We recently connected with Christopher Goody and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Christopher thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
So shortly after graduating from high school in 2010, I attended a local media school in the broadcasting field. The school taught us how to use video cameras, radio, podcast and other media. Upon graduating from the school, my parents purchased my very first camera and from there it was all on me to learn!
Knowing what I know now, I am actually glad I took my time with learning more about cameras besides just pushing record or taking a photograph. Personally, I think taking a good year or so to learn the basics of photography first before buying the newest gear out would help others.
Networking is a big thing I tell new creatives who reach out to me to work on alot. I started out taking photos of local artists and Dj’s in my area to give myself practice a lot! I even photographed a bunch of local shows and events in my area to test myself.
Obstacles I had starting out was talking / meeting people. I grew up a only child so I was always to myself unless I was around friends. Once I got over just speaking to people, introducing myself, it helped alot! Also, not knowing what exactly I wanted to do if it was just doing portraits or music concerts, etc.
Christopher , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
So I went to broadcasting school after high school. We had some hands on projects with learning about TV, radio, podcast, etc. We also learned about networking which is a very important thing in the media industry. After graduating from broadcasting school, my parents purchased my very first camera which was a canon T3i. That camera was put thru everything! I was at house parties taking photos, events, and even concerts.
So with finally having my very first camera, I decided to take on trying out photography and some videography. I then decided to mostly focus on the photography side of things and went all in for it! Offering portraits, head shots, studio work, club photography, events and even food photography!
Once I had got more familiar with photography and networking, I noticed that alot of clients really enjoyed my creativity and vision with images. I started to become known for concert photography and just began photographing some major artist and radio shows.
i am most proud of the amount of support I receive from fans, friends, and family. The love they all give from seeing a photo posted or evening seeing me in person doing what I love is amazing. I have been told many times that I can be too humble with some things I have done in the industry. I find myself just happy to be able to showcase my talent.
I always tell fans of artist, if they ever see me at a show say “Hey!”. I like meeting fans of my photography work. The fans are the ones who will comment the fire emojis and all under a photograph of their favorite artist. When working with me I like my clients to know that it will be a fun time wheather its having some music playing, laughing, and just making the client feel good!
I really want my work to be able to bring back a memory of that certain moment photographed! Hearing stories about a image of mine being their favorite is so amazing and a blessing. A image can open up memories for a person.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
So most my audience within social media (Instagram, twitter, TikTok) is other creatives, fans, friends, and businesses. I typically try follow creatives who I admire a lot and also up and coming creatives who I engage with about gear or tips we all can use to help each other.
Thankfully, with the power of social media now days, you can reach out to about anyone in the field. Providing content as most say now days that applies to what you enjoy can help build the presence. Having behind the scenes of a photo session, video recap of a concert, or even just your every day life people may enjoy seeing.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Has to be seeing that artist, brands, businesses trust in me provide great photographs for them and their business
Contact Info:
- Website: https://photosbygoody.format.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisgoody23/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chrisgoody23/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisgoody23
Image Credits
Photo(s) By Chris Goody