BROUGHT TO YOU BY: MARSWORTH
An Arkansas local has chiseled out some time from his busy schedule in order to hop on a phone call with us and chat about anything and everything photography. This isn’t our average interviewee, but that doesn’t make him any less of a rock icon. His notable photographs can be found in a number of galleries across the United States of America. I’d like you to meet Victor Chalfant.
MARSWORTH: Hi!
VIC CHALFANT: Hi. How are you?
M: I’m doing all right. How are you?
V: I’m okay. Your name is Kay?
M: Yes!
V: Okay.
M: Hi, Mr. Chalfant. Thanks for making some time for The Metal Pit this evening and your busy, busy schedule. How have you been?
V: Not so busy.
M: Not so busy?
V: No. I’m on break right now, so it’s been relaxing. But I was just taking my dog to the store tonight. He likes to go shopping for bones.
M: Oh, you take him with you?
V: Yeah. And I was on my way. He convinced me to take him. I left, and I went, “Oh, no, I’m supposed to do this call!” and then we got there, so I texted you and said I’d be a few minutes late.
M: That’s totally fine. Wait, what’s your dog’s name?
V: Stanley.
M: Stanley comes first. It’s okay. I’m absolutely okay with being trumped by Stanley. He deserves it. Did he pick something good?
V: Yeah, I got a couple of bags of bones.
M: Bags. Oh, my gosh. Look at him. Wow. Perfect. So shall we get the show on the road?
V: Let’s do it.
M: All right. So, do you remember the first time someone stopped you and recognized you? What was going through your head?
V: Well, I’m a professor, so I get stopped sometimes on campus, people recognizing me or saying something. But at a show, having people come up and want to take a photo with me, I was kind of surprised by that. And it wasn’t that many years ago. Just maybe three or four or five years ago, something like that.
M: Wow. What was going through your head? Were you like, “You want to take a picture with me? I’m trying to take pictures of them.“
V: Yeah, pretty much. I think probably the main reason I was getting noticed was from doing the podcast with Ryan [Roxie].
M: Roxie, yeah! I was going to say that you were on the podcast, you produced the podcast, so people are probably like, that’s the one guy that’s with Roxie all the time.
V: Right. And I think that’s probably what did it more. And then with Instagram, I try not to put my face on there too much, but once in a while, some people start to recognize me, I guess.
M: Yeah, I see people post on their stories saying, “Wow, it’s a wild Vic sighting!” and I think that would be so weird if someone did that for me. I’d be happy though.
V: It’s a little nice, but I’m much better behind the camera, and so I always feel a little awkward seeing photos of myself.
M: You’re just like, “When did you take that? I was just trying to look in the crowd, see what’s going on. Oh, my God!”
V: Well, I’m always trying to see things clearly, and so I always have this horrible scowl on my face because I’m squinting, but it looks like I’m pissed off all the time, and I’m really not.
M: No, you’re like, “I promise I’m not. I just can’t see!”
V: Exactly!
M: All right, so bringing it way back, what was one thing that you wish you knew when you started doing all this? I know on your website, it said you started this, like, forever ago, so you probably don’t remember exactly what you didn’t know, what you did know, all that. But what’s one thing that you, in retrospect, you’re like, “Man, I wish I would have known that.”
V: I guess I didn’t realize how much musicians appreciated people who took good photos of them. If I had thought of that, I would have been sending my photos out to them sooner, trying to make those connections sooner.
M: Good. When did you start taking band photos? Because I think of you as one of my influences. So I thought, “He does that. I think I might be able to try and do that. Why not?” What got you in that?
V: Well, I’ve been taking photos for a really long time. I picked up my first camera when I was probably about 3 or 4, just to take, like, family photos. When nobody else could do it, I would push the button. I grew up as an orphan, so both my parents died when I was really young, and so I had a connection with photography because that was my connection to them, looking at old photos. And so I always saw real importance in that. And so I started taking photos. I did a lot as a kid, but they weren’t good. And then once I got to college, I kind of figured out, “Oh, here’s how you can use a camera and adjust things to make the photos look better.” So I started taking photos of different things. I was doing product photography and that sort of thing. And then I got into graduate school, and I was doing a photographic series, and I was needing models for that. So I started working with some models and doing trade things because they were trying to get photos for their portfolio, and I was trying to get photos for my portfolio, and they would do the things that I wanted in exchange for me doing some of the shots that they wanted.
