As a teacher and educator, Jim Sugar has produced videos for Lynda.com , taught a series of national workshops on photographic lighting and taught at Photography at the Summit, Nikon Sports Photographer’s Workshop and the NPPA Flying Short Course.

He is fluent in French, holds a Commercial Pilot’s license with instrument, multi-engine and seaplane ratings and scuba dives, when necessary, to make photos.

When did you first realize your inclination towards photography and how did you train yourself in this field?
I knew that I had a “good eye” from the time I picked up a camera for the first time in high school.  Once I started shooting “with intention” in college and got paid for my first serious effort ($75. From the New York Times Book Review), I was on my way.  Although I was a student first and a photographer second in college, I always seemed to get a positive response to shooting photographs.  Just got lucky to find a skill and a craft at such an early age.

You got your first break as a summer intern with National Geographic Magazine (not Channel—that is the television division). How did it help shape your future?
I spent the summer between my junior and senior year in college shooting a story on Liechtenstein in Europe.  My father thought I was nuts—to go through all that trouble and expense without a guaranteed assignment.  However, I submitted those photos to National Geographic and got hired as a summer intern the following year.

I graduated from college on a Sunday and started work for the Geographic on the following Monday.  I was totally terrified that the Geographic would find out that I was a phony and did not have the skills to work for them.  Two weeks later my boss, Bob Gilka, sent me to Iceland where I spent the rest of the summer.  Again, I used the energy from the terror to work all the time and basically not sleep.  The Geographic published the Iceland article a year later.

You have shot for more than 50 magazine covers and worked for some of the biggest commercial clients in the business. Which has been your favorite till now and why?
My favorite assignment was photographing the America’s Sunset Book for the National Geographic Special Publications Division.  I worked with a great editor, Bill Allen, who later became the editor for National Geographic Magazine. At my request, I lived in a converted Volkswagen Bus for a year.  No motels.  No rental cars.  No planes.  Just me and the VW bus plus some cameras and film.

“Photography for me has always been a process of continuing on the job training. I often pick a subject or an area, and in the process of learning about the subject, also learn the photographic skills to make it happen.”

Bill & I decided at the start of the assignment that if I could not see, smell, or hear the Pacific Ocean, I was too far inland.  The assignment covered the coast of Washington, Oregon and California from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.  My girlfriend, now wife, travelled with me for much of the assignment.  A very romantic and productive time in my life.  I shot every day.  Every day.  As a result of the photos produced during that assignment, I won the National Press Photographer’s Association Magazine Photographer of the Year award.
 
You have worked in diverse fields like aviation, military and sports. Would you like to share any memorable incident during any of the shoots?
Photography for me has always been a process of continuing on the job training.  I often pick a subject or an area, and in the process of learning about the subject, also learn the photographic skills to make it happen.  For aviation photography, I spent a lot of time in Mojave, California to photograph the planes and the incredible crew at Scaled Composites.  I was lucky to find aviation designer Burt Rutan, perhaps the smartest person I have ever met.  By giving me access to him and his planes, Burt changed my life.  Shooting his aircraft taught me how to photograph dangerous, shiny, moving objects.

By comparison, now I am concentrating on understanding all kinds of light and lighting and mastering Photoshop. 

Your work has led you to travel to different corners of the world. What were the unexpected challenges you faced during these visits and how did you overcome them?
When you travel as much as I did, you go to a lot of lousy places.  It is not all fun and games.  When you get off an airplane, you are not going on vacation.  You are going to work.   At one time or another, I have gotten sick, gotten hurt, gotten homesick, gotten robbed, or just plain hated the people and places where I was working. 

I try to do my job first.  If I am lucky enough to have a good time and enjoy the people and the place, then that is a bonus.  But my first responsibility has always been to shoot great photos and do the best job possible.

Could you please tell us something about ‘Swimming in a Dream’?
For a long time, I was a runner—both to stay in shape and to keep “the crazies” under control.  When I stopped running, I discovered first swimming and then Masters Swimming.

“I don’t look back. I only look forward. Nobody—your family, your friends, your clients-- care what you did yesterday. Nobody. They only care about what you are going to do for them today or tomorrow.”

About a year ago, I joined a new Masters Swimming group in my county in northern California and also had the chance to use a Nikon D3s camera, which shoots video.  Because I was looking for a story to tell on video and also to use the Nikon camera in video mode, the idea for Swimming in a Dream erupted inside my head during one early morning swim.  After getting permission from the swim coaches to shoot the video, I assembled a great local crew to produce the video.  We shot for 7 mornings and then spent about 100 man hours editing the film down to 06:20.  To date, the film has been shown in 4 film festivals and won two awards. 

Here is the URL for the film: http://www.vimeo.com/12799238.  Presently I am working on another idea that also popped into my head.

You have won several awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Aviation Space Writers Association, the White House News Photographers Association and the World Press Photo Contest. How does it feel to have achieved so much in life?
I don’t look back.  I only look forward.  Nobody—your family, your friends, your clients--  care what you did yesterday.  Nobody.  They only care about what you are going to do for them today or tomorrow.  Each day is a challenge.  The days are full.  Fear of failure is a constant companion.  Each day, I am convinced that someone will figure out that I am a phony or a bum.  I work hard to keep that prophecy from becoming a reality.

If you could turn back time, what is the one thing you would like to change in your life and why?
Again, I don’t look back in life.  I don’t live my life looking in a rear-view mirror.  I try not to second guess myself about what-might-have-been.  That is counter-productive.  Instead, I try to guard my health and make sure that I can continue to shoot.  Working with a camera in my hand and continuing to shoot excites me now more than ever.  I have no intention of stopping.  (Probably not the answer you were expecting, but that’s the truth.)

You conceived, produced, and participated in a national seminar on digital imaging for Macintosh computers which visited 34 U.S. cities, five foreign countries, and was attended by more than 4,000 photographers and designers. Could you share your experiences with us?
I got a chance to work with two great photographers, Dean Collins and Brian Lawler.  The tour also forced me to learn Photoshop while the software was still at a primitive stage. Working on that tour taught me a lot about cameras, about computers, and about public speaking.

“The cream always rises to the top. Great photographers find a way to get a camera in their hands and make great photographs just by force of their personality and their intention.”

There are a number of budding photographers who are still paving their way to success. Would you like to convey any message to them?
The cream always rises to the top.  Great photographers find a way to get a camera in their hands and make great photographs just by force of their personality and their intention.  On the other hand, I try not to have any secrets.  Great photographers will find the answers to their questions and problems, one way or another.  I believe in the adage:  What goes around, comes around.  If I can help someone find their way, that positive karma will return positive energy to me in ways that I could never imagine.    

	Quick8: Your Favourite Camera: Nikon D3s Your Favourite Printer: Epson Stylus Photo R2000 Ink Jet Printer Your Favourite Shoot: America’s Sunset Coast Book for National Geographic Your Preferred Location: the coast of California & Provence (France)—very similar Favourite Photographer: the Great Greg Heisler Most memorable story: Life Magazine:  Yankee Papa 13, by Larry Burrows & The Panic in Needle Park by Bill Eppridge.  After seeing those two stories, I decided to become a photographer.  They changed my life. Current photographers you like: Greg Heisler, Don McCullin, Jim Stanfield, David Alan Harvey, Sam Abell, Deanne Fitzmaurice, Carol Guzy, David Burnett, Roger Ressmeyer, Kim Komenich, Nick Nichols, Frans Lanting, Joel Sartore.  Give any of these people a camera, an assignment, and then just get out of the way.  They will always come back with great images and surprise you in the process. Toughest day at work: the day I got sick on Roratonga in the Cook Islands and nearly came home in a pine box.

More Photos by Jim Sugar / Fotosocial

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