We recently connected with Grailian Nash and have shared our conversation below.

Grailian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Practice Practice and Practice. When I decided I wanted to pursue photography I wanted to make sure I got alot of shooting in. It helped that my wife was a stylist so taking photos in the barbershop and the salon gave me alot of opportunities to get better. Also doing research on settings and how my camera works went along way into helping me improve the look of my work.

Grailian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a husband and father of 4 children from St. Louis, MO. I’ve always had an interest in photography my entire life but I didn’t take it seriously and invest in it until about 4 years ago. My wife and I were dropping the kids off at school when she mentioned to me that I do a great job in taking photos of our kids and capturing great family moments so she suggested to me that I should really consider doing photography.

In September 2018 I started up GN Photography on Instagram and Facebook and at first it was showing off mobile phone photography but after seeing other photographers post their work I realized I need my own camera to produce the type of work I wanted to put out and to be taken seriously. Since then I’ve had opportunities to shoot weddings, maternity photos, food competitions, parties, sporting events, etc and each opportunity allowed me to improve and get better which in 4 years it’s safe to say there’s alot of growth and improvement in the work that I put out.

For potential clients and customers you can expect quality work in everything that I do from basic interactions to the photos themselves. I want to make sure that whatever it is you bring me in for, that you are getting my best and that my work highlights the event, party, personal shoot, etc.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In the beginning of my journey I had lost my job on Halloween of 2018. At the time I thought I could dive in and be a full time photographer. But as the holidays were drawing closer I realized that I couldn’t take care of my family the way I wanted to so I took up a part time job as a photographer at the Budweiser Brewery during the 2018 Holiday season. It did hold us over and I thought I could maintain working at the brewery and taking on jobs but the jobs weren’t coming in and my hours got cut at the brewery during the government shutdown in 2019. At that point I needed to get back into the full time workforce to help take care of my family and in February 2019 I took on working full time again. I still have my job but I’ve made sure I kept practicing and working on my photography and taking on jobs when they became available which is what’s going on to this present day.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the best thing society can do to support artists and creatives is understanding that creatives are just as important to society as business folk, doctors, lawyers, etc. The world needs creatives and artists to help break up the mundane in life because let’s be honest; the regular routines in life can weigh you down and make you feel so heavy and sometimes something simple as a funny video or a cool photo can help lift your spirits and get you through whatever you’re going through at that moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://officiangnphotography.darkroom.tech/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialgnphotography?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/officialgnphotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GNPhotography1?t=CpKz7Po6L30Os7Uhk7gduQ&s=09

Image Credits
N/A