M: I help you, you help me. Yeah.
V: Right. It was a win win. So I started doing that, and I’ve always loved music. In college, I wasn’t always able to afford tickets to go see a show, but when I could, I would usually try to sneak a camera. And it wasn’t always successful, but I did it several times. Like, I went to see the Rolling Stones and I had, like, 10th row tickets. Thinking, “This is fantastic!” and I got this little disposable camera because I thought, well, if I get caught with it, at least I won’t be out of whole camera, right? And I snuck that in and took some shots, and the show was amazing, and the photos look like crap because they look so far away and you weren’t part of the action. So I was like, “I’ve gotta risk it. I’ve got to take in a good camera.” I took in some better cameras, and then as I did that I would post them online or something, sometimes the musicians would see them and go, “Oh, wow, that’s a great shot!” And so I started making connections with them and then being able to get photopasses to actually shoot the show legitimately.
M: Right, and not sneaking cameras in! [laughter]
V: [laughter] Right. The first member of Alice’s band that I got to work with like that was Nita.
M: Really?
V: Yeah, because I think she saw some of the model photos that I had taken and she liked those, and I liked that style. And so she asked me to come take some shots of her. And I said, yeah, sure, I’ll do it in exchange for you signing a few of my photos for me, because I had taken shots of her before and she said, “Sure! come on.” So we met up and we did a shoot and it went fairly well. And so then I started connecting with the other people in the band and it went on from there.
M: That’s insane. I think the hardest part for me so far is those connections.
V: Jeez yeah, it can be tough, but there’s a lot of nepotism in this sort of thing, so that within one band that’s been touring for a while, they’ve had musicians come and go, and those musicians go to other bands, and if you get in with one, they can connect you to all these other ones.
M: Exactly. So it’s pretty much who you know.
V: Well, I think that’s part of it, but I think you have to have something, some sort of skill or some sort of quality to your work that will get you noticed.
M: Oh, yeah, most definitely!
V: If you can get that from them, if you’re posting them and tagging them and that sort of thing, it always helps. I always tell my students when they put their stuff online to be sure to tag the person in the photo or the illustration or whatever it is that they’re putting up, and a lot of times they get noticed and they’re always very excited about it.
M: I always have a little moment to myself whenever I post, for example, a photo of Tommy Henriksen and he likes it or something. I just like, -oh, my gosh- I have a little moment to myself.
V: Yeah, man.
M: He saw it. He liked it. I don’t know how much double tap means to him, but it means the whole world to me.
V: I know. I totally understand that. It’s funny because when those guys first started calling me, I would see their name pop up on the phone, and it was like, “Oh, my gosh! This person is actually calling me. This is crazy!”.
M: Oh, man, it’s Roxie again. [laughter]
V: Exactly. Yeah. Sometimes it’s like, “Oh, I don’t have time for this right now.” but I’m still really enamored with all of them.
M: They’re great guys. You can’t not! Profession aside, they’re great people, right?
V: Yeah. They’re really fun. Tommy, Roxie, Chuck, and I, we’ve hung out a lot, and just over the pandemic, I feel like we just got to all be really close.
M: You’re a lucky duck now, aren’t you!? Oh, my gosh!
V: Well, Roxie and I, especially. Doing our podcast every week, we always have to be in touch with each other. When he was first at home alone and stuck there, he was really bored, and he called me all the time, and now he’s back, and he’s working on a move right now, so his wife is at the new place, and he’s at the old place.
M: Yeah.
V: So, he’s now home board again, and so he told me, he goes, “I’m going to be calling you a lot.” He’s great. We have a lot of fun. I sent him a Christmas card the other day that he posted [online]. I sent him this card that played cats meowing Christmas carols.
