Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kevin Zarate. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I’ve always loved creating art. At SUCH a young age, I didn’t realize back then that I was just creating. I would love to draw. In elementary school I loved drawing dinosaurs (Especially the T-Rex from Jurassic Park). In middle school I loved drawing my favorite NFL quarterbacks from sports illustrated magazine covers. I just don’t know what drew me to loving those things, but what I do know is that I’ve had that creative love since I was a very young kid. Fast forward to high school and I was introduced to the incredibly, wonderful world of photography. I remember my first camera was a Canon Rebel 2Ti and I ran that thang to the ground. It served me for so many years. Since I was 15, I’ve had an camera on me. That’s what I do now. Is I shoot. I’d like to say I am very extroverted. Google say this is what extroverted means — outgoing and socially confident. That’s absolutely what I am. So it was always so easy to take super dope pictures of friends. ONLY if they took photos of me too. I’m not gonna lie, seeing how happy I made my friends and family when I took pictures of them. It felt really nice. So, the only way to get that result from the person you’re taking a photo of is to….. shoot with absolute precision. That’s the energy I bring every time to Wedding or Session. My first “official” business name was Zarate Photo Factory… lol. As you can see, things change and so did my brand name. I literally just thought of the name — Shoot With Precision (shootwithprecision) and it matched exactly with who I am.

Kevin, 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?

I am a Wedding & lifestyle Photographer. Lifestyle encompasses who I shoot for. I shoot couples exchanging vows in front of their most special people by their side. I shoot for anyone with a creative goal or a wonderful moment that they’d love to have documented. Since high school, I’ve always had friendships where there was some type of creating happening. Mine so happen to be, picking up that amazing camera, the Canon Rebel T2i. Since then, I’ve been blessed to have made so many friendships with wonderful people that have known me since I picked up a camera. I’ve shot Weddings, Family sessions, brands, almost anything you can think of. My expertise in documenting moments for people is what people look for. To simply have someone document their most special moments. But, it is more than that. Seeing people grow in their lives after have taken photos of them years ago is what makes this “career” so amazing. If you love documenting the special moments in life, are intentional in what you want to accomplish then I want to get to know you. Let’s create something beautiful together.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I believe we all will go through things. That is a promise. It’s a fact. It’s what you do AFTER that matters. I’ve been so fortunate to’ve been surrounded with so much wisdom in my life. From my parents, to uncles, to best friends, to mentors. There’s something in common with all of them. They’ve ALL gone through stuff. But what was the difference? They didn’t stay down. So guess what? I’ve had my fair share of them too. But the most pivotal one for me was in 2022. After working somewhere for 10+ years, I’ve learned and grew so much. However, I truly believe that when God sees something special in you, he will absolutely get that out of you. I lost what to me was very important, which was my means of providing for my family. I had to quickly figure out what I was going to do. I couldn’t stay down. After interviewing, learning about other industries, just trying to find something that was going to get me pumped to start the day. I didn’t find anything. Until I had realized, I just needed to transfer all that energy into what I’ve been doing for years. Sure it’s been scary, sure there’s been days of self doubt. But those moments where its super uncomfortable is where you have the opportunity to GROW. I can confidently say that’s 100% been the case with my continuous story.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

It’s my professionalism. It’s something I picked up very quickly from one of my favorite bosses a long time ago. You have to be on point. You gotta be on your A-Game and you gotta be polished. You only have one chance at making a memorable first impression. Of course, you don’t learn things all at once and you don’t know everything about your niche or industry on the first day. But what you can do is make that effort. Even if you have no idea what you’re doing, just say it and ask questions. I promise that someone will be very appreciative that you did that. That’s my approach to what I do and I still have that mindset. I want to show whoever is coming to me, trusting me with their most special and intimate moments, that I’m the one you look for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shootwithprecision.com
• Instagram: @shootwithprecision
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzarate