into place (honestly, no pun intended). I couldn’t put it down, and I really haven’t since. That was 2005.
7. What is unique to what you do or what you offer?
I am told again and again that what I seem to be gifted in is capturing the depth of a human being, whether it is a simple family shoot, an actor, or my nephew. My ultimate goal is to tell a true story about my subject: to bring a mirror to the common denominator that connects us.
8. Most awkward moment during an event?
One time I said, “excuse me, sir?” to the mother of the bride.
That’s not true, but I needed something ;)
Nothing really awkward has happened to me directly, but I cringe a little at some of the drunken best man speeches. We’ve all heard them, and we’ve all cringed and tried to find a happy place in our minds.
9. What is the scariest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
Oh wow … I do have one here. One time I was shooting a girl on a short rail-road bridge. A train came around the bend in the opposite direction than I had expected. It was too far to jump over the rail, so we had to run. Towards the train. We made it just in time. Intense!
10. Best advice that you’ve been given in your photography career?
The best advice I’ve ever been given was to be PATIENT. Nothing good needs to be rushed. It’s not going to happen over night. A couple of years ago I was introduced to the concept of “sustained effort”, which I think is the most difficult type of effort. Most of us can sprint until we’re exhausted and then stop, but how many have the patience and tenacity to run a marathon? To continue even after the mind has begun playing games? It takes a different mindset. It takes a grit and a focus. It takes CHARACTER. Once I learned that, I kind of settled into the process. I continually drive forward, while at the same time finding contentment with wherever I may be at the moment.
11. Best advice that you could give someone else that is pursuing a photography career?
Same as above, with the addition of: be you. YOU are the only thing that exists that is truly original. The pickle of it all is, you really have to get to know yourself. Embrace solitude and self-discovery. The better you know you, the more your work will be true to self, the more “original” it will inevitably be. Listen to the advice of others, but never follow it blindly.
12. Best moment of your photography career?
So far, the best moment of my photography career was when I had the honor of a meeting with the art and creative director of GQ in October of 2012. They liked my work but told me it was too editorial in feel, and I needed to shoot more men. My goal is to shoot 5 styled men’s shoots to present to them again this summer.
13. How many sessions/events do you do each year?
When I focused on weddings, I booked 20-30 a year and did who knows how many family, child, clothing, headshot shoots to fill in the gaps. Now I mostly do fashion and headshots with maybe 6-10 weddings a year.
14. Have you changed anything to adjust in the current economic times?
I started my business at the lowest point of our economic trough and was blessed enough to do well quickly, so it’s really just gotten easier since then.
15. Describe your shooting style.
When I shoot, I am intense. I have a heavy trigger finger because I feel like it allows the model to relax and I like to catch those in between moments when the camera is nearly forgotten by the model. When I shoot, I feel like I’m hunting. Like I’m a lion in the grass waiting for that moment to come close enough for me to pounce on. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but its true so I’m okay with it.
Connect with Daniel
Website: www.yellowlinephoto.com
Vogue Italia Link: www.vogue.it/en/photovogue/Profilo/3b5da440-c9ee-49c6-847b-8535aba5a962/User
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Yellowline-Photography/115388655144899
Instagram: @yellowlinephoto
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