HAPPY MEMBER MONDAY!

THIS WEEK WE INTERVIEWED AN INSPIRING AND AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER

ELLA

DeGea

Tell me about yourself?

“Although most people know me as being Canadian, I was actually born in Annecy, France on November 17, 1993. Talk about the best food and nice scenery! When I was 6 years old, I moved to St Barths in the Caribbean for a year and then back to France. Finally, in 2001, my family and I moved to Victoria, BC Canada, seriously the best place on earth, where I’ve lived since aside from California! I grew up riding horses and by age 16, I was at the barn almost every day. I moved to Ventura, California in 2014 to start my undergrad in photography at Brooks Institute of Photography. This landed me in LA over a year ago with a Bachelors degree in Photography and I am now working freelance in the photo industry.”

— Ella

How did you get started in photography?

“I started competing in show jumpers in my mid teens and everyone would talk about getting good horse show photos. I thought it would be fun to get photos of all my riding friends and their horses so I started shooting like crazy and loved it. I got to combine two of my favorite things and I realized if I couldn’t work with horses as a living, I could do the next best thing.”

— Ella

How did you find out about TGS?

“I found out about TGS through one of my best friends Daniel Brittain who is also a part of the collective. I looked it up and found a couple more people I knew who followed/were a part of it.”

— Ella

Why’d you join?

“I joined TGS because I loved everything that it stood for. No judgments or stereotypes and a bunch of really awesome creatives who wanted to work together and help each other get better. It also had a lot of opportunity for networking and meeting new friends.”

— Ella

Where do you get your inspiration?

“It kind of depends on how I’m feeling. I definitely look at other photographer’s work or for inspiration when I’m running out of ideas on a technical level. I also love Pinterest for creative ideas and mood boards. In terms of motivation, my close friends and family are definitely my biggest inspiration. Surrounding yourself with people who are passionate about what they do and want to help you to always be better is crazy important”

— Ella

Most interesting story revolving around photography?

“Other than cool shooting experiences, I haven’t had anything too crazy happen to me. On one shoot though one of my best friends and fellow photographer, Liz Grady, was assisting me on a shoot at the beach and accidentally stepped into a still burning fire pit. Let’s just say the shoot was over and we ended up in the ER with a burned foot!”

— Ella

What’s your favorite way to get out of a creative rut?

“Honestly, going horseback riding or being around horses is my favorite way of getting out of any rut. It’s the first thing I fell in love with and I definitely start to lose myself a little bit when I haven’t been around them in awhile. It helps me reset and remember what is good in life. I can always think freely and that’s when I start to get my ideas flowing.”

— Ella

Do you have other creative friends you like to meet up and brainstorm with?

“Sometimes it’s a matter of meeting new people who have fresh ideas. In terms of my close creative friends, Daniel Brittain and Julana Dizon from TGS are two I really like to meet up with as we all feed off of each other and they have been super involved with helping me better my work. Julana and I both want to get into the same market so we work together to try and both get into it. Alex Morehouse recently has also been a huge inspiration and giving me good ideas about how to keep creating and pushing to be shooting full time. But all in all, meeting with anyone in the industry is great to get ideas. ”

— Ella

Random stuff about you?

“I love horses, but that’s obvious. It’s rare that I don’t have dessert because dessert is life. I also love all animals but mainly my dog Mishka because she’s my life! I always get a variety of drinks at restaurants like water, tea and whatever else I’m feeling. I love the outdoors but I need a little push to get out there. I apologize for things a lot, but that’s about it!”

— Ella