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

Don, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

As I began considering a change in my life’s trajectory through retiring from federal service, I decided to go back to school for another degree, this time for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography. One of the required courses for graduation was a class called The Business of Photography. This class forced me to delve into and understand what elements are required to establish a business presence in this field, whether as a solo artist or working for a photography company. In the case of selecting a name, I wanted to keep it short, concise, and, hopefully, easily remembered, especially with regard to social media and website. Everything using my full name plus “photography” seemed too taxing to potential customers to remember and spell it correctly, so I simply took the first two initials of my middle and last name and shortened photography to photo. This became the nucleus for all my social media, contact information, website and, ultimately, my LLC which I formed in 2022 here in Florida.

Don, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I did not initially start out as a photographer. I actually started out getting commissioned in the Army in 1981 and served 26 years in uniform, and then another 12 yrs as a DoD civilian, ultimately retiring in 2019. I bought my first camera – a Pentax K1000 – in 1981 in anticipation of traveling to the Grand Canyon while I was still in officer basic. It was love at first sight. I carried that camera almost everywhere I travelled, whether on a deployment or for other travels. I soon discovered the power of black and white film during a 6-month deployment to the Sinai in 1983.

Although I did not plan to make the military and federal service a career, 38 years later I found myself at a crossroads in life. If not continued service to country, then what? I was ready for something completely different and realized that photography would/could open a new door for me. So, I walked through it, returning to college to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, which I completed in December 2020. I have not looked back since.

As a photographer, my primary interest and focus has always revolved around landscapes and architecture. This affords me the opportunity to “slow it down” and really consider the confluence of perspective and light, and what do I really want to capture in that moment when the shutter opens and closes. By the same token, I also have taken on multiple projects for commercial real estate, portraiture, and products.

I think one of the areas in my work I’m most proud has been with night photography. I find using a long exposure to capture the architectural aspect of cityscapes and buildings simply fascinating. After all, architecture is simply a man-made landscape. My hope for my customers is that they will get lost in the moment, and the imagery will draw them in, even for just a moment.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m an old(er) dog who has had to learn new tricks. As I approached the age of 65, I recognized that I needed a change of pace, a refresh, or as Monty Python put it, “And now for something completely different.” I knew that I was ready to change paths from service to country to something less structured, less hectic, less stressful and more fluid. While I’ve carried a camera around almost everywhere I’ve travelled since 1981 when I first entered the Army, I had never seriously considered it as a possible career move, but then as I began thinking about retiring, I thought “Why not? It’s not too late.” But in order to do that, I would also need to better prepare myself to undertake such a radical change. Since I had not used my VA education benefits yet – and before they would expire – I cast around for a photography program that VA would support.

I discovered the Art Institute of Tampa in 2017. So, I returned to school yet again as a part time night student while working full time. Talk about hectic and stressful, what was I thinking? Two years later, however, I retired in 2019, and finished a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from AI-Tampa (which has now, sadly, closed its doors). After working several short-term contracts for commercial real estate and products, I decided to establish my LLC here in Tampa, FL.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Absolutely! The Adobe creative suite of software has been both blessing and bane. Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, InDesign and a host of other programs, as wonderful as they are, have been a challenge for me to learn. Ideally, I should have begun much earlier to work with and employ the tremendous selection of tools these programs offer and weave them more effectively into my work. As it is, I’m still a student for life!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dkphoto.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dk.photo2/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/don.kendrick.75436

Image Credits
Portrait by Kelsie Crossley, otherwise, all images are mine.