Photographing DAN

Breathwork has significantly changed my life and has inspired me to help others through the many different techniques out there. Motivated to expand my knowledge of these techniques I participated in a “Breath Mastery” retreat in Baja, Mexico, in February of 2021, with Dan Brule.

Dan is a pioneer in the breath work world and has been sharing his amazing teachings for over 45 years.

I was very fortunate to have him agree to do an interview with me. 

By the end of the three week retreat I had done portrait sessions with a number of the other students. After showing the images to Anastasia, Dan’s partner, they were interested in doing a series of portraits with me

A portrait story is similar to what you would see in major magazines of celebrities. It is similar to a fashion story but involves a series of portraits. Photographing people has always been one of my favorite things to do. I love finding and creating moments that say more about the person. Studio and environmental portraiture have been my specialty.

When photographing people with a simple background, it's all about them and a great expression of emotion, an expression that says more about them. It has to be something that makes a viewer stop. I like to say “a moment that expresses and/or shows their personality in one moment.” Visual poetry.

I had left NYC about a year before it hit the states. I was happy to. One reason I moved back south from New York City was that I didn't really feel like working in “the industry” was all that great. I felt like the main character from the recent Pixar film SOUL… after he made it to what he thought was his purpose, he didn't feel any different. 

I had a billboard (when living in Los Angeles), was on a reality show (also in Los Angeles), photographed and worked with some of the top brands and magazines  but it never made me feel complete. I guess it only made me question more about life. I started to question what I really wanted.

I knew one thing, I wanted to continue learning and developing myself as an effective human being in the world. I had developed all these skills from photographing for major brands, but what was next? 

I actually had the idea for a long time that I wanted to photograph and learn from some of the most life changing people in the world. People who are doing things of significance in helping people become better in whatever way needed, like expanding consciousness and becoming a high performance individual. Spiritual Teachers are good at this. 

I thought why not take this style of editorial fashion stories used by major brands and apply it to these spiritual teachers. 

Now I find myself in Baja Mexico training under one of the top breath teachers in the world. 

This was a camping trip so I had no light equipment. I had to go with all natural light, which is fine, if you have an eye for it and understand the nature of light.

I’ve learned to love shooting with natural light. When we have strobes and other lighting equipment we can add a lot to the situation. We can add light to dark areas or use the sunlight combined with the strobe as a fill light. We can get some amazing stuff with strobes. It's just a bit of a different mental process. I am all about taking things as they come. Actually, the simplicity of it is extremely freeing. More gadgets is just more distractions, more pieces of equipment which means more organizing. Now I'm trying to photograph and film the process so I’m dealing with not only framing the subject but also me and the subject.

Luckily for the black and white photos of Dan with the white background I had found a white wall in the sanctuary which had some large windows at a decent angle to it. I angled Dan to where the light was just a little directional, so there is a little shade on the left (camera left) side of his face.

,

I like to call this “Avedon Style,” and it is one of my favorite ways to shoot. This style was made famous by one of the greatest portrait and fashion photographers of all time, Richard Avedon. It's very classic and minimalist in equipment and visually, with no distracting background to worry about. Just you (the photographer) your camera, the subject, and his personality, oh and the quality of light. 

At this point we had been talking for at least 45 minutes, so I quickly ran through a few classic simple things that are routine for me. Turn right turn left. Tell them to give me a “fake smile,” which turns out to be really funny because the subject's reaction is usually a real smile.. It’s tricks like that that separate the good photographers from the great. The more prestigious the subject the more restricted time you have, which really kills many of the chances for authentic laughing and fun photos, they end up being faked, but if it works it works. The good thing about photography is there is no sound, you can get only one great shot and no one needs to see the rest or hear your bad jokes.

One of the breaths I saw Dan do the most here was a sigh of relief. It is an exaggeration of what we want to do on a subtle level, on the cellular level. We don't really want to see people doing sighs of relief all the time. But it is really good for a certain level of relaxation. The relaxation we want to feel deep down. All the tensions and stresses in the body are the traumas, anxieties, repressed emotions and sometimes the resistance to the way things are.

If you have been following me for a while you may know that I photographed people in this white background style for years in NYC. I studied all types of people and just honed in my skills of working with people and using natural light to the best of my ability. I'm usually looking for a large source of light for a nice soft shadow. Open shade works really well.

When it comes to keeping a cohesive style, I was very fortunate to have those large windows at the angle they were and a white wall.

The first shot I did when we stepped out of the sanctuary was him standing in front of it with the sun directly shining down on him. I moved quickly and got him to stand there in a state of accomplishment and gratitude. I actually told him to just enjoy feeling the sun on his face. I think it worked out well. 

During the breath retreat I had seen him working in different gardens from time to time. I wanted to just grab shots of him then but I didn’t. I didn't want to overwhelm him with the camera. I think we all know and understand how uncomfortable it can be to always have a camera pointed at us. Something it helps to be very aware of as a photographer. If you are a developing photographer and you have not realized it, you will find out soon enough.

I still wanted to get a good shot of him working in one of the gardens and we ended up walking by this perfectly shaded spot. There was a thin sheet hanging over these plants diffusing the light, and it worked great for this shot. I like to use objects in the foreground to give the photo some fullness. It just shows more going on, there is more depth to the image. I just asked him to kneel down and work  and as he was working I noticed the light was brighter coming from the camera left.

So I asked him to look over his shoulder. This is something I use a lot in photography, especially when adjusting to the situation. We have to remember that the viewer’s eyes will always be drawn to the sharpest and the brightest points. To make more interesting images we have to give the viewer more to look at. A visual landscape. Some blurry accents here and there caressing your eye as it focuses on the sharper aspects. 

He and Anastasia invited me to their home where Dan wanted to play the guitar. I'm a big music fan as well and used to play the guitar before deciding I had too many different hobbies. I have developed a deep appreciation for it, and consider getting back into it all the time. It is quite the art.

He happened to start playing a song about being in the movies which was very fitting. “Act Naturally” originally by Buck Owens, covered by the Beatles and Ringo Star, and now Dan Brule!!!

 He may not be extremely well known in the Hollywood circles but to me he is a celebrity. The modern breathwork teachers are my heroes and, to me, Dan is the biggest star to me, and his version of “Act Naturally” is better than the Beatles. I think. Check out the video of the portrait session below and make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and share it. 

This shot was done with natural window light. Window light truly is some of the best light. It is usually soft, and when indoors it provides a similar look to a softbox. We also had a ring light off to the left (camera left) filling in the shadows. I adjusted it on a lower setting so it would not overpower the shadows.

This whole shoot was a dream of mine and a stress I was holding the whole time during the retreat. The whole time I had been wondering if I would be able to interview Dan and photograph him… and it worked out. I did a private breathwork session with him, interviewed and photographed him all in one day. It’s funny how these things work out sometimes.