We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Akeara Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Akeara, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I love the way I learned about photography. It wasn’t an easy talent and it didn’t come naturally to me. For that reason alone, I tell anyone who has a passion for something that if they want to make it their lifestyle, they have the ability to because talent is not a main factor. You just have to want to. When I made the decision to start photography, I jumped right in. I was horrible lol. I couldn’t understand why my work was awful. It was because i had all of the excitement and a major lack of understanding for lighting. Lighting is absolutely the most essential tool in photography. Whether natural or artificial, lighting was the biggest (and still is) lesson I had to learn. When i started to learn more about lighting and composition, I noticed that what i wanted to portray was grossly under represented. I put all of my effort and time into the pre planning process in order to make sure I could give the final image as much support and understanding as possible. My biggest obstacle is an ongoing one. I am learning to step out of my own way in order allow my artwork a chance to be interpreted.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a self taught graphic designer turned photographer and retoucher. I specialize in bringing vibrancy and saturation to images and also bringing out the full detail and quality for darker skin tones and POC. Although I am still growing as an artist, I dive deep into telling a story for a client. When an idea is brought to me, it’s imperative that I can bring their vision into fruition. Many times, when a client has an idea, their biggest problem is being able to translate this idea. I play the creative liaison. I want all clients to know that I take on their vision as if it were my own. The planning process is the most important.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When i first started transitioning into photography from graphic design, I thought that it would come easy to me because I was creative and arrogant enough to think that the two were one and the same. Although the two work well together, I believe it was so important for me to recognize the differences in the two. In design, great programs can push you to your most creative self but I had to unlearn the idea that equipment and expensive gear would make me a better photographer.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing clientele was being able to show my clients a vision board that mirrors what they have shared with me. The extra step of using photoshop and illustrator execute a layout that is then put into a group text for us all to follow has been my #1 way of making sure they’re happy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: photographybykeara

Image Credits
Models: Widan Kori Destiny Jeremy Caradine Asia Rose MUA: Kimberly Stewart