Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eric Prine. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Eric thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I wanted to have a bit of a creative outlet and had room in my schedule for an elective one year in college so i took an intro to photography course. I enjoyed it more than I expected and found I was better at it than I expected. The plan was to take it for once semester, instead i took all the course my college had to offer over the next five semesters. I had wanted to be a veterinarian and go on to vet school. I was now torn between that decade old desire and a new found love for photography. I decided to work for a vet for a year and see how i felt while also applying in to photo schools. I very quickly learned that vet medicine was not for me and I set my sights on photo school.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Eric Prine and my business partner Jeremiah Hull and I have a company called Attic Fire Photography which has creating award winning content for over 15 years. We specialize in photographing interiors and architecture but also do lifestyle, food, portraits, and video for advertising. After many years of experience we can walk into almost any situation and know how to produce stunning imagery of a space. Working with existing and modified lighting we create images of spaces that are engaging, pull you in and make you feel like you know the space. We use the most current techniques and equipment and try to stay on the cutting edge of technologies while keeping a classic, natural look to our images. We were early adopters of using multiple images and combining in post production to create a subtly enhanced version of reality. As our clients have told us time and again, we’re pretty fun to work with.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
This will apply more broadly to any small business owner but I think it’s especially true for creatives. We never got taught how to run a small business. I have found that being a good business person is equally as important, if not more important, as being skilled at your creative work. Knowing how to do the back end office work like marketing, estimating, invoicing, saving out money for taxes, etc. are all skills you aren’t taught and often have to learn the hard way. I think we all have a story of not putting away some of our 1099 income for taxes and getting a big surprise when we get a tax bill at the end of the year. Most creative endeavors (unless you are a W2 employee doing creative work) require you to run a business. I don’t necessarily think non-creatives won’t understand this since there are lots of non-creative small businesses as well but I think a lot of non-creatives think we’re so lucky because we just get to take pictures all day and get paid for it. They don’t understand that there is lots of hustling to find work and that 80+% of our time is spent on the mundane parts of the business. For those who are not proficient in those areas it will be essential to hire someone to take care of that for you.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I enjoy having control over my time. I can choose when to schedule work and when not to. I also kind of like that some people are envious of being a creative. They don’t know the hard truth about how much work goes into it but it is still nice to have a job that other people desire.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.atticfire.com
- Instagram: atticfirephoto
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atticfire