Michael Ballard is a wedding photographer, a creative portrait photographer, a studio co-owner (with his partner), a partner to a model, a photo meetup organizer, a workshop leader, a podcaster, and a father to three children. “For the last year, since we got the studio, it's been nonstop camera, camera, camera, camera, camera. Sometimes when we're working, I'm not even taking pictures,” Michael says about his full plate of responsibilities. “When you turn your hobby and passion into your work, sometimes there's this burnout. But for me, it's my key to fun. It's my key to financial stability and also my key to community. It's all about photography and I love it. It doesn't really have any negative effect, you know, you just make time for other things where you can.” And making time for other things, he does. In addition to being a full-service photo studio, Cobalt Studios, the studio Michael co-owns with his partner, Rose, hosts Xbox 360 nights, potlucks, and co-working sessions for creatives. “I don't have coworkers. I don't get adult interaction every day,” explains Michael of the reasoning behind providing other types of events and programming at the studio. “We need that outlet too, so I'm really happy to be able to provide a place where people can come in.”
Behind the Camera: Michael Ballard
“I always loved photography,” Michael remembers. “As a kid, I never went anywhere. My world was small, I only got in a car to go to church on Sundays or a rare occasional family event. But I'd go to these Church camps and I would get two or three of the little Fujifilm point-and-shoot film cameras. I got like 72 shots total for my week and I remember valuing the shit out of every shot and I would try to make them count.”
Fast forward a bit and Michael says the sentiment was still the same. “Later in life, when a camera was put in my hand, I wasn't just clicking everything. I really cared about the quality of what I was photographing and I was very adamant about getting my shot,” recalls Michael. “I love traditional art. I used to paint when I was in high school. I remember in my senior year, it was the first year they had done a photography class. I learned Photoshop in that class. I think that knowing painting helped me figure out layers and composition more.”
“I had a pretty good idea of how to use the camera by the end of high school,” Michael proclaims. “As a teen, I liked shooting abandoned houses and my friends,” he continues, “then after school, I went off to live in my truck. I was traveling and my world got bigger. I would just take my time to get shots I liked. It was the same as at church camp, I just wanted to capture what I saw.” At this point in his life, Michael says that photography was just a hobby for him. “I was very young living in the back of my truck and I had a baby on the way,” Michael explains of the catalyst that made him think photography could potentially become more than a hobby. “I ended up being able to crash in someone's garage/on their couch for a little bit because I knew someone in Washington. But I was two states away from home and I needed money. So besides temp work, I turned to Craigslist and my camera to hustle. As it usually does for us photographers, it turned into a side gig.”
Michael says somewhere around this point in his life, he moved back to California. “People were asking, ‘Would you shoot my wedding?’,” remembers Michael. He says that it was a combination of a lack of experience and nerves that led him to turn down the first handful or so of weddings that people asked him to photograph.
“Finally, there was this really kind couple in Bakersfield, California that wanted me to photograph their wedding. They were very sweet and persuasive,” Michael reminisces. He said that he agreed to photograph their wedding for a hundred bucks. “I was expecting to fail a little bit, honestly, but they wanted me anyway. So I did it for dirt cheap,” Michael explains. “So I went to shoot this wedding in an art gallery. There were lights coming off the wall and facing back at the wall. Not an ideal lighting situation, but they fed me really well. I won't forget how well they fed me,” says Michael. “The wedding is over and I remember sitting with them at a Starbucks and one of the grooms started crying and saying, ‘Thank you, you got my memories and everything I wanted is right here.’ That became why I wanted to keep doing it,” recalls Michael. He says that the trust and this feedback from this couple made him reevaluate his previous stance on photographing weddings. “It was that need and starvation for money at first, but then it built into this side gig and then that turned into something that could maybe be full-time,” Michael says. “I pursued it because I knew that, even though, it's probably more work than working like a nine to five, honestly, I wouldn't be making someone else's money for them like I had been with the jobs I'd worked and I get to make my own schedule. And I get to be with my children most of the time.”
“I’ll have to look at my spreadsheet, but I've done close to, if not, 300 weddings now in my career,” says Michael. “And they've been of different traditions, different styles, and themes. I've had Gothic ones. I've had super bright and airy ones. I've had just about everything,” he continues. “So when I advertise my business, the Wedding Photographer Guy, I'm not looking for anything specific. I try to make it abundantly clear that what I bring is a laid-back vibe. I just want to support whatever they like and whatever the couple's vision is. I want my wedding work to represent that because people are not properly represented in the wedding world."