M: I remember seeing that video! [laughter]
V: [laughter] Okay. I sent those to my brothers and stuff, just because they don’t stop. They just keep playing and playing, and he’s like, “This is really a nice card, but it won’t stop playing!”
M: [laughter] But it won’t stop!
V: I was like, “That’s exactly what it’s supposed to do!”
M: You said, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” [laughter]
V: I sent Tommy a regular card.
M: You’ll spare him.
V: Yeah, well, Tommy is a great guy, but Roxie I always have to mess with.
M: Oh, yeah, of course. Especially if you two have been in contact, I guess what sounds like longer than the other two. Yeah.
V: Not really longer, but just more often.
M: More often. Okay.
V: Yeah, I talked to Tommy every few weeks, probably. But, Roxie, for a long time, it was every day.
M: Every day he just calls, and you’re like he says, “Hi, Vic. What are you doing?” Just, like, on his bed, like, kicking his feet. “What are you doing? What are you up to?” like a teenage girl. [laughter]
V: [laughter] Yeah, usually he calls me. I mean, we planned the whole System Twelve thing together, did the podcast, and we used to do the Sunday live stream. That was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. I was actually watching some of those while I’ve been on break, and I think it’s really cool to see the progress that we’ve made on it and the audience that we’ve gained, that kind of thing.
M: Yeah, of course. I love seeing the people that interact! I’ve got a friend from Sweden and she swears by the podcast! Anytime there’s anything said between the two of us that can be tied back, she’s like, “Actually in In The Trenches…” and I’m like Elin, stop. [laughter] But any chance she gets, she’s like, “Do you remember that one time in the podcast?” and I’m like, “…yes.”
V: What!? Wow! That’s cool. Roxie and I were at a place one time and Mark McGrath was there. He just stuck his head in the van and he goes, “I love your podcast!” You’re kidding me!
M: You’re like, “That was… oh, my gosh!”
V: Well, it was pretty cool. So we’re trying to get him on sometime too.
M: I look forward to that one! All right, whenever you go to shoot literally anything, be it a tree in the backyard or Roxie, for example, what things are you looking to bring? Your essentials other than the camera and a lens.
V: A battery and a memory card.
M: That’s it? Just absolute basics.
V: Yeah, I mean, you can always add to it, but you don’t have to. There are a lot of times that I get better shots of my phone sometimes.
M: Yes, that’s good to hear because I do that. My camera is not the greatest, so what if I take them with my phone?
V: Well, your camera probably is better than your phone, even though your phone is probably pretty good and they’re impressive with all the low light stuff they can do. For the most part, phones are all on auto, right? And if you’re using your phone or your camera on auto, you’re only going to get so far with it. You have to learn how to control the equipment you’re using. And so it doesn’t really matter what equipment you have as long as you know how to use it.
M: Right, okay. And that’s a learning curve for everyone, I think.
V: I have students that come in and they’ve bought the most expensive equipment and they’re using it on auto, and it’s like, well, that’s the same as any other camera now because you’ve just made it the same by switching it to auto.
M: Right. I never actually thought about it like that. I’ve got to go out and take more pictures. [laughter]
V: They’ll have more pixels or whatever, right? But if you put it on auto, it’s going to basically achieve the same image that any other camera is doing.
M: Noted, because I’ve been looking at new cameras and I almost dropped a hefty sum. So now I have to actually put it in manual and see what I can do with that.
V: If you’re not shooting a manual, then some people shoot an aperture priority or shutter priority, and that works as well, but just knowing how to control your shutter speed and aperture and ISO.
M: It’s all about that pretty much, and knowing how to use the equipment like you had said.
V: Right.
M: So with the equipment in mind, what are your must haves, like no matter what you’re shooting? Like are you a Nikon guy? Or a Canon guy?
V: I was a Canon guy forever. And I still really like Canon, but I switched over to Sony because Sony had a higher resolution image, and I had to go mirrorless. I really don’t like the mirrorless cameras. I would much rather have just a DSLR.
M: Right.
