Fine Art Photographer Cory Steiner


©Cory Steiner
The beautiful Veteran's Square Memorial in Lower Makefield, PA, at the corner of Edgewood and Heacock Roads.
http://www.veteranssquare.org/


How did your love of photography come about? Has it been a passion since you were young or more recent?

I always admired photography and viewed it somewhat as an unattainable skill that I wish I could achieve. Finally, I summoned up enough courage to take the leap and bought a Canon T1i/18-200mm lens. Stared at it for a few weeks and then returned it. 

Several months passed, I took a deep breath and repeated that process. Just couldn't get over the mental hurdle so I did some research, bought a training DVD specific to my camera, and have been studying daily ever since. 

My daughter began her high school volleyball career at that time. The other parents saw me fiddling and shouted, "We have a team photographer!" I began backing up in a panic, repeating "no" over and over. This put my education in high gear with my go-to sites being dpreview.com and canonrumors.com. dpreview has a sports forum where one world-class sports photographer in particular would answer my questions.
        
I have just kept at it with no end in sight to the learning and improving.

Are you a lifelong resident of Bucks County or did you move here more recently? Describe what makes Bucks so special. Why did you choose to move here and why do you stay?

I'm originally from Levittown, but with college, the Marine Corps, and then moving around, I was away for 23 years. Somehow I always knew that I'd return to Bucks County. There's just something very special about it here. Can't put my finger on it, but will try and probably eventually will. Maybe it's just that there's no place like home.

Where are your favorite places in Bucks County to photograph? Your favorite seasons?

The favorite places and seasons is a tough one. All are different with their respective strengths. There's so much more to explore to pick out favorite spots in Bucks County, but in time...

Where are some places you have traveled around the United States and the world? What are your favorite vacation spots? Where would you still like to visit?

Alaska may have been the highlight so far. We somehow ended up with a timeshare in Aruba so there's that, but I'd like to maybe hit some of the coastal areas of Maine and also San Francisco. 
        
I did some training in Norway 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle and heard that Oslo and Bergen are remarkable. That'll happen one day and then there's always Italy and Greece. I guess the sky's the limit so maybe some sort of world photography tour one day.


The beautiful Monterey, California coast.

What are your favorite subjects to photograph, portraits, landscapes, etc.?

I've sort of nailed volleyball and running photography, but hope to hone in on landscape goodness as my skills evolve and improve.  Portraits are OK with my main focus putting people at ease and as natural as possible with my preference being in a natural setting. 
        
A favorite has been some of the photography workshops at the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum sharing a love of photography and cars. The museum highlighted 5 of my shots which was sort of insane. Learning from maybe the best auto photographer in the world carries over into other arenas.

1966 Ferrari 365 Berlinetta Tre Posti


What have you learned by joining the photography club?

The Club and the Yardley Pictures Facebook page are such a learning experience. The local talent is staggering. Not only are people great, but you can really see some with a real interest profoundly blossom over time. There's several who are just soaring.

It's funny to have gone out one day in bad conditions, feeling like I'm completely alone and then seeing the work of others who have obviously done the same thing, proving that we're not alone. 

It's truly an honor to have played a role in bringing people together with a common interest and one that can be enjoyed by literally everyone. It goes to show you that there's a lot more out there to bring people together than what many seem to have problems with; much of which isn't even real. Not sure if photography can lead to world peace, but we also shouldn't rule it out.

From the expanse of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City to the small petals of a flower, Cory captures it all.

What is the best experience you have had while taking photographs? What makes photography special, the creativity, the scenery, the unexpected things that happen?

Going back to Alaska - I rented the big 100-400mm lens and did a lot of online study of specific shooting situations, especially wildlife. My camera was still the Canon T1i with results that indicated that a lot of the magic that we seek is from the lens. 

I wrote down several scenarios on 3x5 cards and embarked into the unknown. We took a small boat through the waterways of Ketchikan and finally saw our first eagles way off into the distance. Ten minutes passed and then my index finger was on overdrive for the next several hours. It was honestly like an out-of-body experience. I just couldn't believe what was unfolding - from an eagle catching a fish, to other shots that I really couldn't believe to landscapes, other animals, whales and so on.



My index finger was on overdrive for the next several hours. It was honestly like an out-of-body experience. I just couldn't believe what was unfolding, an eagle catching a fish...

All Photos On This Page ©Cory Steiner

I'm eager to look into the future and see what unfolds. My gear isn't anything out of the ordinary and I try to keep it as minimal/simple as possible. I do have a thing for prime, single focal length, lenses which I think just offer a better result in many or most cases. Even inexpensive prime lenses seem to do "it".
    
I'd just like to thank everyone for being a friend in photography with many more decades ahead of learning and sharing.

Who are some photographers you admire, both professional and those you've worked with in the photography club? And what about their photograph impresses you?

That's a tough one. There are so many greats. I hesitate to single anyone out locally, too, because I'd be afraid to miss someone. 

I did just discover Instagram, did a quick online search and started following Daniel Kordan, Expert Vagabond, Images by Jillian, Our Planet Daily 1, The Planet D, Canadian Traveller, ccphilly and Bill Smith 2315. 

For training I really like the Lightroom instruction by Julianne Kost (who's an Adobe employee) and George Jardine (who used to be an Adobe employee). I really like George Jardine's web-based instruction and will probably go through the Lightroom 5 one again maybe starting tonight. 

And then, of course, the camera-specific training DVD's from Michael the Mentor as well as some of his more advanced techniques DVD's. I also have his "Photography Business Crash Course" to fine-tune my efforts when asked to photograph something.

Requests for volunteer work has been getting a little overwhelming and I was charging a very low "entry to market" price for paid work (much of which got a bit, well, overwhelming). So moving forward, I'm going to be more selective and charge more. I think that's good for the professional photography industry as a whole as long as the photographer is a daily student of the craft. There's so much more to it than just taking a picture and it's great to see so many with "the eye".
    
Also, I was able to connect with Donald Chin from Hong Kong for some personal guidance with sports photography. He's an amazing Olympics (and other world-class sports) photographer and would instantly respond to my "volleyball" questions.
 
Cory's Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/corysteinerstudios/

Cory's Instagram - http://instagram.com/coryasteiner

Thank you, Cory, for sharing your incredible photography with all of us!

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