Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Martin

Hi Kelsey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I got started as a creative when I was in high school. I love black culture, music, and contemporary art. Diving into
design first, I went to college and got my bachelors in communication arts and graphic design. Three years into my education, I fell in love with photography. We learned how to develop in the darkroom, shoot with film, learn DSLR, and shoot studio. Even though I still graduated with my design degree, photography became my passion. I’ve been shooting since 2015, and started building clientele in 2018. Things have been great ever since.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

It has been a lot of struggles along the way, but that just helped me become a better photographer. I’ve been through things like my laptop burning out, malfunctions with my camera, losing studio space to shoot at, and losing clientele. Working with the public is another challenge, but that is where my customer service skills come into play. When you love something and you’re passionate and good with it, you figure out a way to make a way… and I make a way all of the time.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Photography is a passion of mine. Portrait photography is what I specialize in—but I dibble and dabble in group photography, branding, headshots and more. The goal is to make a digital photo feel nostalgic. Black culture is what inspires me to piece together visions down to the socks you’d wear. I gain inspiration and put my own twist on it. My favorite thing to do is take an idea a client has and make it come to life. From album rollouts to clothing brands, we will take the steps to make sure you have enough content as well as a concise plan to roll your project(s) out to the world.

Aside from taking photos and directing, I am the host of OG & FRIENDS PODCAST, I shoot behind the scenes for music videos/commercial projects, host events and curate art shows…jack of all trades right? I love to have my hands in everything. Expanding my talents is important; being able to bring an idea to life successfully is even more important to me.

My inspirations consists of black culture, contemporary art, and music. I am very passionate about collaborating and elevating artists to their fullest potential.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

I take a lot of risks when it comes to approaching my work when it comes to lighting. I started off my journey using natural light, shooting outdoor, and utilizing all of the light that I could get in the spaces I was in. As I progressed in college, my professors taught us how to shoot in studio. As hard as it was, I begin to fall in love with light, the way it fell on the model, and how we could change and manipulate it.

The risks I take in studio lighting now is using continuous lighting instead of strobe, which I heavily rely on. To use it with a client is even scarier because if it doesn’t come out right, you have to figure out how to fix it. As time goes on, I get more confident. But that was one of the biggest risks – next to making purchases to invest in my business. Even though I am investing, there’s a risk that you take with purchasing things. It could potentially break, you don’t use it, or you cannot return it if you don’t need it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ogkillakels.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ogkillakels/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ogkillakels/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OGFRIENDSPODCAST/videos
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/ogandfriendspod/

Image Credits

Image credits: OGKILLAKELS (Kelsey Martin)