Customer Spotlight: Lesley Martin

Lesley Martin is a travel and documentary photographer based out of Austin, Texas and San Jose, California. Lesley is also an instructor and contributor for Clickin Moms, currently working on a project titled "The World Beyond Your Front Door". She has been wonderful and loyal customer of Precision Camera for years, so we wanted to share her beautiful work with everyone! You can find more of her work on her instagram page at @LesMarti1.

What sparked your interest in photography? Capturing the intricate details of the brilliantly colored fall leaves in the Midwest started me down a road with no U turn. I would say that the camera provided me with a twist on my own perspective of the world. Ironically, this has inspired me to capture what I experience instead of what I see.

How long have you been shooting? Will this give away my age? I have been shooting for a decade. Each day of shooting reminds me why I love what I do.

Who are some of your biggest inspirations for your work? Geez, Because my work encompasses so many different genres of photography, I am inspired by many different photographers. Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Steve McCurry, Sebastiao Salgado, Marco Secchi to name a few.

Photography is powerful which makes me think of this quote, "You know sometimes when you have something and you want to shout and you can't and there's no one around to hear you. I want to use photography to not be voiceless again." ~ FARINA WAHIDY In a world with little hope for a future the camera gave her a tool which not only changed her life as well as others, it gave her a more purposeful life.

Inspiration for my work is derived from all of my experiences both at home and on the road. Which leads me to a quote, "To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life." ~ Walter Mitty. Which is one of my favorite movies and a must see.

An image that makes you hurt, cry, scared, scream, sweat, gasp, cringe, pause, go silent, remember, close your eyes, have goosebumps, tells a story, impacts others, creates change, experience something new , encourages humanity, brings people closer, sigh, smell, hear, taste, feel, smile, laugh and love is what inspires me.

What was one of your weirdest moments as a photographer?

I guess I would say the awkwardness of what one goes through to get the photograph in the moment happens more than I would like to say. Murphy’s Law comes to mind for these two experiences.

'I was diving, keeping my buoyancy and trying to compose an image, all while my weight belt was kind enough to bring me down right on top of a tall piece of fire coral, which helped produced quite a shocking image. Needless to say that was quite an awkward and rememberable moment to say the least.’

I was at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris France with a fellow photographer. The police approached us with their SIG SG 2022’s visibly in view. They started in a conversation in french, I was quickly able to assess that it was not a friendly conversation. Personally, I was more than ready to just pack up and get the heck out of there. Right after I kindly said "Thanks and Goodbye”

My friend who was well versed in both languages as well as in the laws regarding photography in Paris, kept sparring with the officer. Minutes which felt like hours went by all while I stood there clueless of what was going on. FINALLY! She let me know that the rubber on the bottom of the tripod could not touch the ground where we were. Even though the rubber on our shoes was just fine.

*If you have to rely on a tripod all the time for the perfect image you will miss your opportunity!

What have you learned about photography that came as a surprise to you the more you became invested in it?

The realization that Photography is a never ending learning process that is always rewarding if you put in the time. As well as there are many different ways to end up with the same capture so, take the time to figure out which way works best for you.

If you could give one, single most important piece of advice to a novice photographer, what would that be?

Take one image of something new each day in Program Mode. Review the settings from the first image and retake the same image in Manual Mode. That five minutes of your day will support your growth more than anything else you can do.

What is your favorite thing you have purchased from Precision Camera? The one I seriously wanted to "HATE". After a year of being told "I'd so love it" by Robert Backman, I pulled the trigger and bought it. I did not use it it until I completed my first leg to Santiago, Chile in the DFW airport. I wanted to find a reason to return it and prove it was not up to par. So, I left my beloved Nikon at home and set off to experience my first adventure in the world of Mirrorless. My Fuji XT-1 from almost the first image gave me grief by delivering quite a large high dynamic range image straight out of the camera. Then there is the light weight and portability aspect that began to grow on me. So much so that I can count the days on my hand that it has not been used since day one. I will say though, I still love my Nikon it just has a junior that accompanies it most of the time. Gee Thanks Robert!

If you could only have one camera and one lens, what would you choose?

Not possible! Well maybe, As much as it pains me, I think I'd have to say the Fuji XT-1 with the 56 1.2. Why? Its simple now that I think about it, this little camera is a perfect tool for just about any shooting situation that I come across. I now carry my XT-1 everywhere I go and I mean everywhere!

Regarding the glass, the Fuji 56 1.2, it is a great light walk around lens with excellent bokeh and it is as sharp as a tack.

If you could come up with one dream piece of equipment, what would it be?

An unbreakable telephoto lens (10mm - 600mm 1.2) straight through with excellent bokeh, image stabilization, dust, water and sand resistant, tack sharp and last but not least light weight. Also it would mount on both Fuji as well as a Nikon. Bam! I know but, a gal can dream right!