About Tony

Photographer. Creative. Professional Coffee Consumer.

I'm Tony Gist, the photographer behind Coldbrewed Creative.

I've spent most of my life with some kind of camera in my hands. Professionally, that has meant more than two decades working in television and video production. Personally, it has meant discovering that I really enjoy making photographs of people.

Not because I think everyone needs to look like a model. Quite the opposite.

I like personalities. I like imperfections. I like the moments when people stop worrying about the camera. And I really like hearing someone say, “Okay, this might sound weird…”

Those tend to be the fun ones.

How I Got Here

My interest in photography goes all the way back to the 1900s—as my kids like to call it.

I had cameras when I was younger and occasionally attempted to make photographs with them. I say attempted because owning a camera and knowing what you're doing with one are apparently two very different things.

One of my earliest adventures in photography involved being asked to photograph a baptism.

It did not go well.

Let's just say nobody was looking at those pictures afterward thinking, “This kid has a future in photography.”

Fortunately, cameras didn't give up on me.

I eventually found my way into television news as a videographer, which turned into a career in video production. Over the years I've worked as a videographer, cinematographer, editor, director, animator, voice-over artist and creative lead.

Cameras became a huge part of my professional life.

Still photography, however, mostly stayed in the background.

Then, when I was around 40, I decided to attend a local photography meetup.

I'm not entirely sure what I expected.

What I discovered was that I loved it.

There was something different about making a single image. No timeline. No thirty-second commercial. No sequence of shots that had to be edited together.

Just a person, an idea, some light and one frame that had to tell the story.

I was hooked.

Why Coldbrewed Creative?

At some point I realized that photography had become more than something I enjoyed doing.

I wanted to build something around it.

That's really where Coldbrewed Creative came from.

It started as a place for me to experiment, collaborate, try ridiculous ideas and make photographs simply because I thought they should exist. That part isn't changing. If anything, it's what I want to build on.

Every session helps me work toward a much bigger goal: creating a photography studio built around creativity rather than just four walls and a roll of seamless paper.

I want a space where I can build sets, experiment with lighting, create things that don't already exist and have the freedom to turn “I wonder if we could…” into “Let's find out.”

But I don't want that space to be just for me.

The goal is to eventually create a studio that other photographers, models, artists and creatives can use as well—a place with unique sets and environments where people can collaborate, experiment and make something they're excited about.

So when you book a session with Coldbrewed Creative, you're obviously getting photographs. Hopefully some really good ones.

But you're also helping build what's next.

More sets. More ideas. More opportunities to create.

And probably an unreasonable amount of coffee along the way.

If You Hate Having Your Picture Taken...

Perfect.

Well...maybe not perfect. But you're definitely not alone.

One of the things I hear constantly is:

“I'm terrible in pictures.”

I don't really believe that.

Most people simply aren't comfortable standing in front of a camera while someone tells them to act natural—which, when you think about it, is a pretty ridiculous thing to ask someone to do.

You don't need to know how to pose.

You don't need to practice a smile.

You don't need to know what to do with your hands.

Apparently none of us know what to do with our hands once a camera appears.

That's part of my job.

We'll talk. We'll laugh. I'll give you direction when you need it. We'll probably make a few terrible photographs along the way.

That's okay.

Sometimes the best photographs happen right after everyone stops trying so hard to make a good photograph.

The Professional Stuff

While Coldbrewed Creative is my creative outlet, cameras have also been part of my professional life for more than two decades.

I started my career in television news as a videographer and eventually moved into video production, where I've worked as a cinematographer, producer, director, editor, animator, voice-over artist and creative lead.

That experience inevitably finds its way into my photography—especially my love of lighting, storytelling, composition and occasionally making relatively simple ideas much more complicated than they probably need to be.

The equipment and technology have changed quite a bit since I started.

The part I enjoy hasn't.

There's still something pretty incredible about pointing a camera at someone and creating an image that didn't exist a fraction of a second earlier.

Enough About Me.

If you've got an idea for a photograph, need some new portraits, want to document something important—or you've simply realized it's been way too long since you've had a photograph of yourself that you actually like—I'd love to hear from you.

You don't need to show up with a fully formed concept.

Sometimes “I want to do something cool” is more than enough.

Sometimes “I have this really weird idea...” is even better.

Bring yourself. Bring the idea. I'll bring the camera.

And probably coffee.