I photograph seniors, families, sports, etc... for varying customers and they all love it. While I'm not diminishing how good it feels when someone feels you have truly captured them and made them happy, I recently had a really cool experience helping a young man out. He rides BMX bikes in a bowl, what was called freestyle in my day, and I had offered to photograph him. For myself, I always believe in practicing new things that you haven't shot before because there are always skills to be learned that can be used elsewhere. For him, I would give him some cool pictures that went beyond the kids handing each other their cell phones asking each other to take crappy pictures.
So it all started with this image.
This photo was a creation trying out a few things and making the BMX side gritty with the beautiful sky and trees. Admittedly, it is an odd combination, but it seemed to work and people in BMX liked it. Eventually, this image made it across the pond to England - who would have thunk the internet would go that far? A company there saw the image and loved it. They loved it so much that they reached out to the rider, not the photographer LOL, to say how much they liked the image. The door was opened to possibly sponsoring this kid. He told me about it and I was excited for him that this door was opened for him.
Now this kid can't afford to hire me, but I offered to help him further because he has put in the work and I feel like hard work should be rewarded. He had received two shirts from his potential sponsor, and I had looked at the companies website and told him I had a plan to kick this door open for sponsorship. The companies website had no professional imagery and we could use their shirts, combined with some photography featuring their product in action, and I believed we could open this door entirely.
With a plan in my head we headed to an indoor riding park (it's winter here) and with the graciousness of the owner, shot some imagery. Edited, put his signature across it, and packaged it all up nice and neat so that when the company opened it they saw a finished product. He contacted the company, showed them the work, and they picked him up on the spot.
Never underestimate where a photo can take someone when you're not paying attention.
So it all started with this image.
This photo was a creation trying out a few things and making the BMX side gritty with the beautiful sky and trees. Admittedly, it is an odd combination, but it seemed to work and people in BMX liked it. Eventually, this image made it across the pond to England - who would have thunk the internet would go that far? A company there saw the image and loved it. They loved it so much that they reached out to the rider, not the photographer LOL, to say how much they liked the image. The door was opened to possibly sponsoring this kid. He told me about it and I was excited for him that this door was opened for him.
Now this kid can't afford to hire me, but I offered to help him further because he has put in the work and I feel like hard work should be rewarded. He had received two shirts from his potential sponsor, and I had looked at the companies website and told him I had a plan to kick this door open for sponsorship. The companies website had no professional imagery and we could use their shirts, combined with some photography featuring their product in action, and I believed we could open this door entirely.
With a plan in my head we headed to an indoor riding park (it's winter here) and with the graciousness of the owner, shot some imagery. Edited, put his signature across it, and packaged it all up nice and neat so that when the company opened it they saw a finished product. He contacted the company, showed them the work, and they picked him up on the spot.
Never underestimate where a photo can take someone when you're not paying attention.