Interview with PenTales Contributor Douglas Jessup

PenTales:  What are the ingredients of a good photograph?

Douglas: The key ingredients to a good photograph for me are lighting, color palette, composition, and set design. That sounds like such a textbook answer, but nailing the fundamentals is essential. If you have those down then that allows for a photographer’s style to fully come through – the little nuances that make your photography stand out from the rest.

Contributor Douglas Jessup

PenTales: Tell us about a favorite character in a story and why you relate to this character.

Douglas: Ferris Bueller is definitely in my top three. He figured it out early – life is all about living it to the max. School was really boring to me, so I missed a lot of days. Unfortunately, my mom didn’t work when I was in high school, so I had to fake sick and watch “The Price is Right” on the couch instead of cruising a Ferrari through the city and catching foul balls. To this day, I still try to follow his lead and make the most out of every day.

PenTales: Tell us a 100-word story about yourself to help us get to know you better.

Douglas: I’ll tell you the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I was at a Spurs game over a Thanksgiving holiday. I was sitting with my extended family; there were like 15 of us Jessups in the stands. So we were celebrating the occasion and were putting ’em back when this dude came up to me and asked if I’d like to be in the halftime contest. My liquid courage kicked in and I said, “Sure.”

At halftime, I went down on the court where my nerves tightened up under the gaze of 20 thousand fans, but I managed to focus in on the hoop exactly a half court away. I let the ball fly. I knew it was a good shot when it left my hand. However, I didn’t know it would swish. The whole place went bananas – 20 thousand people screaming for you is a pretty big adrenaline rush.

PenTales: Continue this story (five sentences or less): “He packed his bags and headed out the door. Little did he know that…”

Douglas: …he wouldn’t be needing his bags where he was going. They don’t allow personal items when traveling through time.

PenTales:  What was your first thought this morning?

Douglas: Hey, I’m not hungover. Oh wait…

PenTales: Which came first: the chicken salad or the egg salad?

Douglas: Ewww…a tough one. I felt like I was killing it till this question. They are both so tasty. I think chicken salad came first, right after it crossed the road.

PenTales: What question should we ask the next photographer we interview?

Douglas: What person, alive or dead, would you most want to take a picture of and how would you take it (lens, design, setting, color)?