“The wedding industry and photography aren't even the same thing to me. That's a whole different beast,” says Michael of his approach to capturing unique and authentic weddings. “I think the wedding industry is really toxic. If I go to a bridal show, everything, for the most part, is copy-paste. I want to be at the farthest end of the show so that I’m the last impression you get while you're leaving. I take skulls and dark fabrics. Most people are probably like, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ But the people my booth appeals to aren’t just people who are dark and spooky, but anyone who feels like they don't want that cookie cutter crap. Not to be rude, but it's obvious that most people are faking their style because I did the same thing early in my career. I wore different colored shirts, I hid my tattoos, and I tried to be what the wedding industry wanted. I realized later that if I just represent myself and who I am, then people might be comfortable representing themselves, whoever they are. And it freshens them up.”
“I'm from California and when I moved up here with an ex, I spent all my time with my kids and it was really hard to branch out and meet people,” remembers Michael. “I'd made a couple of friends, but it was all through weddings. It was the couples that I would photograph for work,” Michael explains about connecting with couples that had just moved to Portland and were also looking for other people to hang out with. “And then life went on, life changed. I met Rose, she's from Colorado, and with her modeling and me doing photography, we kind of had this outlet to reach other creatives involved with the craft,” Michael says of how photography gave him a community that he hadn’t had before. “It just took off from there, we used photography and modeling and that scene to start making friends and meeting people. Once we started meeting other photographers, we gained a really beautiful community that we get to be a part of. And in my life, that's really important because I don't have a lot of support. And I can thank the camera for that.”
Michael says that having the studio has amplified his sense of community. “I always thought that to have a studio, I would have to build my reputation as an artist and then maybe from there, use that to open a studio,” explains Michael. “So I never really knew if a studio would happen. I thought at most maybe I could scrounge and save up and then get into some sort of cooperative or collaborative studio,” he continues. “Rose was doing modeling at an event at Cobalt and I went. The previous owner, Michaela, was there, and I'm pretty chatty, I guess,” says Michael. “I always figured if I opened a studio, I wanted to open one called Crimson Studios, and then I happened to be at a place called Cobalt Studios,” Michael mentioned the funny happenstance to the then-owner, Michaela Higginson. Michael says he then offered that if Michaela ever wanted to expand the studio or branch out into some sort of duo franchise, he would be seriously interested.
“So we ended up talking with her again and later she called us, and long story short, she was like, ‘I want to sell you guys the studio. I see what you're doing with the community. I want this to go somewhere where it's going to be taken care of. And I think that's you guys.’” At the time, Michael and Rose had already started hosting some meet-up events. “So sometimes things just happen and fall into place,” Michael says chuckling. “We were very lucky that we were offered the space. We don't have very much money. It was hard to scrounge up everything we needed, but we had most of it, and one friend helped us with the final little bit.” Michael’s love for the studio and what it brings to the creative community is obvious when he talks about it.
“Our bills are way higher than I've ever had bills before in my life, but it’s 100 percent worth it,” he says. “We work constantly. A lot of our time and focus goes into trying to get bookings in the studio and host workshops. It's a juggle every day with all of these different things we have to do. But then if a Friday comes along when we want to have a community party, we have a space and we get to see what feels like our family coming together and just talking about cameras and their experiences.”
“I'm not super shy, but until recently with the podcast, I was kind of shy,” Michael says of the podcast that he co-hosts and films at Cobalt. Michael said that the first episode he tried to set up was a bit chaotic. “We had a good number of us and I wanted to do a round table kind of thing where we all talk, but it was a little chaotic,” he explains. “We didn't go into it with a script or anything, we never do. But the first one was
chaotic and it never got edited or put out there,” Michael continues. “First of all, with the podcast the way that it is now, my hat goes off to Armand. He is doing so much work right now when it comes to the editing and whatnot,” Michael says. After the first episode, Michael says he and Armand talked about making the podcast a duo effort to hold each other accountable and simplify it. “With a group or a duo even, it's much easier to hold each other accountable. If I was trying to do it by myself, I'd probably skip a lot more or be like ‘I just can't do it.’ That still happens some weeks if one of us is busy, but usually, we set a day and we set lights up and film it.”
