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

Aaron, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I would have to say that you need to pick a lifestyle that supports the way that you think the most. I believe having a consistent job, you learn noteworthy skills such as time management, organizational skills, leadership skills and productivity skills so that you can create a consistent, reliable product. A lot of times I find creatives struggling to find consistency. The more you learn to understand your strengths and weaknesses the more efficient you will become. I am so much happier as a creative. After 21 years of military service as a mechanical engineer, I finally was afforded the opportunity to really focus on being the best creative that I can be.
If you are a creative, no matter what it is, you have to understand that there will be hurdles and you have to be ok with living a lifestyle devoid of security of you choose to go at it professionally. The greater the risk, the greater the reward the reward. Just remember, that is not guaranteed even if you put in 100% effort. The people that do “make it” are those that create visual art not just for themselves, but to tell the stories of others.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Aaron Hall and I am the Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Go2Pix. I started photography back in 2011 when I was active duty military. We lost our photographer and the ship needed someone to volunteer. I always had a high interest in visual arts since I was a child. I had been drawing pictures since I was about 5 years old. How much harder could photography be? Well, it was pretty challenging. At first I thought I was doing some amazing work. I submitted my work to online forums and they tore my photos apart. I felt really bad at first, I wasn’t prepared for that level of criticism from the online community. But, I listened. I learned to filter the information. I needed to realize that because my photos were bad or not that good, it didn’t mean that I was not a good person. I kept listening to feedback from Facebook Groups and they really were invaluable sources of information. Yes, criticism, subjective or critical, are both invaluable sources of information. I learned that our jobs as visual artist is to see how well we can communicate story telling and emotion to people.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There was a point where I lost everything. All I had was a vehicle, a cheap Canon t5i an 18-55 lens, and one strobe, Godox AD600BM. I lived out of my car. What did I do? I didn’t want to accept that way of living. I would hustle to get clients for photoshoots. I would make sure my clients got the best quality of work that I could give them, then I would go to the car and cry about losing everything I valued important to me. Its important to learn to fail the right way. Do I like failing? No, but I had to learn that its a normal part of life. Don’t live it failure though, live and learn. Take risks. When you fail, analyze the hell out of it! I mean, really look into why it happened and be intentional. Look for hard facts that point to why the failure happened and take accountability for what you did wrong. Don’t minimize your fault in why things didn’t turn out. Maybe you expected too much? Maybe you expected to little? Either way, continue to move forward. Listen to those with your best interests at heart. So what if someone tells you something that you don’t want to hear. Take it and learn to accept criticism. Build a support system of people you can trust and really listen to them. If I hadn’t failed, I would not be the man that I am today. I still have a long way to go, but I will continue to progress.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Everything that I produce, whether it be photography or film, is done not out of selfishness. Everything that I create has the subject in mind. I don’t shoot just to shoot, I don’t shoot for myself. I shoot because their (my clients) story is important. The challenge that I set before myself is to embrace each person that I serve. I want to build the most ideal image of their concept. We need to do be as professional as possible but at the end of the day, I am here to connect my clients vision with their community. I feel proud when I create pieces with them that inspire their audiences.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.go2pix.com
• Instagram: @go2pix
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/go2pixllc

Image Credits
Photos are done by me, Go2Pix. All rights reserved