We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Derek Livingston a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Derek thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

The biggest trend in my industry would be shooting simply for likes and retweets. Shooting in portrait mode more than landscape, which works for the phone but that is it. It doesn’t translate to the tv or computer screen. Some also work with the trends and don’t stay true to themselves and create what they want to create. I stick to what I like regardless of likes or views. I just do what I love and keep bringing out content whether that be sports photography, wedding videos, or travel videos.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hey! So I am Derek Livingston. I am a full-time videographer for an education company where I make videos for teachers to use in the classroom, videos showing our products, and some social media content to show what we do. I also video weddings, some youtube, and travel videos of the places my wife and I travel to. It all started in photography when I attended college and sports photography and nature were my go-to subjects to photograph. Outside of my full-time job, I do a good amount of freelance photo work and mostly that is athletics for my alma mater, Pittsburg State University athletics, which I love. After finishing school, I wanted to get into my field and so I started a job at a marketing agency doing video and that was my real start in video work. I strive in creative areas with others in my area so most of my friends will find a camera in their hands as well which is nice for growth. My wife and I love to travel when we can and see new places. Love to visit small breweries in the area and see new places.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I would say the most effective strategy for growth was being active on multiple social media platforms from Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. Having content for people to find has helped me a great amount! I try to talk to people while on jobs because you never know who could be a future client and first impressions help a lot when they’re good.

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

I would say the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when you get good feedback from someone you didn’t realize was following along or watching your work. I recently had one of my teachers from college compliment me on my work and growth within my field of work. It was a shocker as he hasn’t really liked or commented on any of my work leading up to that and if he had, it wasn’t very often so that was huge for me because I really respected him as a teacher and a person.

Contact Info:

• Website: dereklivingston.media
• Instagram: instagram.com/dereklivingston.jpg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DerekLivingstonPhotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GorillaPhotog
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI39k4tt56BKz0ga0MhZpkw