Conversations with Steve Pillberg

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Pillberg.

Steve, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I can recall going to an art museum with the school as a kid. They had an exhibit of local photographers who won a contest, and it had their work displayed. Here we are, collectively looking at these pictures by unknown photographers as if they were paintings by famous artists.

That’s the first time I realized your love for taking pictures can be appreciated. From there I took classes, read books, but being everywhere with a camera and taking pictures of everything is what really made me eventually go from basic to taking it to the next levels. I had friends who were already in the profession, so I would shadow them on their jobs sometimes or pick their brains on why they chose certain angles or certain cameras. The pandemic of 2020 is where I saw myself just like so many others saw faced with new realities and questions of directions of where to go from here.

While everyone was confined to their homes, my way of coping saw was to take rare pictures of things or areas that would normally be too crowded to shoot or normal days and that quickly turned into me taking pictures of people for practice to current day traveling to different cities as a profession. It was always a passion but I’m glad I took the steps needed to make something I love a career.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t a smooth road. I ran into obstacles at first like not having a place to shoot models, or people not trusting me to take pictures of them. My biggest obstacle at first was editing and understanding the differences between jpeg and raw files.

So, I took about a year of studying different techniques and as they say, practice makes perfect (laughs). No, I wouldn’t say I’m perfect, but I definitely have better respect and understanding of it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a photographer/filmmaker who’s part of the photography & film departments of the media collective ACEFAM (A Classic Era For All Media). I’m most proud of the growth that I’ve achieved and for not being afraid to let my passion be free.

What sets me apart from others is my editing style and my angles.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The most interesting lesson I learned due to the crisis is to not let anything get in the way of your dreams and to use your time valuably.

I’m a glass-half-full kind of person and to know that one day the clouds will clear & the sun will shine motivates me to know that knowledge gained in these times will be useful when we’re back to some sort of normal.

Pricing:

• $100hr on location (includes 6 edited pics & BTS footage).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/acefamphotography

Image Credits
Steve Pillberg ©ACEFAM Photography