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Interview with Erik Clausen (aka Poser)
 How long have you been a full-time wedding photographer?
I have been a full time wedding photographer since January 1, 2007. I actually began advertising in March '07, I think. I did family portraits for about a year and a half before that. I picked up a camera for the first time in June of 05. I had no idea how to use it but I must have shot a billion frames in that first year learning.
How would you describe your particular style of wedding photography?
Argh. I hate this question! I really don’t want to put a label on what I do because all I really do is shoot what looks good to me. Sometimes I may take a PJ approach, sometimes I pose the bride from head to toe (thus the name Poser :)). Sometimes there’s a little of both. I do tend to lean mostly toward a dramatic, emotive feel in my images. I am always on the lookout for the 'epic' image. And, for some reason, I am finding out recently that I shoot landscape about 95% of the time.
Describe your favorite type of client.
Rich and beautiful. :)
Seriously. No really.
OK, that’s pretty bad (true).
My favorite client is one that completely trusts me. Sometimes I will ask them to do some strange things in some strange places.
What’s the current cost of gas in Dallas?
$4.20 for premium.
How did you come up with your Poser branding? How’s it working out for you?
I was getting tired of every client sitting on my couch saying that they didn’t want "posed" pictures and then having to explain that I "pose" most of what they see on my web site. It’s not poses that are bad, just bad poses. I started out as Paparazzi Pictures due mostly to the fact that I was too scared to get close and direct my clients and hid under the guise of photojournalism. The more I learned and the more confident I got at delivering good images consistently, the more I found that I was interacting with the client, telling them to look this way or that, placing them in certain light, etc., or posing them. Combine that with the fact that if you didn’t spell the website exactly right, you ended up at a porn site; I decided it was time to rebrand. So I bounced around some ideas. I wanted something that reflected the out of the box, in your face kind of photography I shot. I eventually landed on Poser because I thought it perfectly reflected the style of photography I employ, as well as the against the grain personality I have. And since it is always in fashion to be out of fashion, I thought that instead of pretending to be a PJ'er and then telling my clients behind closed doors that "I actually do pose clients, shhhhh", I would boldly BEAPOSER.
Name your top 3 wedding photographers worldwide. What do you like most about their work?
I don’t have a top three, really. But here are three of my faves:
Justin Demers - Stylistically, the dude is the Versace of wedding photography. His creativity freaks me out.
Ben Chrisman - I’ve recently been turned on to his work. He rocks my socks off.
Huy Nguyen - The best PJer I have ever heard of. The first photographer I ever drooled over.
If you weren’t a wedding photographer, what would you be? Starving artist or corporate slave (or something in between)?
I suppose I would have been a pro baseball player. But then again, that’s not a job that you can just choose to do, right?
I probably would have ended up being a sports journalist or statistician. Definitely something in the field of sports. I have a very healthy appreciation (obsession) for sports of all kind.
What’s your favorite current television show?
Texas Rangers baseball! I really only watch three things on TV: sports, Seinfeld reruns, and So You Think You Can Dance with my wife. OK, I also REALLY like What Not to Wear.
But I will say that my favorite TV show of all time is Northern Exposure.
About how much money have you invested in your iTunes library?
The good Lord only knows. Not as much as others but more than most probably because I will not take burned CDs from people.
Who / what are you listening to most these days?
Number 1, 2 and 3 is Ray LaMontagne. I can’t bring myself to listen to anything else right now.
Outside of him, other faves are Without Gravity, Andrew Bird, Amos Lee, Page France, Joshua James, Jon Foreman’s recent EPs, Jeff Buckley, and Denison Witmer.
How do you deal with the insanity of the busy summer season?
It’s really not all that busy here. I am in Texas and it’s way busier in the spring and fall, at least for me. I think the 4000 degree weather might be a deterrent. But I could be wrong.
What have you found to be your most effective forms of advertising and marketing?
Note: If you don’t mention photographik, nobody will ever read this interview. Seriously.
OK, I hope the way that question was worded is in the interview when it’s online ;-) Seriously though, my front page placement on photographik has given me a web presence recently that has been awesome. I am getting so much more traffic to my site and booking more clients as a result.
But the most effective advertising there is is word of mouth. You can’t beat a good referral. Your testimony is as good as gold.
Coffee or cocktails?
Depends. I am not partial one way or the other. If that’s a cop out, sue me ;)
And finally, what do you do for fun when you’re not shooting people for a living?
The thing I look forward to every week more than anything is date night with my lovely wife, Destiny. We usually go out to eat sushi or Tex Mex. I love to tickle my three kids almost as much. That’s it. Date night and tickling. Yep, a better day cannot be contrived.
See more of Poser's work at beaposer.com
DISCLAIMER : The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent the views of photographik or any member of the photographik organization.
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