Meet Mark Leffingwell | Commercial Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Leffingwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks can be stressful. That being said, you don’t grow without taking risks. If there isn’t a chance to fail, then you don’t adapt, improve, experiment and grow. When I was a photojournalist, pushing things was just part of the the job. You aren’t going to get the good images staying safe. Getting in close and capturing the people in the moment is what made the story. You can’t do that from a safe distance.

Moving from a staff position photojournalist to self employed portrait, marketing and branding photographer was a huge leap in faith. The biggest risk ever. I was going through a divorce, just moved out of my house and decided to quit my steady paycheck job and go out on my own. The newspaper industry was dying and I needed a change. Had no clue on how to be a small business, what that would look like and didn’t even know what kind of photography I wanted to do. At this point, working for someone else was all I knew. Never had to worry about a budget, gear, insurance, sales, book keeping. Just here are the assignments for the day. Go!

The first couple of years were the hardest. Single dad with 3 kids, 1 on his own but 2 still living at home. 50/50 custody. Didn’t have very much money set aside and had absolutely no idea on what I was supposed to do. Made a lot of mistakes, wasted a lot of time and money trying to figure myself out.

The risk of failing was very high. For me, I hadn’t done anything else for a living for close to 30 years. Had literally no other skills.

That’s a pressure cooker for sure. I had to hire a creative developer to help me find my voice, what my focus was going to be. That was expensive but helped to smooth off the rough edges. Had to completely look at photography in a new light. Photojournalism is very restrictive. You react to things instead of taking control and creating. As a photojournalist, being behind the scenes, unnoticed, neutral was key. You need to limit your impact on what you are photographing. What I do now is the complete opposite of what I did from my whole life. Now I have to the face of my small business. I have to get noticed. I have to be engaging with clients and subjects to create the images I do know. Have to have the answers and solutions to problems. It’s Mark Leffingwell Photographer. Not anything else. You are hiring me for how I work, how I see the world, for my ideas and skill as capturer of images

The risk was having to remake myself completely. Follow photographers I like and respect, learn new ways to light, shoot, process images. Take chances, fail, reassess, pivot, change, pivot again. Learn new things everyday.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art. Still getting used to thinking of my photography as “my art”. I think the art comes from what I photograph and what is revealed during the whole process. Particularly for portraits and headshots. Connecting with who you are photographing is important. Feeling comfortable and at ease. Enjoying the moment is the key. Sessions are fluid and change rapidly at times. I have start with an idea but quickly realize it’s no working and change. My style is fluid and simple. Most of the time I use a single light source with maybe a reflector. The art isn’t about the bells and whistles, it’s about simplicity and the capture. I love other photographers and happily recommend them if I’m not the right fit some one. There are a ton of very talented photographers out there. Skill levels very close to each other. They are all just a little different. What makes me different, in my opinion, is coming from a news background, I can adapt and change quickly. I never get locked in to a style. That background had shaped my photography. Where there are similarities in my photos, I change for each person. I don’t have a template.

Professionally? As a commercial photographer? I’m a neophyte. I have 30 years of experience with a camera in my hand but that was doing a completely different type of photography. What I do now is different and I’m growing. The way I use light now is different than how I used light 2 years ago. Maybe even 6 months ago. Same with processing photos. I didn’t know what Layers were in Photoshop until a year after I left news. Now I don’t know how anyone can work up and image with out them.

Getting here has been quite a journey. All of it up hill. Didn’t have a clue on what I wanted to shoot, how to articulate what I did. Even the language in the industry was foreign. My pitch was that I shot everything from Pet of the Week to Professional Sports. Why wouldn’t you hire me? That doesn’t sell.

If you don’t have a focus, you can’t describe what you can do for your clients. The lessons are KISS. Keep it Simple Stupid. Pick a few things that your really enjoy and focus on being good at them. I love location portraits. Scouting, lighting, goofing off with the clients are very fun. Just as fun as getting the images on the computer and searching out the colors, the small details, the smirk or twinkle. All the little things that show off the person you photographed.

I guess my brand is that I like people. I like people who do interesting things. That can be whatever. If it’s interesting to you, it’s interesting to me because it’s a passion. Photographing someone with passion always works out for the best. My photography probably has a little dirt rubbed on it. I don’t really sweat the small stuff. Nothing in life is perfect so your portrait shouldn’t be either. That being said, you portrait should help tell your story. And that’s what I do. Use a camera to tell people’s stories

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Denver? Colorado? Holy cow. That’s a big question. What I love about both Denver and Colorado is there are so many great things to do here. All except for a salt water experience. Depending on the friend, going out downtown for cocktails then walking around in the warm weather months is fantastic. My favorite bars for cocktails are Sip, American Bonded and Death & Co in The Ramble Hotel. They do the best Old Fashioned’s.

If my sister is in town, we walk to Long Table Brewhouse with our dogs. Great beers and a dog friendly patio is very fun.

Other friends love hiking and there is so much great hiking to do here. I feel like I’m writing an ad for Colorado. I really do love living here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh man! That is a big list. I am no way self made. My friend and fellow photographer Sean Boggs has been huge in my growth as a commercial photographer. Sean has spent hours upon hours talking with me, bouncing ideas back and forth, helping me understand that I’m an artist not just a picture taker. He really helped me lose the shell I was hiding behind. My friends, Phil and Lori Harris. They talked me off the ledge more than once over the last 5 years. Helped me through my divorce and the ups and downs of trying start a business from the ground up. Heather Barrett, my ex girl friend. Even though things didn’t workout with us, she was so supportive and encouraging while I was spinning my wheels at times. Her positivity was infectious.

All of my kids played a big part. They encouraged me, were patiently my subjects when I was trying new lighting or shooting techniques.

Amy Leffingwell, my little sister. She is my biggest fan and actually hired me for first few shoots.

My dad, Don Leffingwell. He came through with some financial support during the shut downs in 2020. Going 9 month without a pay check is devastating. My dad helped me get through to 2021.

I watched a lot of tutorials online and the 3 that really resonated with me are Phlearn with Aaron Nace. His tutorials really opened my eye to how powerful Photoshop is and how much you can pull from a photo file to make it pop. His techniques changed the way I shoot photos. Photographer Joel Grimes. I met him when he spoke in Denver a few years ago. He was inspirational because he talked about being an artist first. Be the artist then the business person. I love his lighting and portrait techniques and would often try too emulate them. His photography helped guide me to my style. PIXimperfect Unmesh Dinda’s tutorials are also amazing. He is an excellent teacher and his processes helped my develop my own and streamline my work flow.

Peter Dennen, with Pedro and Jackie, has really helped develop my narrative and my voice. Those are so important because you can’t explain what you do with out them.

There are many more. There could be a book dedicated to the inspiration and help I’ve received.

Website: www.markleffingwell.com

Instagram: @mark.leffingwell

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mark-leffingwell-professionalphotographer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markleffingwellphotographer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsLaRT5O2ytWmyzGwMh6WXw