Michael says that the podcast had been something he had mentioned in his circle for a while that he thought would be cool. “We’ve just kind of been trying to grow it. It's great practice to be able to be on camera and talk because I'm pretty awkward. I'm getting a lot better from not thinking about it and just doing it and trying to build that confidence.” While Michael says that the podcast is helping him build confidence, he hopes there’s more for others that comes from it. “Same as with all the other things I've mentioned, I’m just hoping that people have something they could listen to and relate to, even if sometimes it's not the most informational,” Michael says. “That's all it's about to me. People could listen and be like, ‘Oh, I've experienced that, I'm not alone.’ I used to deal with so much stuff by myself and I’d wonder, ‘Is this normal?’ Or ‘Why does this keep happening?’ It’s those little experiences that I hope people can relate to.”
“When I started to get serious about photography, I was on Craigslist and I found a nice Canon 5D Mark II with a lens for a price I could afford and I took it and never changed,” says Michael of how he came to use the gear he does. “I had the 5D Mark II, then three, then four. I have limited funds, so I've collected all my Canon gear over time. Now I have the Canon R5 and I've got a lot of the same lenses I've had since the beginning,” proclaims Michael. “I have a Rokinon 14mm, the Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4, the Canon 85mm f/1.2, the Canon EF 100mm macro, the Canon EF 70mm - 200mm, and the RF 24mm - 105mm f/4. I shoot from far away most of the time, so the 70mm - 200mm and my 85mm f/1.2 are usually my go-to's. Since getting the studio though, I've been using the 24mm - 105mm a lot because I don't need to have such a low aperture in low-light situations. I have giant lights, so I use that lens all the time now.”
“In the studio, we have Profoto D2s,” says Michael of the giant lights that have given him more time with his 24mm - 105mm lens. “There are five of them. Three of them are 500-watt and two are thousand watts. And then the B1X, when it has a bulb, can be brought downstairs as well,” he continues. “I love the B1X strobe, but at the same time, I get worried when I have a limited amount of battery. It's like playing a video game with a timer, it is stressful. I probably just need to get out and play with it more and then I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get my shot,” Michael says in a self-reflective manner. “I'm really excited to mix Profotos into my wedding work. I've used the Godox AD200s. They're not super powerful, but they've gotten the job done for me. They’re lightweight, so I literally just pick up my stand and I can move it out over people on the dance floor and shoot. They’re so much fun. I'll do bulb mode and do creative stuff. I'll shoot them bare and try to just reflect them a lot if I’m shooting a reception in a white tent or a building with a white ceiling. If I'm out in a spot where it's just like in an open field, I'll either distance my lights or I'll put on some softboxes, octagons.”
Michael notes that a lot of the gear he currently uses is intentional because of its size or weight. “I've tried to downsize everything. I even have crappy stands because they're lightweight and I already have a huge bag that I carry,” explains Michael. “I have my camera equipment in a camera bag that I wear on my front when I go into a wedding and I have a big army store bag that I stuff all of my lighting gear and my extra batteries in that I wear on my back. I come in looking like a big old Bowser or something. Usually, I'll find a nice safe spot to put them down. A lot of times, if there's a DJ, I ask if I could put my stuff by them to limit the chance of someone sneaking in and stealing stuff. Where I originally started shooting, that was something you really had to look out for. I used to have a 100-400mm lens that went away at a wedding and so I'm a little paranoid now. I haven't had any problems with people trying to scope out my gear in Portland or any of the venues around here.”
“But now I'm just like, ‘Okay, how could I apply this big boy, 500-watt Profoto to weddings and group shots?’ There's such a different vibe,” proclaims Michael. “I've been spoiled by the studio a little bit at this point. I'm sure I'll want a second one and I'll be a bougie baby about it at some point,” Michael jokes. “To anyone who doesn't play with light on-site, I used to be so afraid to do it and it wasn't until the studio that I got excited and thrilled to play with lighting on-site. Some day when the studio is doing really well, I want to retire the old D2s and buy a new set for the studio. I want a power bank too or a trailer so I can plug them in outside and use the old ones for my own shoots. I just want to try new things, you know!”
“I am a Canon shooter. I love Canon, but I'm not particularly tied to anything. And if I ever changed, I don't think I'm drawn to anything in particular. I have friends that'll banter back and forth about which is better and why. But I've seen some really good stuff coming from Nikon, Fuji, and Sony. There are different aspects of each that I really like. But I'm just used to my Canon, you know. If I switched, maybe I would go to Sony, but I think that's just because I have more people in my ear about Sony.”
