Meet Brendan Lutes

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brendan Lutes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brendan, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

I have always been a risk-taker—but a calculated one. Since I was a kid, I’ve been very involved in motocross. Is it a dangerous sport? Yes. Have I had my fair share of injuries? Also yes. But it’s a sport that when respected and done in a safe manner, can foster countless life lessons. Growing up racing dirt bikes, I learned what it meant to never give up, what it meant to face adversity, and how it felt to overcome pressure. As a young 15-year-old, I was already racing 300-mile events across the Nevada desert and winning, and I entered the expert/professional class at 16. As I grew up, I continued to race, and I loved motorcycles so much that I combined that with a passion for photography, landing a job at a motocross magazine when I was 22. After 10 years of a steady job as a magazine photo editor, I took a huge risk, venturing out on my own to pursue a freelance career. If I didn’t have the mental fortitude and self confidence that I had developed through sports (racing motocross), I likely wouldn’t be where I am now, which is nearly 10 years as a successful cinematographer/photographer. To this day, I continue to take risks in my career. Life without any risk is never as interesting. It helps you grow. In times when I am nervous about a shoot or any aspect of my job, I remember a quote I read once, “It’s the times when I feel like I might not be able to do something, and I push through. That’s when breakthroughs happen.”

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In my professional life, I’m focused on continuing to learn, grow, and progress in my career as a cinematographer/Director of Photography. In the past couple years, I’ve begun to book bigger productions in the automotive industry, working as the DoP for brands like Toyota, Can Am, Honda, and CF Moto. I am setting big goals for myself in this commercial space, and look to continue my growth. In my personal life, my wife Emily and I just welcomed our second child into the world three months ago, and out of everything I’ve accomplished and experienced in my career, my family is my proudest accomplishment and the measure of my success. On top of all that, my wife and I also own a dance studio, The House Dance Complex, located in Agoura Hills. She runs the business, teaches classes, and choreographs for her students, music videos, and movies—I just help with content and marketing.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Not to sound cliche, but first and foremost hard work has helped me through my career. I’ve had help from numerous individuals who gave me opportunities, but without a good work ethic, those opportunities would be worth nothing. Secondly, I’ve never lost my willingness to learn. I try to learn something new, no matter how trivial or small, all the time. When you think you know everything is when you will become stagnant and not progress. And on that same token, it’s always important to learn from others. Lastly, I’ve never been scared to step out of my comfort zone. Whether it’s just overcoming shyness or doing something I haven’t been sure I could do, not being afraid to give it your all is an important aspect of anything in life, especially in a career or anything that’s worth doing.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m always looking for people to partner/collaborate with. As a Director of Photography, I am always looking for directors and producers to work with on new projects. I would love to continue to grow my automotive commercial work. If you would like to see my latest reel and any of my most recent projects, they can be seen on my website www.lutesdigitalmedia.com. I just redesigned my website a few months ago and it also has a brief history of who I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lutesdigitalmedia.com
• Instagram: blutes77
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-lutes