We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tresean Duckett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tresean thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I started photography because I have strong passion for it . I noticed this was my gift and it was an amazing feeling finding out what my gift was at 28 because for 28 years I never knew what my purpose was . I’ve been taken pictures since the 9th grade . My mom brought my little sister a camera for Christmas one year but somehow I ended up using it and just never gave it back lol . I been a photographer for years now and I’ve captured moments for people that would last forever .. my mission is to eventually own my own studio & production team . I want to cover movies , News , Main events , branding for companies I love helping people bring their vision to life and also capturing a memory that can keep for a lifetime a high quality memory
Tresean , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Tresean Duckett I’m a photographer and god should of just put a camera in my hand as soon as I entered the world lol. The name of my business is Tre.Digital and im a content creator a very dope one at that. All my life literally pictures been my thing. I remember being in high school and my friends and peers just wanted me to help them create content for their social medial. Every time I went to a family event my family always looked at me to take the picture because they knew I had the eye . After high school life hit me hard I didn’t pick up a camera for 8 or 9 years I was so busy trying to find my purpose in life not realizing I been doing already my whole life . I realize I’m 28 back in 2020 and didn’t know what I wanted to do in life I just got engaged as well as having my first child and I felt like a normal citizen in America. I wanted to do more then just work and pay bills I needed a purpose one year for Christmas my fiancée asked we could take family Christmas photos but we couldn’t afford a photographer at the moment . So I went to five below brought three ring lights and a self timer for my camera iPhone and set everything up to take Christmas . I must say they came out amazing to the point my fiancée convinced me to take it serious so I did . My first 4 months in photography I was shooting with my I phone let me tell you how good I am people had the same phone I had but couldn’t figure out why their pictures couldn’t come out like mine and we literally have the same phone . Now after a few small gigs and saving my money I finally had enough to buy a professional camera . I literally missed my car payment just to buy this camera that’s how passionate I was about my dream .I love capturing lifetime moments for clients I love being the go to guy to capture any type of media . I truly believed god blessed my eyes I would be useless with out them . I’m different then any other photographer you know even though their are thousands I feel like my eye is special when it comes to photography I help people bring their brand to life I give people confidence when taking pictures I boost ego’s that what a picture is suppose to do & that’s to make you feel good about yourself and I do that for people all the time . My goal is to have my own production team and I want to own the biggest media team on the east coast . The largest studio known to any photographer or model .
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I started my business during Covid I lost my job and was collecting unemployment I came into my business broke broke I tell you . For the first 6 months i used my I phone to do my gigs I saved money from my gigs and unemployment to purchase my professional camera I knew this camera would get me bigger jobs and better clients because that’s just how good I am . I raised my price because I started to need more for my business and my work shows for itself that I’m worth that price. I’m in it 2 years now and business is going good I have a lot of equipment now and camera gear . I literally just hustled I never got a loan from anybody I funded my business with my blood sweat & tears .
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first started photography I was ordering a lot of equipment off of Amazon one day I attempted to buy my first camera for like 300$ I waited two weeks to have it delivered I had people booking for shoots before the camera even came in the mail . One day Amazon sends a email saying the package was dropped off but was never dropped off . They even told me they wouldn’t give me a refund or send me another camera because somebody stole it maybe mind you I’m buying my first camera and this happens . I felt discouraged that 300$ went down the drain now I still have to but my first camera .despite my lost I was still very persistent I saved up 600$ from my gigs and went a finally brought my camera from a friend I knew that was selling one .
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Tre_.Digital
- Facebook: Tresean Duckett