V: But I switched over to Sony a few years ago and I’ve been using that. I like it okay, but if Canon will step up their game, I will run back because I like Canon so much. Again, I don’t think it has much to do, though. I mean, most of the cameras are really pretty much the same. It’s the user that’s going to make a big difference.
M: Exactly. So well then my question of what do you think is like a dirt cheap camera goes out the window?
V: Well, if you’re starting out, you want to get what you can afford. You don’t want to make your first car a Maserati.
M: Right.
V: You need to get the clunker and figure it out. Learn how to drive. You’re going to wreck it a little bit, but you learn how to use it. And then as you use it, you can say, okay, maybe I need a lens that will open up a little bit more, or maybe I need a longer lens, or maybe I need a little higher resolution, or whatever those things are. But if you just start with the cream of the crop, you’re not going to really know what you’re doing.
M: I like that a lot. That stops me from impulse buying a really expensive camera.
V: Well, I see people do that all the time and it’s just a waste of money. Until you know what you’re doing, you’re going to just waste that nice piece of equipment.
M: Right. That makes me feel better. I’ll keep using my clunker.
V: What is your clunker?
M: I have a Nikon D5200.
V: Okay. That’s not a bad one at all.
M: I don’t even remember where I got it. Not mad about it. I like it. It takes nice pictures. Tommy likes my pictures, so I don’t care. [laughter]
V: [laughter] Okay. Is he your go to guy?
M: Yeah. Don’t tell him I said that. It’s really embarrassing. [laughter]
V: [laughter] Why?
M: I don’t know. [laughter]
V: He’s got to be happy about it.
M: This is also embarrassing. I met him after one of Alice’s shows, and he signed my arm. I said, “I’m going to get this tattooed.” and his whole face dropped and he’s like, “Do not. Do not get my signature tattooed.”. I’m doing it. I’m going to do it.
V: And did you?
M: I have an appointment set up.
V: Is it still on your arm?
M: I have a picture of it because that was months ago, August. But I have a picture of it, and I’m going to get it done. I feel like he did it sloppily on purpose.
V: Well, his penmanship is- [laughter]
M: [laughter] On one of his live streams, I commented, “I’m doing it. I’m getting your signature tattooed!”. I think he just looked at it with his little glass of wine and just kind of gave a little shake of the head, and I was like, “Score!” Anywho, this is a little bit of a fun one: In a universe where the sense of taste and hearing are mixed up, what food would you imagine your photography to taste like?
V: Man.
M: It’s a loaded question, I know.
V: Yeah. Well, I think it depends. It’s not as much just the image, but the subject. The content of the photo, I think, changes the flavor.
M: What about the camera? Just the camera in general?
V: I don’t think the camera is the thing that’s like, does your stove make your food taste better?
M: Sometimes. I mean, it makes ramen noodles taste better.
V: Well, but you could make ramen noodles in the microwave. You could make them on a really fancy million dollar stove or a $50 thing you got on Ebay. Boiling the water is still going to be the same sort of thing. So I never think that the equipment is the thing that makes it. If I’m taking a photo of Tommy, I would think it tastes like pizza. [laughter]
M: [laughter] I was going to say, is it because he’s from New York?
V: Yeah. Well, and then I also think of barbecue with Tommy because he and I always get barbecue together.
M: I love that.
V: Because he knows I’m from the south and I know where the good barbecue is, of course. So every time we get together, he’s like, where’s the good barbecue place?
M: As soon as he’s in Arkansas, he’s like, “Where is it, Vic? Tell me.”
V: Well, he doesn’t come to Arkansas very much. He’s usually in all the states around Arkansas.
M: It’s the same thing with Ohio. Sometimes artists come to Cleveland, but they usually just skip right over. That’s not the point. So have there been any photographers in general, let them be professional or not that have influenced your work? And if so, do you incorporate any of their techniques into your photos?
V: Absolutely. I got influenced by lots of photographers, and I think if you aren’t, you’re kind of working with blinders on. I think it’s important to see other people’s work and to not just professionals, but anybody just go look at other work and go, “Oh, I like the way this angle is, this point of view, or this editing technique or something.”. I studied photography for a long time, and I still study all the time. Just looking at books and seeing people, that inspire me. I was looking today at Liebowitz, who did a stint where she toured with the Rolling Stones, and I still look at those photos! I love the access that she got, and they put their trust in her and let her take photos of anything. I’ve kind of gotten that with, I guess, Beasto Blanco. They let me do anything. Skid Row is probably that way.
