Team Spotlight: Tarsey Anastos
ProMaster products are designed, marketed, and sold by camera enthusiasts. Everyone on our team is interested in photography and videography on some level. Some are featured in gallery shows, published in photobooks and magazines, while others are building a following on Instagram.
Tarsey Anastos, Business Relationship Manager for the Atlantic region, spoke with me about his work at ProMaster to help stores understand the brand, the importance of Halloween, and how the right lighting can make all the difference for your studio shot or Halloween decor.
1. What do you do here at ProMaster?
I am one of the three Business Relationship Managers (BRM) here at ProMaster on the sales team. I’ve been at PRO for a little over four years. I first came on board asProMaster’sCustomer and Product Support specialist, which I did for a couple of years, before transitioning into a sales role. Although my title changed, I still find that at the core my BRM responsibilities share the foundation in what I was first hired for: providing service to my customers, which are now the local camera stores that I support.
2. How did you get into photography?
It was an organic evolution at best. I didn’t have that defining “aha moment" that some have had, like seeing their first print come to life in a developing tray in a high school dark room. Photography was something that I tinkered with but didn’t pursue until my late 20s when I went to a small photography school in western Massachusetts and focused my efforts (see what I did there). After graduation I spent almost 20 years working in a commercial product photography studio in Connecticut. During that time, I also worked for a few years as a second shooter for a very talented wedding photographer based out of Wilton, CT.
3. What do you enjoy about photography?
Thinking of an idea and being like I'd really love to shoot this someday or if I ever see this, I'd love to take a photograph of it. Then finding that instance happening or setting up that perfect shot. When it comes to doing still life photography, I love how the lighting, gear, and technical knowledge come together to give you an end result. The process of getting the shot you have in mind is almost more fun than the result itself.
4. What’s your favorite photo memory?
Back in my studio days we were shooting pastries and desserts for a well-known grocery company. We would do the photographs on the side of the boxes, like a piece of cake cut out and put on the plate. We would photograph that perfect little piece of cake. They would send us dozens and dozens of cakes, and we’d cut the perfect slices for the best top and the best side, then Frankenstein everything together in Photoshop. When we were done, we’d eat all the leftover cakes.
One time we had to do cinnamon rolls. We spent all day finding the best cinnamon roll, styling it, getting the photo, and retouching it. We sent it off to the person at the agency and considered our job done. We got the perfect, single shot of the cinnamon roll. We immediately started devouring all the leftover cinnamon rolls.
Then we get an email back saying oh no, we want all six cinnamon rolls together on the tray, it’s not like the usual shot of one product. And we're like, oh my God. So we had to go back and just start piecing together pieces that we had leftover and put them all together back in this one tray. Everything was half-eaten at that point. It was literally like, spit that out, put that down, stop eating! It was an awful, awful experience, but we somehow pulled it all together and made it look like one cohesive tray of cinnamon rolls. That was a memorable photograph experience.
5. How would you define your style of photography?
I never really thought of having a photography style before, but I’d say my style is utilitarian. The style of photography I honed my skills on was dependent on the products being shot and what the art director had in mind. So, the utilitarian aspect comes into play at that point and adapts to what I’m shooting. If I’m shooting a wedding, product shots, birds, my kids playing sports, or mountain bike races (my absolute favorite thing to shoot) my style changes accordingly from one subject to another. Lately, though, my favorite photos are the ones that spontaneously present themselves.
6. Who is a professional photographer you admire?
George Hurrell. His photography captures a lost era of Hollywood. I’m not a movie buff, but imagining his whole process: seeing the personalities he had to photograph at that point, the style that he created, and the equipment he used - giant hot lights and an 8 by 10 film camera. His studio was a theater out in Los Angeles that he purchased. He'd have his subjects up on the stage, lights in the balcony shining down on them. He’d use these really hot lights to create high contrast and at the same time you have really soft shadows. It wasn't just the person he was photographing, it was the shadows and how his subject matter played off the shadows or the shadows played off the subject matter. He had a really interesting feel and aesthetic to his photographs. A lot of people now try to emulate that style, but there's a certain uniqueness to George Hurrell’s photography that we haven't seen from anybody else.
7. What do you shoot on?
My camera at home is a Nikon D750. It's a tank of a camera, gets beat up and it keeps on going. I was shooting a mountain bike race a couple weeks ago and it was literally just pouring rain the whole time. There was mud everywhere and mud all over the camera. But, you know, it looked like it was having fun. My go-to lens at all times is 70 to 200mm. I just like that nice compressed feel to it. And then I’ll also throw on a macro lens - it’s a lot of fun as well.
8. What are your favorite ProMaster products?
My happy place is in a studio setting working with lights, stands, and various grip equipment. If we are talking stands, I would have loved to have our 5 and a half foot C-Stand at my disposal back in the studio days. It would have made life so much easier when trying to rig lights down low!
As far as lights go, I really like our Chroma CL36RGB light. I’m going to use the word again, it's very utilitarian. The fact that its RGB and has special effects built into it make it a fun light and great for things outside of the world of photography as well. My favorite use for it, though, is during Halloween. I own a few of them and I’ll place them in the windows in our house using the lightning effect. It looks really cool when combined with the fog machines along with the menagerie of all the other decorations we have going on!
9. Why does ProMaster make the difference?
In the local camera stores, it’s the philosophy that ProMaster products and the services they provide make the difference to their customers. ProMaster products are well thought out and are products that people need. The stores know that ProMaster products aren’t just shiny and new, they are good, solid products that they can present to their customers feeling confident that you know this is going to do what you need and this is going to make your photography journey fun.
10. Lastly, tell me a little bit about yourself:
Without a doubt, Halloween is the best holiday in the world. It's just fun. There's nothing tied to it except for fun. When I was looking at houses, I took into consideration whether the neighborhood would be good for Halloween. That’s how serious I take Halloween.
