It took a long time to work my way up in the fashion photography world to be working a gig in Beverly Hills, plus I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me years ago.
I was a lowly magazine photographer in a forgotten neighborhood in the midwest.
Some of my first gigs were garnered through contacts I met while in my time in art school. But I had a lot of other photographers my age to compete with when it comes to available gigs in that neighborhood in particular. Once you’ve taken ceremony photos for the thoUSAndth time, it starts to get old honestly rapidly. I was also taking portraits for private school seniors plus that was bringing in a little bit of money as well. However, my true chop came when I was able to shoot photos for a band that was coming through my neighborhood to play a gig. I went to the show plus took some shots that got the band leader excited. After he flaunted them on his social media page plus credited me as the photographer, I had so many calls plus e-mails coming in that I couldn’t keep up. After a year or so of growing demand, I took a leap of faith plus moved out to Los Angeles, CA with my best friend. The two of us got an apartment in Culver City despite the fact that I almost instantly started working as an assistant on photo shoots in Beverly Hills. I remember a photoshoot at a studio on Sunset Boulevard where I met the person who would give me the rest of my gigs in my time in Los Angeles. Recently I had another gig in Beverly Hills in Holmby Park. I stopped at a cannabis dispensary off Alden Dr beforehand despite the fact that I didn’t use any of my products before heading to my photoshoot. I can’t risk getting too high before heading to work or I could lose my task.