Jeffrey Carlson is a well-established photographer who has worked on high-profile projects for a variety of major automotive brands including Lexus, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, and more. He has won numerous awards for his work and has gained international acclaim in his field.
Jeffrey’s passion for photography can be attributed to his grandfather. Though his grandfather passed away when Jeffrey was just three years old, he was an avid photographer and had a dark room that was used to develop pictures.
Jeffrey learned about his grandfather’s dark room and soon became fascinated with photography. In high school, he started shooting on his grandfather’s Canon AE-1.
He comments on this time in his life saying: “I discovered my photographic voice in high school and have been hooked ever since.”
For those that don’t know, a “photographic voice” is a way of seeing and “framing” the world through different photography techniques. In other words, when Jeffery found his photographic voice, he found his artistic style. From there, he worked on improving his technique.
To refine his craft, he completed a degree in Image Arts in Toronto, Canada. He went on to learn from and assist famous photographers such as Anne Geddes, Greg Swales, and Matthias Clamer.
After working on his own portfolio, he took the step into full-time shooting. He started shooting commercially for six years and began to gain recognition for his work in automotive photography.
Soon, top brands were flying him into different countries to work and direct photo shoots for companies such as GMC, Lexus, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, and more.
In the past few years alone, Jeffrey has won several graphic image awards for his work. While most of his work focuses on still images, he has also worked on video and new media projects producing a variety of motion pictures and videos for high-profile clients.
One of his more well-known projects was a Lexus RX photoshoot and min-production which involved a lot of planning and complex technical expertise to pull off.
Jeffrey has run into his fair share of challenges during his photography journey. He explains: “Trusting my own eye has been the biggest challenge for me as an artist.”
Another challenge that he has learned to overcome is self-promotion. Understanding the value of his work and the need to promote it to grow his business has been a hard challenge but one that he has overcome.
For others that may be struggling in their own photography journey, Jeffrey shares a key to his success: “Trusting yourself, your skills, and your intuition is vital and take years to accomplish.”
In the future, he plans to continue to grow his business by shooting for high-end automotive clients around the globe. On that note, he has recently traveled to Germany to shoot with a new automotive technology company.
All in all, Jeffrey Carlson has been able to rise to the top through years of hard work and determination. As a result, he has had the opportunity to work with top brands in the automotive industry and gain international attention.