We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darrin Pryor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darrin below.
Alright, Darrin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
This is such a great question. I would want my legacy to be me being able to allow people to feel that they have a safe space when being around me and being a person that encourages people to live their lives to the fullest being themselves. Everyone in this world has a different purpose and walks different paths throughout life. Being such an empathic person, the intention I move with is and will always be LOVE! Be aware, intentional, and spread love amongst the people you meet throughout life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve always carried a camera around from middle school through college. In high school, I was introduced to the course: Desktop Publishing. In addition, I also liked working on computers at a very young age. Combining both interests in computers and desktop publishing, later created the foundation for graphic design and photography for me. Two of my high school teachers, A. Lane and A. Stokes allowed me to be as creative as possible.
I started to create brochures, business cards, flyers, festive PowerPoint presentations, and other artistic materials. While working two jobs during the covid pandemic in 2020, I contracted the covid virus which would later allow me extra time to invest in myself. I did some research online and found a website called Udemy. I enrolled in various Adobe classes: Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign Graphic Design Theory, and a photography masterclass. Enrolling in these courses would later be the foundation for the creation of my business.
With the editing and photography courses finished, I decided to think of a business plan. My business name is hDPixelz LLC. The ‘DP’ is a brand within itself as it reflects my name Darrin Pryor, Desktop Publishing, and Digital Printing. The desktop publishing side of the business will consist of creating marketing content for new, upcoming, and existing businesses and entrepreneurs with content ranging from brochures, logos, business cards, etc.
In addition, with Digital Printing, the goal is to produce quality images and graphics for clients with the highest resolution possible to ensure they are delivering a clean aesthetic for their business(es), which is the “HD” (high definition) portion of the name. The end goal is to cater to the customer in any way possible through photography, content creation, website development, and marketing content.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
This is also a great question. If I had to choose, it would be knowing how the camera works on all of its settings prior to becoming a photographer. I’ve used the camera with its standard settings for a long time until I started playing around with my camera. There are so many settings and ways for you to create customized settings when working events or with clients. Now, I spend additional time watching videos on how to properly select specific camera settings when shooting. Lastly, I wish I knew about the capabilities of the platform that hosts my photography website and content. I was spending additional and unnecessary funds using other services to deliver products and content to customers. My platform Pixieset allows me to update my website, upload photos, videos, customize photo galleries based on my client, and offer plenty more services.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I am based in Houston, TX; however, I am from Memphis, TN. Even though I have been in Houston for six years, it was a challenge to grow my social media presence. I grew my social media presence by reaching out to friends and family first. Later, I asked friends from Tennessee and Texas to repost and share my content. Also, whenever I’m out with friends at a bar, I tend to introduce myself to different people and inform them that I am an upcoming photographer and graphic designer. Doing these actions allowed me to get out of my comfort zone. Word of mouth has played a major part with my social media growth. Lastly, I learned to use specific hashtags or popular hashtags that correlates with the post I am uploading to my social media.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hdpixelz.com
- Instagram: hdpixelzbusiness
- Facebook: HDPixelz
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrin-pryor-709a6494/
- Twitter: hdpixelz
Image Credits
Darrin Pryor / CEO / hDPixelz LLC