We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brandi.jae Hooks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brandi.jae below.

Brandi.jae, appreciate you joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first client I booked on my own as a creative, really changed my whole mindset on doing photography professionally. I was working with a well-known food photographer in Atlanta at the time, learning the restaurant side of food photography. Before then, I was only doing projects from my home studio. I was mainly doing photography as a creative outlet, no so much a business. I would get inquiries here and there (I do not have a large following), but nothing booked yet. I received an email from a guy whose parent’s owned a Vietnamese take-out/cafeteria style restaurant. Their business had been there for over 10 years, and he was taking over as his parents were aging. He wanted to expand their business to online, in which he needed pictures for that. I admit, I was a little intimidated as I had not done this type of project before, as well as the menu was very long. Nonetheless, I agreed and we planned a date.

When I arrived, I was a bit confused as the place was very small and I had nowhere to really set up. I ended up in a small corner, in which I could barely fit (I am 5’2 by the way). The store was also very busy, great for them, not so much for me with the limited space. I had to use a stool, which is not out of the ordinary, but I also was taking pictures from under a counter. As a photographer, anything for the shot. Now to get the owners and staff: as I mentioned I was speaking with the son of the owners. He was very polite and welcoming. He brought his parents out to meet me and although they didn’t speak too much English, they were just as nice as he was. They offered me food and Vietnamese coffee (delicious), the son even walked me to the store next door so I could use their restroom and he made sure I was safe.

Ok, back to the photography. To my surprise the son, told me that they had a food stylist on set! I was excited because this doesn’t happen often, I am usually the food stylist and that takes extra time. I met the stylist; he didn’t speak English either so the son translated for us. His work was great. He made designs with the food and sauces, not just plating it. I can tell he takes great pride in his work and I can appreciate that. Collaborating with him, yielded great photos. A long 7 hours later, we wrapped up the shoot. A total of about 20 food items; if you know you know. I edited and sent over the final images; the son was very pleased and so was I. He thanked me and of course paid. Once I completed that project, I felt unstoppable. I really made money from my talents! People see the value in my art and I was grateful for it. Ever since then, it’s been up from there. It’s really an amazing feeling.

Brandi.jae, 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?

Hi, my name is Brandi.jae! I am a commercial food, beverage, and product photographer, founder of Brandi.jae Photography. I started off with teaching myself how to cook and sharing on social media. I then took an interest in the photography aspect of it, and discovered my love for it.

I’ve worked with a number of restaurants locally in Atlanta, and the surrounding areas.
As a professional food photographer, I use styling, lighting, and composition, to create high quality, visually appealing images of your food, beverages, and products. This is a key element to evoke emotion, and makes for a more customer engaging marketing strategy.

I can help establish and reinforce your brand’s identity by using brand colors, restaurant interiors, etc., to make your brand stand out from the others. Creating consistency throughout the images will also help your brand be more recognizable.

Digital marketing is on the rise and visuals play a key part in success. I can highlight what you offer, and entice new and current customers to visit your business.

Hiring me takes the worry and stress of taking photos yourself, ultimately saving you time to do other things. You will be able to relax knowing your brand’s visuals will be high quality, and are in good hands.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Networking! As I said before, I was just doing photography as a hobby, so I wasn’t really thinking about going out and meeting other like-minded people in the industry. Since then, I’ve met some amazing, talented people once I did get out there, and I wish I would have done it earlier. You can learn a lot from others and new opportunities can come your way. Just navigate with integrity, especially in the creative space, and you will be good.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Personally, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative, is getting to share my work with others. Whether it be work for a client helping their business, or inspiring other creatives, I believe that art is something that connects us all in some way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: brandi.jaephoto
• Other: Email: brandijaephoto@gmail.com

Image Credits

Brandi.jae Hooks