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

Colin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved stories and would get sucked in to most animated movies/TV shows. There was something about visual story telling that just felt right to me. Then I decided to pick up a DSLR while I worked for the National Forest Service in Colorado in 2017 and everything kind of clicked.

I’m self taught, simply because I’m a curious human and want to understand how to create a story through photography. There’s something magical about capturing a moment in time that has the ability to give full context even if the scene is still.

I typically spend 2-4 hours on Youtube learning a specific aspect of photography that I want to test out. Then I go out and ‘play’ as I say. Honestly, going back the #1 thing I wish I would’ve done is to allow myself to test out new concepts and fail more frequently. I think I was always afraid of ‘what if this doesn’t turn out the way my mind sees it,’ and that’s truly hindered progress as an artist.

I think the skills that are most essential to being a photographer, which I learned through trial and error, are: Keen Observation/Discernment, and Flexibility.

Being rigid truly prevents the flood gates of creativity opening up and perfectionism will kill any momentum you’re feeling and get you stuck in a rut. Staying curious and following little trails while in a shoot, event, or in your research always has produced the most interesting shots for me.

I say observation and discernment because one of my close clients mentioned there’s something about the way I shoot that feels like I can predict a moment that is bubbling up. And it’s because I love watching people. You learn to notice when a ‘moment’ is about to take place as you see people interacting with a space or others. You see the hug before it happens, or the laughs before they’re over, and you can begin to know when you need to be shooting and when you need to be observing. It feels like magic, and it shows you a very human side of photography.

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’m Colin – a storyteller, photographer, and writer. My childhood was full of stories – be it movies, TV, video games, or imagining fantasy lands with my friends while playing outside.

I first picked up a camera when I worked for the National Forest Service in Colorado. I was determined to capture the beautiful Rockies as best I could, but what I learned was how to tell a story through a picture and word of mouth.

I evolved to become a multi-disciplinary story teller, focused primarily on photography, videography, and writing. My clients mainly hire me for my photography work, where I help you convey the essence of your event, product, or creative vision.

I’ve worked with DJs on well-known labels like Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak to photograph their sets, have done video for YouTubers who have 430,000+ subscribers and were part of Mr. Beast’s crew, captured events for an award winning Event-Producer that is featured in the New York Times and have worked with events like Comic Con, and lastly I have helped capture the launch of a deaf artist’s exhibit in The Whitney.

If you have a story to tell, I have an ear and eye to help capture it. What sets me apart is my ability to capture the humanity of your vision while bringing the right color, framing, and perspective to life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I spent the better part of my 6 professional years working in startups and venture capital because of my desire to be an ‘inventor’ when I grew up.

I followed what I considered a traditional career path that I felt could fulfill me creatively and financially, but what I didn’t learn until that 6th year was that my desire to be an inventor was because I valued creativity more than anything else in my life. During that last year in the space, I felt an incredible detachment from who I was as a person and needed to really lean into what gave me purpose: being a creative.

I decided to leave the industry and what I spent 6 years working towards to fulfill my desire to create. I’ve found more enjoyment, fulfillment, and progress in my craft the last year compared to the last 6.

When you find something that fills your soul, lean in.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There’s something spiritual about creating. To me it’s a way of telling the story of your heart, head, and how you see the world passing around you.

It’s pulling from this river of ideas and noise that surrounds your entire life and making sense of it. Teasing out what works, what doesn’t, whats essential, and what can be added or subtracted. My photography is a way of conveying to people who I am without so many words and my writing is about pulling together seemingly unrelated strings of thought to tell a story that connects the pieces of my puzzle together in a way that wouldn’t have made sense on their own.

It’s an embodiment of who I am and I think one of the best parts about that is the deep understanding of self that I’ve gained through it. My only hope when I work with clients is the ability in supporting that exploration of self for them as well.

Everyone has a story, some people are just better at helping tell it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.colinmortemore.com
• Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-mortemore/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-mortemore/
• Other: Substack: https://colinmortemore.substack.com/
  Additional Portfolio: https://colinmortemore.pic-time.com/portfolio