M: Oh, my gosh! I’ve been trying to contact Skid Row!
V: They were in Europe for a while. But those guys trust me, and they’re willing to let me shoot them in more personal moments. I’m not going to put those out there unless they’re okay with it, of course. Alice is getting there. I’m kind of working on it. He’s trusted me with some things that I was just like, “Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe that I’m able to shoot this!”
M: You’re like, “The Alice Cooper said, I can do this!”
V: Yeah. That’s exciting to me. I always appreciate it. And it’s not just a musician, it’s anybody.
M: Right.
V: With some of the models and stuff that I used to work with, when somebody agrees to pose in front of your camera, they’re putting a lot of trust in you that you’re not going to make them look like an asshole and I really appreciate that. I make it my goal to make them look their best. And even if I’m poking fun at it. [dog barking] My wife’s home with dinner, but I always try to make them look good or make them look the way that they want to appear. And even when I’m doing something where it’s kind of making fun of them a little bit or joking around with them, they know that I’m not trying to make them look like a jerk.
M: Right.
V: I wouldn’t show something that they didn’t want shown. I’m not going to put a scandal out there.
M: Yeah. You’re not going to ruin the trust.
V: Yeah. Burning bridges.
M: Right. Man, I didn’t know you were away with Beasto Blanco, too! Oh, my gosh, look at you. I guess since you’re close with Chuck so I guess it worked out.
V: Yeah. I really love that whole band. They’re great.
M: There’s something else. Absolutely. Otherworldly in the best way possible, of course.
V: Yeah. I got to actually tour with them a little bit.
M: Really?
V: And I played a roadie for them for a day and got to get on stage with them while they’re playing and stuff. It was a blast!
M: That sounds amazing. Oh, my gosh, I hope this isn’t weird, but man, I want to be you when I grow up.
V: That was definitely weird.
M: You’re like a top tier kind of person to me. That moment, like whenever Tommy likes my pictures, I get a little bit giddy. That’s what I was like whenever you’re like, “Okay, let’s do an interview!” And I was like, “Oh, my God! He said yes!”
V: Really? Well, that’s nice.
M: I had a little moment and I contacted my friend from Sweden and I was like, “You’ll never guess who said yes!” She was also losing her mind. It was great.
V: Wow. No reason to lose it.
M: I’ve already lost it. We’re all good. So you’ve said that you picked up a camera from like age 3 or 4. So does that mean you come from an artistic family or perhaps a musical family?
V: Well, my mother was kind of artistic. My father was more technical. He was the guy into cameras and taking photos and making movies and things, just family stuff. Then my mother was into drawing and painting. She was an interior designer.
M: Oh, all right! So did that kind of stuff, obviously the photography, but like the interior design stuff. Did that rub off on you?
V: Yeah, I think it was like I said, they passed away when I was very young, and I was raised by my uncle who was in the military, and he always thought that art was a hobby, not a job. He gave me a really hard time about it. And it was in my genes that I couldn’t help it. So I was like, “Look, I’ve got to do this.” and he was never very happy about it, but he went along with it.
M: That’s okay, because you know that mom and dad would have been absolutely ecstatic about it.
V: Well, I’m not so sure. I think they might have questioned my taste in music.
M: No, it’s fine. That’s a parent’s job! Okay, so with that early kind of talk, what would you do differently if you were to start over from day one?
V: Well, I was just talking with a friend of mine a few days ago about how everyone has a cell phone now, so growing up now, you take photos of every meal that you eat and you have all this documentation and we didn’t have all that growing up. We have the memories of it. I kind of wish that if I were to do it again, I would invest the money in taking more photos. Over this break I’ve been scanning in old negatives. I’m looking at these things, it’s bringing back all these memories, and I keep thinking that I wish I had more of these, even though I have far too many at this point. But I wish that I had more shots, almost like a diary, just documenting things that I did. I think people are so busy taking selfies that they forget what’s around them. It’s not all about you. It’s about what’s around them, what’s going on. I kind of wish I had more of that back when you had to go out and buy a $5 roll of film and then you had to go spend $10 to get it developed. $15 every day or every week or whatever. That was more than a lot of us could scrape together.
