At that point I was already working at what is now a closed business, Helix Camera and Video on Racine Ave and Jackson. I had been there for a while and I was happy. I was learning the craft of photography and earning a living, not the best of money but I didn't care, I was on my way to become a better photographer by the day. It was then I realized I was not taking full advantage of what I had at hand which was pretty much anything I needed to grow as a photographer. I decided to learn studio lighting and everything else there was to learn about artificial lighting. I borrowed a couple of lights, some triggers and went home on a Saturday night. I had the equipment available till monday morning when it had to go back up on display at the store. I didn't get much done, I learned about sync speed and power outputs at most. First thing monday morning I went and started picking at my friend and co-worker Orlando Salgado's brain. I must've asked him 100 questions in 20 minutes until he said 'You need to read, I'm not going to teach you everything I know in one day' so I went to our book rack and picked up a couple of books that grabbed my attention. That was it, I was hooked, I had to learn it all!
From that point on weather it was me asking questions, reading books, blogs, websites, etc. I was learning more and more until I thought I was ready to pick up some lights again and give it a try. My first subjects were my kids, girlfriend (now wife) and brother in law. I shot all Sunday long and changed lighting set ups like crazy. The results were mediocre at best but that just made me keep at it and practice more. I photographed everyone I could, my nephews, friends, etc. cause at that point my kids were bored standing in front of the camera.
I was onto something, I knew I was getting a little bit better every week, mi biggest limitation was only being able to borrow the lights over the weekend. So then I invested in buying a cheap promaster trigger set up, a light stand, a shoot through umbrella and a Speedlite mount. I already had a Canon speedlite to work with. That was the best purchase ever. I wasn't tied to weekends only to practice, I was free to shoot whenever I wanted or had time and so I did.
The other issue I ran into was subjects, I had already shot everyone I knew and they were bored or not always available, but I had to keep learning, I had to keep practicing. Time had flown by next thing I knew I had moved out of my single apartment, got married, moved again and my skill set had grown. So I chose the next best thing... ME. I decided to do a 365 challenge which is one picture a day. I did mostly self portraits, some landscapes and family portraits. I was feeling great! Almost ready to start shooting strangers. A few months went by and my confidence lever had grown so much, I purchased lighting equipment, a seamless background set up, more light modifiers and light stands, I was ready.
And so it began, I started setting up "studio" photo shoots (our dining room was no longer existent) with friends, friends of friends, bands, etc. and they loved what I was producing!
So then it happened, we were ready to move forward with our business, Love It Photo! was no longer a suitable name for everything we had in mind and coming up, we sat down and started thinking of names that were more "in general" for our business but couldn't come up with anything clever. Then my wife said 'How about Knapp Photography' I knew right away she nailed it and so ladies and gentlemen, that's how how we are who we are now.
For 3 years we have been growing, learning, meeting amazing people, working with some of the most talented individuals in the industry. From models, make up artists, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists, boutique owners, etc. We have made amazing friends, friend that support what we do such as Analise Ojeda, hands down one of our biggest supported and best friends. She has an amazing talent as a hair stylist and make up artist, she helped us out sooooo much in a great number of photo shoots with her talent. Angie Prieto has been an amazing friend and helped us out so much as an amazing hair stylist. I have so many people to thank and I do. I thank you all that have taken the time, put in work and been supportive of what I do. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I hope to be around for another 3+ years, hopefully 100. I will continue to learn, grow and appreciate everything in this career that I was blessed with.
I want to very specially and profoundly thank my wonderful and beautiful wife Vanessa Knapp for everything she has done for me. About 6 years ago she gave me a Canon XTI DSLR for Christmas and a wonderful career along with that. Thank you very much for believing in me, my love. Thank you for all your support, blood, sweat and tears. Thank you for being my number one fan. Thank you for your patience, thank you for all your help and most of all thank you for being there for me and for all the love you give me. YOU MAKE ME BE BETTER EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE.
Thank you all for reading, hope I didn't bore you lol
Sincerely,
Julio Knapp
Knapp Photography
Thank you very much to everyone that has collaborated with us! We truly appreciate it!
P.S. Look at the evolution of my work through these images.
No comments:
Post a Comment