We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darrell Watts. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darrell below.
Alright, Darrell thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
This was a on and off ordeal. I knew that photography was my profession since high school when I took a class for digital photography. I fell in love with every aspect of photography, the snapping of the camera, going to different parts of campus to take photos of what I felt would fit for me, the editing, and the time it takes to create “the picture”. I felt really good about the photos I took in that moment. But then, when I graduated from high school, photography was in the back of my mind, knowing that college and getting a job was more important. That never meant I was going to forget about photography, it was just one of my pressure moments that I had to face. So when cell phones with camera starting rising, I immediately knew that I had to get one, I had to start somewhere so I can work on my skills. With cell phones back then, the photos were grainy, and you couldn’t get the great picture that you wanted. By me not having resources or anything like that, the photos just sat there and I did nothing with them. It wasn’t until I had gotten a Canon camera as gift from a former friend was the time I actually did a little bit more. My emotions of taking a camera vs a camera phone was unmatched. With that camera I felt like a professional! I was just snapping left and right and never stopped! The more I took, the more I became hooked. I had decided that I was gonna be a photographer to help inspire other people that wants to become a photographer themselves. My idea is to be able to represent all types of categories in photography to help bring ideas for themselves or be a photographer. I want my work to represent mental health, therapeutic ways to help cope with their depression, anxiety, to see my work and change their feeling. Even if it’s a little bit, just making the change and hope to break the stigma behind it. I’m an advocate of mental health, and the ways I cope with mental health is looking at photos. That’s what I hope I can bring those who are struggling. I feel like I can succeed because not only are there people and companies interested in photography, but hoping that my work can bring inspirations from all over the world. I’ve been a photographer unofficially for 19 years, I just started Flash Watts Photography in October of 2023 and I feel like that hearing other people’s thoughts about my work has pushed me towards pursuing photography. My emotions really got the best of me in a good way was when I found out that some of my posts on Instagram had hit the explore page. I cried so hard because I felt like it was a big deal and that being on the explore page showed that my work was worth showing to millions of users on Instagram. I sincerely hope that hitting the explore page is helping them with their mental health or inspiring them.
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.
When I’m not working on Flash Watts Photography, I am a host and a co-host of three different podcasts. I have two that I co-host called Double Take Sports Talk, and Darrell and Darren’s Off The Script. The one podcast I host is called Breaking Mental Health with Darrell. I am also a playstation gamer, which I am also a YouTuber providing gaming content on YouTube. I also enjoy reading and being outside. I had an interest in photography during my junior year in high school (2004-2005). During the time I was taking classes for photography, I enjoyed every step that it took for me to perfect my craft, the photo taking, the freedom to walk around and see what peaked your interest, the editing and the time it takes to edit. I enjoyed every minute of it. Basically right now, I’m working on making a business to sell my photos. I also intend to do some other photography work such as sports, portrait, and a little bit of wedding. While nature photography is my craft I work on, I still intend to work on other photography projects as well. I have an Instagram page: flashwattsphotography, X: @FWP2023, and TikTok: @flash.watts if you want to check some of my photos. I also have a small website: flashwattsphotography.wordpress.com. Most photos on all social medias are uniformed so you are gonna see the same photos on each social media. I’m gonna be selling my work in the near future and I will be also be offering sports, portrait and some wedding work, rather if you want it digitally or hand in hand. I do not have a price in hand yet but I am currently working on it. I am proud of myself that I am able to pursue photography and getting as far I am now. It takes a lot of work to do photography and it can be very overwhelming. I’m hoping that my future potential clients/customers can see my work for what it is and the work I put in to make it look great! So please give me some time, I am working on a lot of things to get my business going. Any suggestions that anyone has can email me at [email protected]. Also, I can understand that a lot of people choose not to buy products and things, so you can also donate to my cashapp to help me build my business. My cashapp is $loveduniversity.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
My advice is what I always share when I have a team, my first advice is to always look after yourself. Meaning take time for yourself so you won’t feel so pressured and overwhelmed. My second advice is to listen to your team. Always take considerations for what they say, never dismiss or ignore their thoughts, bring it to the table, remember, little things can be big things. So listen carefully. My third advice is never let your team outwork you. If this happens, this will change the whole dynamic of team work, they will start to do less while you are doing less. You are the leader, this is your company, your team should never, ever outwork you. My fourth advice is have fun as much as you can. You want your work to be fun and exciting, but still get things done at the same time. So whenever you have time for fun, your team will look forward to the next day. My final advice is never micromanage your team. Show your team the upmost respect and communicate better about your environment and how things work. If you choose to micromanage, you lose the risk of losing your team. They hate it!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that there are gonna be hater critics during your journey. There is never a perfect thing as having perfect customers/clients. There are gonna be failures, I had to embrace failures, yes there are times that failures will get the best of you. That do not mean that you give up, you keep fighting until you feel satisfied about where you are. I get comments in DM’s and in my comments on social media about my work, that the photo is out of focus, it’s too grainy, it’s too blurry. But learning that you either take their comments seriously or let it beat you down will be critical on how you move forward. So I choose to communicate with them and see if they are giving out constructive criticism, or they are just babbling about nothing. Learning the difference you can be able to ignore those who hate on you or actually giving you the advice you need to continue.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://flashwattsphotography.wordpress.com
- Instagram: flashwattsphotography
- Twitter: @FWP2023
- Other: You can also email me at [email protected]