M: Yeah, but I mean, it would have absolutely killed your wallet then, but I feel like now you would appreciate it a lot more.
V: Yeah, well, I have all of my family’s photos because I’m the photo guy. People passed away. I got all of them. I literally have thousands and thousands of family photos, and a lot of these I go through and nobody’s alive that knows who any of these people are anymore. I know some of them and I can look and say, oh yeah, that’s my great uncle, something like that. But a lot of it I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of it.
M: Right. I guess you could scan it. Everything is digital now.
V: Yeah, well, I’ve been doing a lot of that and we have an ancestry.com site with all sorts of family things on there and so there are people that appreciate it. But I don’t have children and so I’m not going to have anybody to pass it on to. Stanley’s not going to care about any of that.
M: He might care for like 3 seconds. [laughter] Well, maybe that’s fine. Who needs kids when you have Stanley? Another one to break up the tiny bit of seriousness that we have created, another ‘in a universe’ kind of thing. In a universe where money doesn’t exist, but instead people pay for things by making other people laugh. How rich would you consider yourself?
V: So how often do I make people laugh?
M: Yeah. It’s just a fancy way of asking, do you think you’re funny?
V: I was reading some reviews today of some of my classes, and about half the people, well, probably 75% of the class, appreciate my sense of humor, and about 25% are completely offended by me.
M: Good.
V: So it’s one of those things that I think I’m an acquired taste. My sense of humor is not for everyone. I tend to be kind of dry, and it doesn’t always go over real well.
M: I mean, obviously it does. 75% majority vote right there.
V: Well, okay. That’s still a C.
M: It’s passing.
V: I’m passing.
M: That’s how I feel with my college classes right now. I’m not going to use my degree, so I’m just ready to graduate and take pictures, that’s all.
V: What are you getting a degree in?
M: Mechanical Engineering Technology.
V: Oh, man.
M: Yeah.
V: Why are you not going to use that?
M: Because I hate Engineering. I understand that real life and school are incredibly different, like opposite ends of the spectrum. I understand that. But if I’m going to be stuck at a desk for the rest of my life, no, thank you. I mean, I know that being a photographer isn’t all fun and games, but I would much rather do that than be on my computer making a piece of sheet metal.
V: Well, you’re going to be on your computer editing.
M: Yeah, but I get to look at things I like.
V: Well, my dad was actually an engineer.
M: Really?
V: He designed airplanes for Boeing.
M: That’s what I wanted to do!
V: Yeah. He worked with McDonald Douglas for years doing that sort of stuff. Now one of my younger brothers is a computer engineer.
M: Oh, wow.
V: Oh, my gosh. I see what he’s doing compared to what I’m doing, and I’m like, “Man, I wish I was you!” because he’s able to work from anywhere in the world. So I think right now he’s in Germany. He just decided to go over there for a month. Yeah, he’s young and killing it, and it’s just because he did so well in school and he’s smart.
M: I told my main professor, I was like, “Hey, dude, I already have a music venue that I’m going to work at in Indiana, and it’s going to be great.” The owners like me, and hopefully they’ll trust me with my camera.
V: Well, hopefully they’ll pay you.
M: Yeah, you’re right.
V: That’s a big thing. But with my stuff, my photography is not really my job as much because I do it out of passion. I have a job that pays my bills, luckily. And I have a job that allows me to have several months off every year that I can do these kinds of things.
M: What do your students think of that?
V: Some think it’s pretty cool that I get to do the things I do, and then some really don’t care.
M: They’re just like, “Who’s this old fart? Alice Cooper?”
V: Kind of, yeah. Who’s she? [laughter]
M: [laughter] Who’s she? I like that.