“When I was like 17, I was on Deviant Art or somewhere where it had a quote, ‘The amateur worries about gear, the professional worries about money, but the master only worries about lighting.’ Honestly, a lot of the time in my favorite artworks that I see from others, the artist has purposely done something to downgrade it. They've shot it on some shitty camera, and it's really grainy, or it's none of the things you save up thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to achieve. My favorite art that I see has nothing to do with that. I still look for crisp quality with most of what I do, obviously, because I do weddings. But at the end of the day, the tools are so good right now that if you know how to use them, you shouldn't be experiencing problems. I don't really think it matters too much. It's all about learning to use what you have. Like Dan Ostergen, he uses the 5d Mark III, which is pretty dated at this point, and he's not using some crazy L lenses but he is schooling the shit out of most of the people who I shoot around. His work is so impressive and it's all about his flow and how he uses the tools that he has.”
“Trial and error. That's it,” says Michael of how he’s learned most of what he knows about photography post that high school class. “I rarely would ever go and look something up unless it was very technical. I would usually try to dissect other photographs and then practice. Digital photography makes that very easy because you can just sit there and screw up all day until you get it. Occasionally, every blue moon, I would go look up something specific because I had an idea in mind, especially with flash later on. Like how do you make strobes look like dimly lit candlelight? So if I had the vision, I would go and try to find answers.”
“Workshops used to be a thing at Cobalt before, too. They had like the back-to-basics and some themed ones,” says Michael about Cobalt’s workshops they host regularly. “They started because a lot of people that were coming into the studio would have no idea what anything was. So Cobalt has workshops on everything from using the lights in the studio to using specific things like gels and then themes and things like that. We also realized that there wasn't too much education out there in Portland for people to learn how to use the studio, especially hands-on and in the space,” Michael proclaims. “And we want to see other people shooting in the studio. I want everyone to know how to use this stuff because I didn't really have that ability that often before owning Cobalt. I didn't have the understanding of how to use it and I wasn't confident enough to book a studio and go shoot there all the time. Our studio has no windows, no natural light. When we were getting into the space, my brain was telling me this was a problem. I remember thinking, how can we replace the garage door with glass panels or something to
bring natural light? I soon realized that it's so much better when you can close the door, blackout the space, and fully control your light and what a benefit that was. I want people to understand what we had and we wanted to make the option available for people to learn, especially because we also need clients for the studio. And then some odd months back, we took it outside too and started just doing themed workshops. We organize what's happening with the models, what the theme is, what the location is, and bring everyone together. We put a little ticket price on it as a workshop to make it viable to do these because it takes a lot of time."
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“Darchive started some odd months before, maybe even a year before we ever stepped in Cobalt,” says Michael of the meetup group he runs with Rose. “I remember the first conversation I had with the previous owner of Cobalt, we were talking about Darchive. Darchive meetups are meant to be and are big, free, collaborative events. We just wanted to do some sort of photo meetup. I remember going to a Portland Shooters and meeting Cody Keto, whom I love, and actually, it was like the first Portland Shooters that we went to at a studio that closed down in town. When we went, we met a lot of our really good friends who are core members of the community. Rose and I were already talking, I think we had already tried one meetup that was like us, two of our friends, and my son. We were like, this is fun, it's good enough. And then I just remember at one point pushing. After that, I don't know exactly when, but we had our monochrome meetup at the coast and we had a lot of people. I don't remember how many, but it was like 40 or something. It was a lot. I have a picture somewhere where I could count them.
We were kind of taken aback by the amount of people that came. Honestly, it was humbling because the one before it, like I said, we had just a couple of friends, literally four adults and my child, and we went to a subway. Then we had that, and it's like, ‘Oh, okay, this is possible.’ It was such a blast and the pictures were like surrealism and monochrome. I took a ladder and buried it into the sand a little bit. We did crazy stuff with the ladder and everyone looked so cool. We took over this whole section of the Oregon coast for a little while. And after that, I think people started paying a little more attention. And the community started growing really fast and I never expected it,” says Michael, “We've been taking time off because of the new baby, but yeah, we're coming up on the eighth Darchive now.”
Michael sees the Darchive meetups and the workshops as part of a larger plan to help create Portland as another creative hub on the West Coast. From his perspective, touring photo workshops largely land in Seattle and Los Angeles, but Michael hopes to add Portland in there as viable stop as well. “Darchive meetups are meant to be and are big, free, collaborative events. We really just want to see the community grow and create art,” Michael states about the workshops and Darchive meet-ups. “I was an artist first. I just want to create art and the money part makes it really hard, but that's life, right? At the end of the day, my favorite takeaway from everything that we do is being able to have a space and a place to have community come together. It's sad that we honestly can't host more because we're so busy all the time. All I want is for people to have a place to feel comfortable or something to listen to to feel understood or a place to go learn!”