Meet Riley Hudson

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Riley Hudson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Riley below.

Riley, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

My creativity is inspired from me not wanting to be irrelevant or be boring. I want to be a name that people talk about, in a positive way of course. I want people to look at my photos or my film work and say, “Wow, Riley captured that scenary perfectly!” “Did you see that film Riley shot? It was so beautiful.” I want to inspire other people to pick up a camera and capture their view of a story and their view of the world.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I specialize in two things, photography and cinematography. I started shooting on film in 2021 when I purchased a disposable camera after seeing an Instagram post of someone’s vacation photos they took on one. I really liked the way the photos turned out on the disposable camera versus the iPhone camera. One of the things that makes my talents special is that I do shoot on film because most people nowadays shoot on digital. When you shoot on film, there’s no way to see the results of the photos until you develop them. Film photography is timeless. Cinematography is special because you are capturing a story for everyone to see. The way you shoot a film can help you understand the tone of the scene.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Having an eye for scenery/storytelling is an important skill to have in this field. You’ve got to be able to see the beauty in the photo you’re taking or the scene you are filming. Plus, the way you film a scene can be interpreted differently depending on how you film it. If you film a scene far away during an emotional time, the audience cannot understand the importance of the emotions. But if we film close up and can see the characters experiencing these emotions, we can understand the importance. You also need to understand the importance of lighting. If a scene is too dark, the audience cannot see the scene and won’t enjoy watching the film. Finding the perfect lighting for the mood and tone of each scene. This also goes for photography as well. You want the person or scenery you’re photographing to be able to see what you’re capturing. Networking is another important skill. You need to be able to promote yourself so you can continue to work and gain a reputation.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I am currently trying to make a name for myself as a photographer but also a cinematographer. I would love to work in the film industry as a cinematographer, but getting started has some challenges. For starters, trying to find work so I can show off my skills and create something is difficult because it’s hard to find opportunities. I was lucky enough to work with some incredible student filmmakers in the fall last year, and we created a documentary short titled The Bell Witch Project. I will be working on two short films here in the next few weeks, but trying to find consistent work as a beginning cinematographer is difficult.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rileyhudson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rilshudson/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rilshudson