V: Well, I drive a Mini Cooper, and I have a sticker on the back that says ‘Alice’ right above the Cooper. And I had a student come up and she said, why do you have an Alice sticker on your Cooper? And I was like, Think about it for a minute.
M: That’s what I wanted to name my car! My last car was a Mini Cooper, and I don’t know why, but I had a name in mind before I even got the car, and I was like, “I’m going to name my next car Monte. It’s going to be great.” And then I got a Mini Cooper. It was Monty the Mini Cooper. But now I look back on it and I’m so upset with myself, I didn’t name him Alice.
V: Well, I always put an ‘Alice’ on.
M: No matter what car?
V: Well, no, I always have a Mini. Well, I’ve had a Mini for probably the last 15 years or something like that.
M: Okay. Yeah, I can’t really do that with my Kia Soul.
V: Yeah, well, I have one of those, too.
M: Really? Oh, my gosh.
V: Really!
M: We’re the same person! Wow.
V: We’ll have to put a De La Soul on there.
M: I like that. Do you name your cars?
V: No.
M: What the heck? Come on.
V: I name my dog.
M: Well, I mean, that’s kind of like a given, of course. You can’t just be like, “Hey, dog.” it’s, “Hey, Stanley! Stan the man!” One more and then I’ll get out of your hair.
V: Okay.
M: So what type of editing software do you prefer to use for your completed photographs?
V: I use Photoshop all the time. I use Lightroom very sparingly.
M: Okay. I’ve used Lightroom, but not Photoshop for my pictures. What’s different about it that you like more?
V: Lightroom is like Photoshop lite. It does some of the stuff, and it has a lot of little preset buttons and things like that, and I don’t like those. I tend to do everything manually, and Photoshop lets you have total control over it, so I tend to like that a little bit better. I think Lightroom is adding a lot more of those things, and probably they’re in there. I just don’t know it well enough to know where to make all those adjustments. And Photoshop. I’ve been using gosh for about 30 years.
M: Oh, my gosh. You’ve been through all those updates! [laughter]
V: [laughter] Yeah, I started using it when it first came out, pretty much, so I just know it well enough. I like to stick with it, and it does everything.
M: You know it like the back of your hand! You’re like, “Oh yeah, that one button in Photoshop, the one that does this? Yeah. You’re using it wrong.”
V: Well, it’s rarely one button. It’s usually the combo of buttons.
M: Right. I’ve only used Photoshop once and it made me want to rip my hair out. So maybe I’m just clicking the buttons wrong.
V: Well, it’s got a lot of buttons. It’s one of those programs that even though I’ve been using it for as long as I have, I still find new things and new ways to combine different things. And the thing that I see, like beginning Photoshop users do, is they go to the filters and they click one filter and go, “Look at the magic I’ve done.” and everyone who uses Photoshop looks at it and says, “Oh, you clicked on this one filter.” and it’s not a very impressive thing at all.
M: Right.
V: But when you do something and you combine those different clicks, it’s like strumming a note on a guitar. Anybody can get one note, but it’s the combination of notes that makes a really cool song.
M: You can make it magic.
V: Yeah. And the same as with Photoshop, if you click the buttons in a certain order, it starts to turn into something special. And when somebody looks at it and goes, “Wow, how did you do this?” or, “What are these things that you’re combining here?”. I think it’s a lot more unique than if they look and they say, “Oh yeah, I know that filter.”.
M: Perfect. Okay, so I’ll let you get to the wife and get to Stanley. Thanks so much for taking time to do this interview.
V: You’re welcome. Nice talking to you.
M: It was nice getting to know you a little better! I hope I had some questions you haven’t heard before.
V: Always.
M: I hope to see you shooting around the Eastern states sometime!
V: Where are you? You said Ohio?
M: Yeah, up in Cleveland. Rock and roll capital, if you will.
V: I know, yeah.
M: Do you have anything to add for the readers of the Metal Pit?
V: I don’t think so.
M: Click the right buttons!
Click the image below, if you’d like to know anything more about Mr. Chalfant or just to keep up with him on the regular. Catch him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or even find his work in various books, magazines, or advertisements!
